Carol (2015) (Movie Review)

Dir: Todd Haynes
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Dur: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2/5
PG: A love-making scene.

“Love”, they say “comes in different shapes and sizes” and I may add, even in different types. Gay love isn’t looked upon anymore as something rare and forbidden. Although in the time of the film, i.e. the 1950’s, it was taboo. The LGBT movement is gaining momentum and every now and then they stage a massive rally and hog a lot of media publicity. Carol is a story about lesbian love between a married woman (Cate Blanchett) with a history of lesbian activity and a young maiden of marriageable age (Rooney Mara).

The film is romantic but only melancholically so. Love is not fulfilled here. It’s frustrated and love that is frustrated can never be upbuilding and enriching. That’s the case here. We have two people in love but such is their situation that their love helps neither of them. In fact it only worsens their situations. Carol (Blanchett) is on the verge of a divorce while Therese (Mara) is a young confused girl. Come to think of it, the film is itself confused. It’s neither a full-fledged lesbian romance nor a straight romance. It’s caught up in a vicious circle of its own making.


The idea of the film was what attracted me to it. However, it’s not worth the watch. Fans of these two actresses might find the film amusing. The rest of us would do well to spend our time on something of our liking.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more