The story in short. Housewife falls for black gardener in small town 50s America, whilst her husband wrestles with his homosexuality. <*dv_2*>This is a re-working of the 1955 film All That Heaven Allows featuring Rock Hudson and Jane Wyman. Whereas that film was an examination of middle class values as widow Wyatt falls for her young gardener Hudson, Todd Haynes decides to chuck in a couple of extra themes to explore, homosexuality and race. Given the amount of issues he has to play with the film seems fatally hamstrung by the decision to set in the 50s. Whereas the original was a critique of the social mores of the day, this film has little or no insight into contemporary society. What frankly is the point of exploring the prejudices of the past? Does anyone not know that American society in the 50s was deeply conservative and its values rigorously enforced by its own citizens endless self-policing? And it is not as if these issues were not explored at the time in any number of films. <*dv_0*>The sets, costumes and photography are all beautiful. But this only serves to highlight the essential emptiness at the centre of the film. These suffocating 50s communities were all about maintaining a veneer of normality and conformity. This film too, seems preoccupied with the surface, sadly at the expense of actually doing anything remotely engaging. Far From Heaven is sadly far from interesting, in fact it is as dull the claustrophobic middle class world it portrays. |
