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Reviewer: Nate Clarke
Warning - Spoilers Some critics have proclaimed Far From Heaven as the best movie of 1957. Set in the 50's and drawing heavily on the filmmaking of iconoclasts like Douglas Sirk, it would be easy to dismiss Far From Heaven as a homage to an archaic film style. However, to do so would be to miss an important and imperative message that the church and its members must hear and consider. At first glance, this is a story about hidden lives and the masks we wear to conceal our secrets. Julianne Moore and Dennis Quaid play Cathy and Frank Whitaker. Frank is a successful sales executive for the Magnatech Corporation and Cathy is his wife who embodies the saying that, "behind every great man is a great woman." She is front-page material for the Weekly Gazette's features on the social landscape of suburban Connecticut. She throws parties that are the envy of the community, she is featured with her husband in advertisements for Magnatech — she has the perfect suburban lifestyle complete with two lovely young children. But below the Cleaver veneer of catered dinners, perfect make up and "aw shucks," is a burbling volcano waiting to explode. Her husband is becoming distant and spending more late nights at work thus creating an emotional void in Cathy's life. Their relationship begins to crumble when Cathy finds her husband kissing another man at work. After the initial dust settles, Frank confesses to his wife that he, "knows it's a sickness. It makes me feel despicable." Cathy, as part of her quest to keep the suburban image together, goes with Frank to a doctor who advises there is only a "five to thirty percent success rate for heterosexual conversion." Cathy's optimism is countered by Frank's frustration. This "sickness" will begin the end of their relationship. Todd Haynes, the director, never pulls us out of this 50's landscape. There is no expectation that the characters should act any differently than any other suburban denizen of 1957. We expect them to identify homosexuality as a curable sickness. We expect the children to declare, "jeepers" when told to do their homework. There is no proverbial wink to the audience. Haynes faithfully and honestly constructs a stylized world for these characters to inhabit and then allows them to live in it. They are not to be judged by today's standards, but by those of their time. As the Whitaker's marriage continues to fall apart, Cathy is unable to find support in her friendships with women — that would mean having to expose the sin of Frank. Yet her need for companionship and comfort persists and even increases as Frank becomes violent. Desperate, Cathy stumbles into Raymond Deagan (Dennis Haysbert), her gardener and a black man. Raymond is an enigma to Cathy. He is educated, owns a small business, and poetically talks about the transcendent nature of modern art. Cathy is drawn to him, yet her attraction is not as much sexual as it is desperate. As their relationship develops Cathy has found someone with whom she can confide. Deagan tells her, "sometimes it's the people outside our world we confide in best." This relationship becomes a lifeline to Cathy, but her community begins to draw in around her in judgement. As Cathy is gradually ostracized by her community both her and Raymond's children are affected, the victims of violence and peer mocking. Frank confronts his wife about her supposed soirées. "The whole town is talking," he yells, "Don't you realize the effect this will have on me?" At that moment, we see everything as it is. Two people desperate for connection. Cathy is trying to keep her life together. Yet Frank only considers himself, his own pleasures and his own career. As Cathy and Frank deal with the secrecy of their private lives their marriage continues to disintegrate along with their suburban dream. At a dinner party, a drunk Frank declares about his wife's beauty, "It's all smoke and mirrors, you should see her without her face on." That which both Frank and Cathy have worked so hard to build is quickly falling apart. There is a brief respite of new hope in the New Year, but as the singing of Auld Lang Syne commences, Frank's affections are re-ignited by another man. Shortly after, Frank can no longer hide his homosexuality and asks for a divorce. It would be short sighted to think this is a film only about homosexuality and racism. Surely these cultural hotspots are the framework on which the story is constructed and by placing this film in the 50's, we more clearly see overt social attitudes. However, there are more important concepts that grabbed me while watching this film. What are the sins of each of the characters? From my perspective, Cathy's transgressions are minimal. Beyond the issues of conformity and appearance, her "sin" is longing for connection. Her actions were not necessarily noble or admirable, but who can blame her in the face of such turmoil. There is something understandable about what she does. For Frank, the issue is deep-rooted selfishness. While Raymond Deagan makes hard decisions based on, "What is right for the children," Frank engages in avoidance, calling Cathy, after their separation, late at night so he wouldn't upset the children. Cathy reminds Frank that, "You never could remember my carpool days." That is the rub for Frank. He cared little for others, only for himself. The other interesting juxtaposition of this film (and for me, where the personal power and message of this film lies) is how the community reacts to Cathy and Frank. In the 50's both Cathy and Frank engage in social and moral transgressions. I believe the director is hoping to identify these behaviors as merely social with no moral implications. As an Evangelical Christian, this places me in a difficult situation as from my point of view there are actions in which each character engage that are morally (and spiritually) questionable. In addition, we can make the same comment about the community's reactions to Cathy and Frank. Cathy breaks (in my perspective), a social code and is vilified. Frank breaks a moral code (on numerous levels) but is able to escape communal retribution (in fairness this is partly due to the secrecy he is able to maintain). Nowhere is this clearer than in Cathy's confession to her closest friend, Eleanor Fine (Patricia Clarkson). Cathy's description of Frank's "sickness" leads to empathy from Eleanor. However, her subsequent revelation about a relationship (that is not even sexual) with a black man leads to anger, spite and withdrawal from a person who earlier claimed to be a close friend in whom Cathy could confide. Far From Heaven shows us how social transgressions can often be confused with moral sins and thus condemned just as rigorously, equal to the judgement one might lap on a Biblical sin. We are part of a society that attempts to create restrictions that are grounded in moral rhetoric. However, upon deeper investigation, we see that some of these rules (in this instance inter-racial relationships) are products of our lack of comfort with a reality outside of our experience. So we have a list of social transgressions that from a communal perspective carry similar moral weight with Biblical regulations. Beyond that, it becomes easier for us to aggressively pursue judgement concerning social transgressions. When we are like this suburban community and judge a break in the social code, we feel better about ourselves since we are not the transgressors. However, to honestly deal with moral sins in community means to deal with our own sin. I am reminded of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus chastises the men who wished to stone her for her moral sin (however legitimate their observation may be) due to their lack of personal introspection. Grappling honestly in community with deep rooted sin requires personal examination, lest we become the judged. To confront social transgressions is easy, no matter how wrong our perspective may be. To confront deep rooted sins like self-centeredness and adultery means exposing ourselves as we seek healing in community. Such healing should be the goal, not condemnation. As the film closes, we are shown a crane shot pulling up from the train station, a mirror of a shot that opened the film. In that opening sequence fall is beginning as Cathy enters an autumn and winter season of her life. As it closes, winter is just beginning to give way to the blooming Dogwoods of spring. Cathy has experienced so much loss in her life. But this final shot of the genesis of spring leaves us with a pinch of hope. Through this experience she has learned to be honest with herself and her community. She is no longer a slave to the image conscious suburban life. She is now free. It was a painful process, but this pain has led her out of restriction and into freedom. Far From Heaven is successful on several layers. It is beautifully filmed, it is historically faithful, and it deals with complex issues in a manner that is honest. It is a shame that it has not been nominated for a best picture Oscar. On the other hand it spares this film from the politicizing and campaigning of Oscar season. On one final personal note, it is my favorite film of 2002.
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