ROBYN CLARE SCOTT - robyn@ragazine.co.uk
ALTHOUGH Far From Heaven deliberately copies the style of 1950s melodramas, its pristine surface hides a heart-wrenching tale about forbidden love.
The prim dresses, the polite children and the gleaming houses are all present, but so is insidious prejudice and hidden pain.
Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) seems to lead the perfect existence as a caring mother and neat little homemaker in a large Connecticut town, until one night she goes to fetch her husband Frank (Dennis Quaid) from the office and finds him kissing another man. From that moment onwards her world begins to collapse.
The only place she can find solace, away from her gossipy judgemental neighbours, is in the company of her black gardener, Raymond (Dennis Haysbert) who, for a time at least, brings some happiness back in to her life.
But this is the 1950s and close inter-racial friendships, let alone romantic dalliances, are not tolerated by whites or blacks.
It is made clear from the start that this film can have no easy happy end. Frank continues to struggle with his obvious homosexuality and at the same time Cathy is drawn closer and closer to Raymond despite the social danger.
In a way, the viewer is just waiting for the fall-out and it does come, of course. However, the film does not end with despair and is worth watching for the performances alone.
Dennis Haysbert and Julianne Moore are both excellent and make a touching pairing, generating huge amount of pathos as Far From Heaven moves towards it rather inevitable resolution.
The message of the film still has obvious resonance today. It would be good if we had moved far away from the small-mindedness of the 1950s but you don’t have to look hard to see evidence of prejudice in our modern world and the film worthily helps to remind us of the damage it can cause.
