Films don’t get much more anticipated than the latest from Todd Haynes. An adaptation of Patricia Highsmith‘s novel, The Price of Salt, Carol follows a romance between two New York women in the 1950s, played by Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett. With the former earning a Best Actress prize at Cannes (shared with Emmanuelle Bercot of Mon Roi), the film will stop by the New York Film Festival before hitting U.S. theaters on November 20th and today brings the first two full trailers.
We said in our glowing review, “Over the course of their blossoming relationship, the balance doesn’t so much shift as grow more elaborate, and the nuances in their characters remain the film’s primary focus. In portraying a homosexual relationship in the 1950s, Haynes isn’t interested in overt commentary. The specificities of the era in this regard are incorporated but always as a means of fleshing-out the protagonists. For instance, Carol’s husband’s (Kyle Chandler) attempts at keeping full custody of their daughter in their divorce on the basis of a “morality clause” serves to foster Carol’s fortitude and advance her in the consolidation of her identity.”
For more on the film, including a recent talk with Haynes and Mara, the soundtrack, a radio-play adaptation and much more, click here.
In an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s seminal novel The Price of Salt, CAROL follows two women from very different backgrounds who find themselves in an unexpected love affair in 1950s New York. As conventional norms of the time challenge their undeniable attraction, an honest story emerges to reveal the resilience of the heart in the face of change.
A young woman in her 20s, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), is a clerk working in a Manhattan department store and dreaming of a more fulfilling life when she meets Carol (Cate Blanchett), an alluring woman trapped in a loveless, convenient marriage. As an immediate connection sparks between them, the innocence of their first encounter dims and their connection deepens.
While Carol breaks free from the confines of marriage, her husband (Kyle Chandler) begins to question her competence as a mother as her involvement with Therese and close relationship with her best friend Abby (Sarah Paulson) come to light. Carol is directed by Todd Haynes and written by Phyllis Nagy with moving performances from Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Kyle Chandler, Jake Lacy and Cory Michael Smith.
Carol opens on November 20th.