This film has been in just about every "top 10" list for the 2015 calendar year, as well as on just about every list of Oscar best-picture nomination predications. That alone set my expectation going into the cinema on Saturday night; I was ready for an excellent drama. I knew the basic story outline, since it was well laid out in the trailer for Carol.
Overall, I was underwhelmed.
I'm no expert of the social situation of circa 1953 lesbianism, but perhaps I have some idea. And I get that it was deep in the social taboo, Perhaps it explains why the visible display of affection between the two women was... subtle. But ultimately I would have expected more passion displayed between them, especially when the two were alone together, where those social implications could be safely ignored. In the end, there's little chemistry between the two. Maybe by design, or maybe my expectations were just no aligned correctly.
The film is lovely to look at. The cinematography is great, with some very deliberate choices made to enhance the feeling of the scenes, Callbacks to techniques from an earlier age of movie making, included lovingly and appropriately. The color scheme was muted, and the light was always low, even in daylight scenes. Again, I expect this was deliberate, not just a dim bulb in the projector at the screening.
Rotten tomatoes currently scores Carol 94% fresh, so it would seem that I'm in the tiny minority of folks who didn't really like this film.
Recommend? Meh.
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