Cate Blanchett can play just about anything, from Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator (2004) to a Bob Dylan persona in I’m Not There (2007) and Noldorin princess Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings series. But in Todd Haynes’s new film Carol , Blanchett tries something else — playing a sad lonely housewife who longs for a life with a younger woman (played by Rooney Mara).
Carol is a beautifully told, heartbreaking story of a lesbian romance between a rich older woman going through a divorce and a naïve salesgirl in a department store. And it remains one of my favourite films of 2015, one that explored women’s stories with a lot of compassion and understanding.
2015 was a strong year for women’s roles in English and foreign language films — from Charlotte Rampling’s poignant portrayal of a woman who doubts the foundation of her marriage in 45 Years , to the Regina Casé’s much-appreciated take on a maid in an upper-middle-class Brazilian household in The Second Mother . But amidst all of these films, a few stood out.
Carol is rich with period details — the cars, the hairstyles, the clothes and the interiors of homes. But the film belongs to Blanchett who gives a heartfelt performance of a woman struggling with conventions, an unhappy and nearly dissolved marriage, her love for her child and her desire for another woman. Blanchett has such a presence in the film — the way she smiles, speaks, moves her eyes, tilts her head. Carol is another reminder of what a real movie star is and why we are enamoured of Blanchett’s acting and looks.
From France comes Mustang , an unexpected Turkish tale of female bonding — five young orphaned sisters who are locked up in their house by their grandmother and uncle who resent their free-spirited behaviour and fear that it will impair their marriage prospects. Fortunately the plucky girls have a sense of self-preservation and they find a way to brighten their lives — well, almost! To see the young girls and their personalities stifled is deeply saddening. But first-time filmmaker Deniz Gamze Erguven’s film reflects the realities of young girls in so many cultures. It is a wake-up call for people everywhere that with all the other injustices in our world, the plight of women in conservative societies also needs special attention.
Closer home to France, German filmmaker Christian Petzold revisits the post-Second World War scenario from the point of view of a singer who has been released from a concentration camp in Phoenix , released last year in Europe but this year in the U.S. In Phoenix , Petzold once again works with his favourite German actress Nina Hoss (she also acted in his Wolfsburg (2003), Yella (2008), Jerichow (2008) and Barbara (2012) to create a thriller where Hoss’s Nelly undergoes facial reconstructive surgery in order to confirm if her husband had betrayed her to the Nazis.
Hoss, as Nelly, is a glorious, elegant presence as she tries to uncover the truth amidst high drama; like Blanchett in Carol , she glows in her performance. Phoenix is a beautifully told story about a woman who wants to exorcise her past by at least learning the facts and clearing her suspicions. And Hoss is a star for the world to discover.
(Aseem Chhabra is a freelance writer.)
