Horror films come in all shapes and sizes, but one form of horror that is rarely explored is an illness. Films about illness typically revolve around a hero trying to solve a crisis or a victim overcoming incredible odds to come to terms with a sickness. But for his first major feature film, writer/director Todd Haynes turned the “disease movie” on its head. When released in 1995, [SAFE] earned little attention and decisive responses from critics who saw it. Twenty years after its release though, the film is shockingly even more relevant than its director could have imagined.
The film is set in 1987, at the tail end of a decade obsessed with objects and consumerism. In the San Fernando Valley, Haynes' camera finds Carol White (Julianne Moore), a housewife with little to do during the day but redesign her home and gab with boring friends. Her husband, Greg (Xander Berkeley), genuinely loves her dearly. They do have a son, but from Greg's first wife.
Suddenly, Carol begins feeling ill, making her daily routine difficult. She struggles at gardening and isn't sweating after a workout. Doctors tell her that she is fine and an allergy specialist can't pin-point a singular cause for her symptoms. It's starting to look like Carol's problems might be psychological.
However, Carol begins to believe that she has come down with the “20th Century Disease,” that is, she thinks she is allergic to the polluted world. While in the hospital, she sees a news story about a retreat where other people have gone to leave society behind. She becomes convinced that this is the place she needs to be.
Haynes is more like an conductor than a director, which is made obvious just by seeing this film. Every tiny element of the picture is meant to give the audience a certain feeling, even if the sum of those parts is up for debate. Upon first viewing, [SAFE] does feel like the straight portrait of a struggling woman. But there are multiple layers and themes that Haynes wants to touch on.
Carol lives in a world where human feelings and emotions are almost nonexistent. It is more important for her to have “things” than actual human contact. She has no family (that we know of) and even her own son isn't physically hers. The relationship with her husband feels more friendly than romantic, as there's clearly no desire between the two. Greg clearly wants to be there to help Carol, but it's more out of the desire to “do what's right” than to be there for the person he loves.
All that makes you wonder if Carol's physical illness is as important as her detachment from real society. She's almost like Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, in that she doesn't really have connections and the film is entirely from her perspective. Haynes never takes us out of her world, even when she's at the retreat.
Many found [SAFE] difficult when it came out, mostly because of the film's last act. We never really know if we should be happy that Carol found the retreat or sad because she may have fallen into a cult. Is it a good thing that Carol is with other people who are convinced they have the disease? Or is it wrong that she will no longer have access to people who might be able to help change her condition? But Haynes wants us to debate this. Considering Carol never really found a purpose in her life or connections, it should be seen as a good thing that she finally learned to build relationships, even if it was through her disease.
The film is also a major collaboration between filmmaker and star. [SAFE] simply doesn't work without Julianne Moore's icy performance. She creates a complete character with Carol. At times, Moore acts as if she is purposefully alienating the audience from Carol, as if the character can't even connect with us. In other scenes, Moore gets across perfectly how superficial Carol's life is. The film could be bottled up in that one scene where Carol is shocked to see that her newly-ordered couch is the wrong color. If one looks at that scene alone, you can learn everything you need to know about Carol's life before her condition. This film could not be as powerful as it is without Moore's performance.
[SAFE] is about so much more than the mystery of an illness and the horror that comes with not knowing how you got it. It's really about the horror of what can happen if you don't build strong relationships with other people for when something drastic happens in your life. The film is incredibly relevant in that way, since we think building relationships virtually is so important today. In reality, the people we meet online can't be counted to always be there in your time of need, just like the things Carol collected.
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