FAR FROM HEAVEN

'''Far from Heaven''' is a 2002, Academy Award-nominated film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Ryan Ward, Dennis Haysbert, and Patricia Clarkson.
The film tells the story of Cathy Whitaker, a 1950s housewife, living in suburban Hartford as she sees her seemingly perfect life begin to fall apart. Although it is done in the style of a classic 1950s, Douglas Sirk film (especially ''All That Heaven Allows'' and ''Imitation of Life''), it deals with complex contemporary issues such as race, sexuality, and class.

Contents

Plot

Cast

Style

Awards

Notable Awards

Soundtrack

See also

External links

Plot

Set in suburban 1950s Connecticut, the film is about Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore), the perfect wife, mother, and homemaker. Cathy is married to Frank (Dennis Quaid), a successful executive at Magnatech. The film begins with Cathy preparing for her annual party with her best friend, Eleanor Fine (Patricia Clarkson). One day, Cathy spies an unknown man walking through her garden. He turns out to be Raymond Deagon (Dennis Haysbert), the son of Cathy's late gardener.

Frank is soon being forced to stay late at the office, swamped with work. One evening, however, we see him enter a gay bar. Meanwhile, Cathy and Raymond's relationship has been growing, as they develop a friendship. On one particular night, when Frank is being forced to work late, Cathy decides to wrap up his dinner and take it to him. Unfortunately, she walks in on him and another man in a passionate embrace. Frank then begins to see psychiatrist Dr. Bowman (James Rebhorn) in the hope of being "converted back" to heterosexuality, but his relationship with Cathy is strained, and he turns to alcohol. Unable to comprehend the destruction of her marriage, Cathy turns to Raymond for comfort. She sees him at an art show, where she spends much of her day talking to him, setting the town ablaze with gossip.
As Cathy sees her once idyllic world falling apart, she begins to fall in love with Raymond, and their evident relationship has unpleasant consequences for him and his child. At the same time, Frank, unable to suppress his homosexual desires, falls in love with another man and seeks a divorce from Cathy.

Cast

★ Julianne Moore - Cathy Whitaker

★ Dennis Quaid - Frank Whitaker

★ Dennis Haysbert - Raymond Deagan

★ Patricia Clarkson - Eleanor Fine

★ Ryan Ward - David Whitaker

★ Viola Davis - Sybil

★ James Rebhorn - Dr. Bowman

★ Celia Weston - Mona Lauder

★ Ryan Ward - David Whitaker

★ Lindsay Andretta - Janice Whitaker

★ Jordan Puryear - Sarah Deagan

Style

''Far From Heaven'' is made entirely in the style of many '50s films, notably those of Douglas Sirk. Haynes created color pallettes for every scene in the film and was very careful and particular in his choices. Haynes emphasizes experience with color, in such scenes as one in which Cathy, Eleanor, and their friends are all dressed in reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and greens. Haynes also plays with the color green, using it to light forbidden and mysterious scenes. He employs this effect both in the scene where Frank visits the gay bar and when Cathy goes to the restaurant in the black part of town.
Haynes also uses shots and angles that would have been standard in Sirk's films and era. Cinematographer Edward Lachman created the 1950s "look" with the same type of lighting equipment (incandescent), lighting techniques, and lens filters that would have been used in a 1950s-era melodrama. The script employs over-the-top, melodramatic dialogue, and Elmer Bernstein's score is reminiscent of those he had composed 40 and 50 years earlier.

Awards

''Far From Heaven'' was nominated for 4 Academy Awards as well as winning 71 other awards and being nominated for another 30. In the Fourth Annual ''Village Voice'' Film Critics' Poll, ''Far From Heaven'' was voted the best picture of 2002.

Notable Awards

'Academy Awards'
Nominations

★ Best Actress in a Leading Role - Julianne Moore

★ Best Original Screenplay - Todd Haynes

★ Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman

★ Best Original Score - Elmer Bernstein
'Chicago Film Critics Association Awards'
Wins

★ Best Picture

★ Best Director - Todd Haynes

★ Best Actress - Julianne Moore

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid

★ Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman

★ Best Original Score - Elmer Bernstein
Nominations

★ Best Supporting Actress - Patricia Clarkson

★ Best Screenplay - Todd Haynes
'Golden Globes'
Nominations

★ Best Actress in a Leading Role (Drama) - Julianne Moore

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid

★ Best Screenplay - Todd Haynes

★ Best Original Score - Elmer Bernstein
'Independent Spirit Awards'
Wins

★ Best Feature

★ Best Actress -Julianne Moore

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid

★ Best Director - Todd Haynes

★ Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman
'National Board of Review'
Wins

★ Best Actress - Julianne Moore
'New York Film Critics Circle Awards'
Wins

★ Best Film

★ Best Director - Todd Haynes

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid

★ Best Supporting Actress - Patricia Clarkson

★ Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman
'Online Film Critics Society Awards'
Wins

★ Best Actress - Julianne Moore

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid

★ Best Original Screenplay - Todd Haynes

★ Best Cinematography - Edward Lachman

★ Best Art Direction

★ Best Costume Design - Sandy Powell

★ Best Original Score - Elmer Bernstein
Nominations

★ Best Picture

★ Best Director - Todd Haynes
'Screen Actors Guild Awards'
Nominations

★ Best Actress - Julianne Moore

★ Best Supporting Actor - Dennis Quaid
'Writers Guild of America Awards'
Nominations

★ Best Original Screenplay - Todd Haynes

Soundtrack

★ ''See: Far from Heaven (soundtrack).

See also

★ Queer Cinema

★ Douglas Sirk

External links

★

★ 'Beneath The Surface of Things': Interpretation and Far From Heaven, Offscreen.com.

★ toddhaynes.net : Tribute site with interviews and forum.