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Far from Heaven
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Far from Heaven (2002)

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User Rating: 7.5/10 (16,077 votes)
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Overview

Director:
Todd Haynes
Writer (WGA):
Todd Haynes (written by)
Release Date:
22 November 2002 (USA) more view trailer
Genre:
Drama | Romance more
Tagline:
What imprisons desires of the heart? more
Plot:
In 1950s Connecticut, a housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 73 wins & 32 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(31 articles)
Savage Grace (From The AV Club. 29 May 2008, 2:01 PM, PDT)
Julianne Moore (From The AV Club. 27 May 2008, 9:01 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Very Close to Heaven more

Cast

 (Cast overview, first billed only)

Julianne Moore ... Cathy Whitaker

Dennis Quaid ... Frank Whitaker

Dennis Haysbert ... Raymond Deagan

Patricia Clarkson ... Eleanor Fine

Viola Davis ... Sybil
James Rebhorn ... Dr. Bowman
Bette Henritze ... Mrs. Leacock

Michael Gaston ... Stan Fine

Ryan Ward ... David Whitaker

Lindsay Andretta ... Janice Whitaker

Jordan Puryear ... Sarah Deagan
Kyle Timothy Smith ... Billy Hutchinson (as Kyle Smith)
Celia Weston ... Mona Lauder

Barbara Garrick ... Doreen
Olivia Birkelund ... Nancy
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Loin du paradis (France)
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MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements, sexual content, brief violence and language.
Runtime:
107 min
Country:
France | USA
Language:
English
Colour:
Colour
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Filming Locations:
Bayonne, New Jersey, USA more
MOVIEmeter: ?
V 15% since last week why?

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Other considered titles for this film were "This Splendid Life", "Circles In The Sun", "The Surface Of Things", and "Fall From Splendor". more
Goofs:
Continuity: On the train station, when the train is leaving, a woman in purple walks between Cathy and the train. Next shot, the woman is gone. more
Quotes:
Cathy Whitaker: That was the day I stopped believing in the wild ardor of things. Perhaps in love, as well. That kind of love. The love in books and films. The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus. So often we fail at that kind of love. The world just seems too fragile a place for it. And of every other kind, life remains full. Perhaps it's just we who are too fragile. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in A Filmmaker's Experience with Julianne Moore and Todd Haynes (2003) (V) more
Soundtrack:
Eagan's Jukebox more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
69 out of 83 people found the following comment useful:-
Very Close to Heaven, 11 January 2003
10/10
Author: Josh Hitchens (purple_proze@hotmail.com) from Delaware, USA

Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven, a homage to the 1950s melodramas of Douglas Sirk, is an exquisitely crafted film of beauty and grace. The world that Haynes creates is so meticulously detailed that one almost forgets that the movie isn't fifty years old.

Julianne Moore deserves an Academy Award for her portrayal of Cathy Whitaker, a homemaker whose idyllic life begins to disintegrate when she learns that her husband is gay. Moore's Cathy is a delicate woman who would like to be courageous, but can't be because of the world that she is trapped in. As her innocence begins to die, she realizes how empty and superficial her life is. When she begins a cautious romance with her black gardener (Dennis Haysbert) she begins to see the racism and hypocrisy that forms the underbelly of a seemingly perfect world. At the end of the film Cathy has no illusions, and realizes that the life that she thought was perfect is actually a never-ending hell.

Dennis Quaid is equally stunning as Cathy's tortured husband Frank. After Cathy discovers his homosexuality, the two are forced to grapple with a truth that neither of them can comprehend. Frank goes to a doctor for "treatment," and his confession is heartbreaking. He says that he "can't let this thing, this sickness, destroy my life. I'm going to beat this thing." We look at Frank and pity him because we realize that such a feat is impossible, and unnecessary, but Frank does not possess that knowledge. Frank begins to drink more, and when he finally breaks down and tells Cathy that he has fallen in love with another man, all of the anger, shame, and joy comes pouring out of him all at once. It is a supremely moving moment, and the best performance of Quaid has ever given.

As the marriage between Cathy and Frank begins to unravel, the two also begin to fight. All of Cathy and Frank's arguments and confessions take place at night, bathed in shadows. The truth has no place in this bright, artificial world, and it must stay hidden at all costs. One night, when Frank tries to make love to Cathy and can't, Cathy tries to placate him, saying that he is "all man" to her. At that remark Frank hits her, and for a moment the audience does not breathe. Cathy then asks quietly for her husband to get her some ice. Cathy is all restraints, and it is only with her kind gardener that she has a chance to break free. The scenes between Moore and Haysbert crackle with erotic energy because everything remains unsaid. When Cathy finally asks him to dance with her, it is a moment when we realize what human beings are capable of being together.

The fourth example of stellar acting comes from Patricia Clarkson as Cathy's best friend Eleanor. Eleanor is a bitter, gossipy, cold-hearted woman, and when she tells Cathy "I am your best friend," you want to scream to Cathy not to believe her. Clarkson makes the most of her rather limited screen time, and turns in a fascinatingly layered performance.

Far From Heaven may very well be the best picture of the year. In creating an artificial world, Todd Haynes has managed to lay bare the human soul in a way that has never been done before. It is a moving and important motion picture, populated with some of the most nuanced acting I have ever seen. Cathy and Frank Whitiker may be far from heaven, but the film comes about as close to heaven as is possible.

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Precise references to Douglas Sirk movies? french-ingenue17
Julianne Moore: The Poster Child for Bad Homosexual Relationships drjulia99
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Did people really talk like that? kmluttex
The Other Man joey-117
The Most Beautiful Soundtrack I Have Ever Heard! whitegreen
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