Far From Heaven written and directed by Todd Haynes

Far From Heaven written and directed by Todd Haynes

This is an outstanding work, nominated for four Academy Awards,

Including best writing, original screenplay and four Golden Globes

A masterpiece that deals with issues like homosexuality, racism,

But also friendship, love and the arts

Cathy Whitaker is a role model mother, married to Frank, played by Dennis Quaid

The former is portrayed by the glorious Julianne Moore,

Nominated for an Oscar for this challenging role

In the eyes of their community, Cathy and Frank have the perfect marriage

But Frank is in the custody of the local police, early in the story

He is either homosexual or bisexual and seeks “treatment” for this

It was the period during which homosexuality was treated as a “perversion” and it was believed that electric shocks or other means could bring a man, probably a woman too, to the “right path”.

I venture to say that the more serious problem that Frank has, apart from his confusion and lack of resilience, is that he has a bad character.

While Cathy is trying everything she can to support and understand him, never complaining about the fact that he seems to be uninterested in her, while getting close to men, the husband becomes insulting and even humiliating:

At a party, frank gets drunk and that was a bad habit he often indulged in and when guests consider him the luckiest man in the town, because he is married to the splendid Cathy he is rude and obnoxious:

-          “Stan Fine: Frank is the luckiest guy in town!

-          Frank Whitaker: It's all smoke and mirrors, fellas. That's all it is. You should see her without her face on.”

At the same time, Cathy meets Raymond Deagan, who becomes the gardener of the Whitaker family when his father dies.

He is the role model and the real male hero of this story, with a kindness, humanity, charming personality, culture and emotional intelligence that are otherworldly- anyway do not belong to the world where he and Cathy live.

When the two meet at an art exhibition, we see that Raymond is much more than an entrepreneur, owner of a business, but also a sophisticated intellectual, far above the level of those racists who looked down upon him:

-          “Raymond Deagan: No. No, actually, it confirms something I've always wondered about modern art. Abstract art.

-          Cathy Whitaker: What's that?

-          Raymond Deagan: That perhaps it's just picking up where religious art left off, somehow trying to show you divinity. The modern artist just pares it down to the basic elements of shape and color. But when you look at that Miró, you feel it just the same.”

Cathy and Raymond become friends and go for a ride, when they are seen by one of the gossipy, hateful women of the town that alerts the “community”, which in turn not only ostracizes them, but provokes a vicious attack.

Even if the man and woman belong to different races and backgrounds, they have much more in common than with any members of their respective groups.

At one point, Cathy Whitaker has reminded me of a short story by Thomas Mann, in which the main personage talks about friendship and love as feelings that we can only find in books, since in the real world, our friends are scared by the smallest challenge and those who say they love us abandon us so often- it happens in Far From Heaven anyway:

-          “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.”