Safe
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Movie Reviews of Safe
Movie Review: Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
I received the DVD promptly and in very new condition.Movie Review: YES!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the most unforgetable movie I have ever seen.Movie Review: This film will linger on you
Summary: 4 Stars
"Safe" is a paranoid tale about the "disease of the 20th century". I've seen this film twice; it is a highly acclaimed film that deserves a careful viewing. Now people will complain that nothing happens in it, and I understand that reaction. "Safe" is not plot-centered and it isn't even character-centered, but it is a film that is symptomatic of our times- which in other words means it could care less about Hollywood notions of pacing and storytelling technique.
Unlike most films, the protagonist is a passive character and this ironically demands the viewer to be more active in making sense of what's going on. Carol White experiences a harsh allergic reaction to our environment, she simply can't breathe in it anymore. She doesn't understand her disease until she arrives at a clinic commune called Wrenwood, located in the desert. Though Carol is among people suffering from her sickness, her emotional connection with the patients there is superficial and uninspiring. And this is what part of the film is about: Carol's inability to connect. She is isolated, cold and degenerating. She is emotionally vacant, helpless and vapid even before the onslaught of her disease. Her character is frustrating because she has no opinions or purpose. She is a homemaker who hires a maid to do her work.
But then there's the second part, the actual disease.
On first viewing, I thought the concept was crazy. This can't be a true epidemic. Carol White and her ailing community are filled with maniacs, people who sing schmaltzy songs about love and inner healing that can't cope in our real world. On second viewing, I was curious about the "disease". Sure enough, EI, environmental illness, does exist and I, like Carol White's husband and neighbors, just couldn't believe it. How can the immune system become so weak seemingly overnight? How can living in our environment yield such an allergic and fatal reaction? Think of the consequences of that: terrifying.
Does "Safe" predict the possibility of the end of human civilization on Earth, first experienced by highly sensitive people and then perhaps spreading to the rest of us, a full-scale epidemic of a silent killer- chemicals, toxins, all around us? The likelihood of this happening is low. But the thought of it is enough to box us in our own safe house and become paranoid, OCD recluses like Howard Hughes.
Now, I am not the paranoid type. But the possiblilty... the possiblity breaks me into shivers.
Movie Review: Excellent Psychological Drama with Lingering Effect
Summary: 4 Stars
Carol White (Julianne Moore), a homemaker, lives a life without doing the daily chores of a housewife as the family maid takes care of household tasks. In essence Carol has only one responsibility: her leisure time. She tries to fill her free time with aerobics, beauty salon visits, and new acquisitions for their safeguarded home. These activities do not provide an outlet for Carol's own identity as she is a mere trophy wife. Eventually Carol's body begins to rebel against herself through nausea, headaches, and nose bleeding. The family doctor examines Carol and he finds nothing wrong as her physical miseries worsen. Carol is sent to a psychiatrist, but her subdued persona does not cooperate. Carol's health continues to deteriorate as she discovers an organization that enlightens people about environmental illness. Environmental illness is an over hypersensitivity to pollution, pesticides, and all other toxins in the environment that exist in foods, perfumes and make-up among other things. This means that Carol must remove herself from civilization and the world in which she lives. Carol departs for a new age health sanctuary, Wrenwood, where she begins her recovery. Initially Carol improves physically, however, as she comes across a closely located highway her health begins to decline again.Safe has a lingering effect as it slowly moves forward as Haynes purposely displays each scene in order to build a deep understanding of Carol's identity. It becomes an exploration of Julianne Moore's character as Haynes dissects Carol's psychology through meticulous direction of every scene. When the scenes are edited together it leaves the audience with a profound insight of Carol's illness. This insight offers a disturbing experience as Carol's decisions continue to affect her negatively both physically and socially. Julianne Moore's performance enhances the distortion of her character's mind as she performs brilliantly, which leaves the audience with a fascinating cinematic experience.
Movie Review: Can't wait to see Far From Heaven!
Summary: 4 Stars
I had to watch Safe twice to make something out of it. I didn't know what to think of it while watching it the first time because I had no idea where it was leading. At the back of my mind I kept wondering how they'll end this film, so all I could do was take in each moment. But when I finally got to the end where she says to herself, "I love you", I thought, that was kind of funny! And the more I thought about it, looking back on the film, the more I realized how funny it was. I appreciated it much better watching it the second time.The impression I got from it was that it was a satire on our society. People are so individualistic and involved in themselves that they close themselves off from everyone else. Julianne Moore's character, Carol White, takes it to the extreme. She lives a meaningless life, trying unhappily to fit into her social role, until one day when she learns of a place where people can be themselves and get better. They don't need to deal with the rest of society anymore, they just need to take care of themselves.
It's a pretty funny film if you see the satire in it. And it's really spiffy how the director takes certain shots. In one scene, you can see how much Carol White is turning into a mannequin of society. (As in, how her social role overtakes her.) The director shows her standing in the middle of a room in her house, and she's almost camouflouged with the furniture and decor, like the model housewife she is. Her husband stands on the other side of the room dressed in a sharp business suit completely blending in with his side as well, like the perfect businessman he is.
Spiffy, ain't it?
Anyway, it's a great film. I wouldn't recommend it if you want to watch something for big laughs...the humour is subtle, but the idea is quite clever and perhaps something that not many people would be aware of because many of us live in that world right now.