There have been mixed fortunes for films at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, with Gus Van Sant’s Sea Of Trees, starring Matthew McConaughey, being met with boos, while Todd Haynes’ lesbian-themed Carol, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, is getting huge buzz.
Variety is already saying the film may be one of the frontrunners at next year’s Oscar, remaking that early reaction to the movie ‘were some of the strongest of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival’.
Many are backing that sentiment, with Sasha Stone of Awards Daily commenting, “Weinstein is right in saying ‘Carol’ has the stuff. I think Hollywood will finally give Haynes the directing nod he so richly deserves. Rooney’s movie as much as Blanchett’s. Exceptional in every respect.”
Indiewire’s Anne Thompson meanwhile tweeted, “Blanchett & Mara carry Todd Haynes’ 50s lesbian romance Carol with glamorous allure. Strong contender for awards @cannes15 & beyond.”
The BBC meanwhile says the movie is ‘tipped for Cannes glory’.
While the film has been getting a brilliant response, Blanchett herself has stepped forward to clarify comments that many (incuding ourselves) took to suggest she was bisexual.
In a piece published in Variety last week, when asked about whether she had had relationships with women, Cate answered “Yes. Many times.” However it turns out this wasn’t all she said.
At a Cannes press conference she noted, “From memory, the conversation ran, ‘Have you had relationships with women?’ And I said, ‘Yes, many times. If you mean I’ve had sexual relationships with them, the answer is ‘No’ – but that obviously didn’t make it to print.
“Call me old-fashioned but I thought one’s job as an actor was not to present one’s boring, small, microscopic universe but to make a psychological connection to another character’s experiences. My own life is of no interest to anyone else. Or maybe it is. But I certainly have no interest in putting my own thoughts and opinions out there.”
Carol is about the relationship between two women in 1950s New York. One is a young department store clerk, Therese (Rooney Mara), who dreams of a better life, and the other is the older Carol (Cate Blanchett), who is trapped in a loveless marriage. However Carol’s husband (Kyle Chandler) begins to suspect what is happening. Playwright Phyllis Nagy wrote the screenplay adaptation.
It’s due for release in the US in December, which should set it up nicely for a strong Oscar run.
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