In 1957 Connecticut, a perfect suburban housewife discovers her husband is attracted to men. She leans on her Black gardener for comfort, and the town starts to talk. Todd Haynes made it as a tribute to 1950s melodramas by Douglas Sirk.
Far from Heaven is a 2002 drama and romance film directed by Todd Haynes. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 cinematography, 1 psychology and 1 narrative), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Mulholland Drive uses several of the same techniques.
Recreating the look of an earlier era's film or television using period cameras, film stock, lighting and contrast. The images feel like real records from that time or a tribute to it.
How this film uses it
Cinematographer Edward Lachman uses lighting, equipment and lens filters typical of 1950s melodramas. Haynes also reused a rear-projection plate from a Sirk film for a driving shot. The film looks like an old Technicolor picture.
Where to see it
The driving shots. A shot of a car is made with a rear-projection plate taken from Written on the Wind.
Giving specific colors to characters, groups or ideas and sticking to them through the film. Each time a color appears, it tells you something beyond what is shown.
How this film uses it
Each scene has its own color plan. Autumn oranges run through the film, blue shows up around the failing marriage, and green light marks forbidden places like the gay bar and the Black restaurant. The colors tell you how risky a place is.
Where to see it
The gay bar and the restaurant. Both places are lit in green, which marks them as spaces the neighbors would not accept.
Showing a character who holds feelings down until they leak out or burst. The performance lives in what is withheld, and the release lands harder for the wait.
How this film uses it
Cathy keeps smiling while her life breaks apart. Frank hides his desires, and Raymond has to guard his words. Everyone in this town stays polite, so the pain only shows in small moments.
Where to see it
The discovery at the office. Cathy finds Frank kissing a man, and then she carries on as if nothing has happened.
Rebuilding the style and story of an older kind of film so the new version borrows its emotion and adds issues the original avoided. You feel the old film and the new point at once.
How this film uses it
Haynes borrows Sirk's melodrama style and adds subjects those 1950s films could not show, including a gay husband and an interracial friendship. Elmer Bernstein's score and the Foley sound add to the old Hollywood feel.
Where to see it
The train station goodbye. Raymond leaves for Baltimore and he and Cathy silently wave as his train leaves.
Questions
Far from Heaven: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Far from Heaven use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Far from Heaven (2002): Period Film Look Imitation, Color Symbolism, Repressed Emotion and Genre Homage.
Who directed Far from Heaven?
Todd Haynes directed Far from Heaven, released in 2002. CineCode also covers Safe (1995), Velvet Goldmine (1998), I'm Not There (2007), Carol (2015), Wonderstruck (2017), Dark Waters (2019).
What films are similar to Far from Heaven?
Films that share techniques with Far from Heaven include Mulholland Drive (2001), Ran (1985), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), La La Land (2016).
