SAFE (Haynes, 1995)
Criterion Collection, Blu-ray, Release Date Dec 9, 2014
Review by Christopher S. Long
In an early scene in “Safe” (1995),
housewife Carol White (Julianne Moore) enters her cavernous Los
Angeles home. The camera hangs back as she enters her living room and
spies something off-screen that prompts her to scream, “Oh my God!”
The film holds for a dramatic beat before finally revealing the
lurking terror just out of-sight: a new sofa that's absolutely not
the color Carol had ordered.
We soon learn that everything rattles
Carol. Spectacular in her first leading role, Moore works in
full Shelley Duvall mode, her voice a
squeak expressing a frailty and passivity that renders her all but
invisible. A truck's exhaust fumes trigger a coughing fit, a new
hairdo makes her nose bleed. She exhibits no sense of passion to
balance out the serial vulnerability either; she barely moves while
having sex with husband Greg (Xander Berkeley) and gets her biggest
transgressive thrill by eating a fruit salad on a dare from a friend.
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Carol at the doctor's |
Carol's not at all well and she gets
progressively sicker, suffering headaches and seizures. Her doctor
insists there's nothing physically wrong with her, and a team of
psychiatrists and an allergist can't pinpoint the etiology either.
Carol discovers a self-help group through a flier tacked on the
bulletin board at her spa (the setting is 1987, long before she could
have Googled her way to the nearest quack). A guru (Peter Friedman)
identifies her malady as being “environmentally ill” and she
eventually follows him to a New Mexico desert retreat with other
“chemically sensitive” people whose minds and bodies have also
rejected the world.
Director Todd Haynes's film opened to
puzzled and sometimes angry reviews before eventually being accepted
as one of the indie landmarks of the '90s. Though Haynes and
cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy stack the visual deck by constantly
situating Carol as a tiny bird trapped in a vast cage (her palatial
home would easily top $2 million on today's SoCal market), the
narrative remains frustratingly opaque. The group Carol joins
certainly seems cult-like, particularly in scenes that emphasize the
sadism at the heart of so many holistic movements based on positive
thinking where the sufferer is blamed for making themselves sick and
then tasked with healing themselves by “throwing away every
negative thought.” Yet while the guru spouts platitudes and
unsupported claims he is not portrayed as overtly malevolent, and
Carol's fellow sufferers are genuinely empathetic even if possibly
delusional. Perhaps she has finally found a place where she belongs.
It's even difficult to tell whether or
not “Safe” has a pronounced satirical bent or relates a more
straight-forward story of creeping horror in an industrialized world
full of invisible threats. It has been interpreted as an allegory for
AIDS, a critique of self-help culture (which has only become more
prevalent and witless in the ensuing twenty years), and/or as a
withering study of the consequences of crass consumerism. Mousy,
lackluster Carol is not particularly likable, but viewers who dismiss
her illness as hysteria are forced to question their own misogyny
just as those who want to buy in completely to her so-called chemical
sensitivity can't expect an easy confirmation of their biases.
Haynes's clinical approach to
melodramatic material marks “Safe” as an unusually clear-eyed
entry in the field (indie cinema, that is, not just melodrama); he is
as much scientist as story-teller here, studying the data rather than
leaping to unsubstantiated conclusions. Viewers who find wisdom in
“The Secret” or from Dr. Oz will be baffled by the
writer-director's measured skepticism. Ditto for audiences who expect
to be told how to feel about characters and events. The lack of the
usual hand-holding makes “Safe” the kind of film that continues
to percolate in the memory long after an initial viewing and to
transform on repeat screenings.
Video:
The film is presented in its original
1.85:1 aspect ratio. The color scheme is very cool, lots of muted
metallic. There aren't many eye-popping colors in this drab modern
world and there aren't meant to be. Image detail is very sharp
throughout, making for a very pleasant, slightly grainy look. A
fantastic transfer from Criterion.
Audio:
The linear PCM mono audio track has an
appropriately hollow, alienating quality. The film features a lot of
ambient electronic music (by Ed Tomney) and it's distinctly presented
here with this lossless audio. Pop songs sound good too. Optional
English subtitles support the English audio.
Extras:
Alas, Haynes's cult hit “Superstar:
The Karen Carpenter Story” (1987) is nowhere to be seen. We didn't
expect it to be, but still hoped.
The film is accompanied by an old
commentary, originally included on Sony's 2001 DVD release, featuring
Haynes, Moore, and superstar indie producer Christine Vachon. It's
more conversational than analytical but still of interest.
“The Suicide” (1978, 20 min.) is
described on the disc as the “first serious directorial effort”
by Todd Haynes. Haynes thought the short film was lost forever, but
early in 2014 discovered that a friend (one of the producers on the
film) still had a print. The print's not in great shape, as you would
expect, but it's watchable. The story centers on a troubled
middle-school student and looks very much like an early effort by a
film student eager to show off a lot of technique.
The only other extras on the disc are a
Trailer (1 min.) and two new interviews. Todd Haynes and Julianne
Moore (2014, 36 min.) reminisce about first meeting while Haynes was
casting “Safe” and their subsequent continuing collaboration.
Christina Vachon (2014, 16 min.) delivers a fantastic, insightful
interview in which she talks about her early years producing Haynes'
films and the historical context in which “Safe” was released as
well as some of the backlash the movie generated.
The slim fold-out booklet (increasingly
the default format for Criterion and not my favorite since it makes
the essays awkward to read) includes an essay by critic and
programmer Dennis Lim.
Film Value:
“Safe” grew in popularity in the
years immediately following its release and was eventually named the
film of the 1990s in a Village Voice poll. I wouldn't go that far,
but it's a sharp movie and a memorable experience with a great
performance by Julianne Moore. The extras aren't too extensive, but
the transfer looks great.
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