24 out of 24 people found the following review helpful:

Peerless

Al80 from , 8th August, 2007

Todd Haynes' cold, hard allegorical horror movie is a masterpiece. Ostensibly telling the story of an over-privileged Los Angeles housewife who slowly becomes allergic to living in the 20th century, this deceptive, slow-burning tale has been taken by many to be a metaphorical AIDS parable. Although it works, quite brilliantly, on that level, the suggestion that the focal illness is nothing more than psychosis, brought about by the complete lack of significance in the affluent, robotic, Stepford-esque set of scheduled routines that Carol (Julianne Moore) calls her life, is a far richer and more compelling interpretation. Regardless, subtext is not essential to the film's success, as it works quite wonderfully with or without it. Haynes' flourishes, particularly in the opening 40 minutes, are astonishing; the clinical, disengaged long-shot camerawork makes the whole film seem as if it is being viewed from a laboratory; the queasy, ever-present hum of air conditioning units and distant road traffic on the soundtrack during the interior sequences, vividly create a world rammed to the ceilings with potential disease; and the use of bland, almost lavatorial industrialized inner-city locations not only highlights everyone's complete separation from nature, but also visualises Carol's complete social and psychological isolation. The haunting, retro electronic score (which wouldn't sound out of place in an early Romero picture) is both aptly synthetic and quietly chilling, and Julianne Moore as the delicate, waspish Carol, gives absolutely nothing less than the performance of a lifetime. If all this sounds high-minded and conceited, its not; this is pure, resplendent cinema, and one of the defining films of its decade. It is, quite possibly, also the finest.

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17 out of 18 people found the following review helpful:

Moore is superb in a fascinating indie film

Motta80 from West Sussex, 26th July, 2004

What a stunning film.

People who have seen Far From Heaven will know of the greatness Julianne Moore and director Todd Haynes can achieve together. Safe is their first collaboration and a fascinating one.

Moore is amazing and seems to go through physical transformation in the part. She captures the anxiety of the character, stuck in a hopeless situation, brilliantly.

The script is well constructed and multi-layered. Haynes explores a subject ever more relevant to today's society.

The commentary track on the DVD is very interesting. Moore, Haynes and producer Christine Vachon all discuss their areas of expertise with regards the film and reveal some startling facts - it was astonishingly low budget for such a beautifully made piece.

Check it out.

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13 out of 15 people found the following review helpful:

One of the most thought-provoking films ever

abingdonfilmlover from , 21st January, 2005

I absolutely loved this. The period (1987) is realised perfectly through music, the framing is exquisite and Moore acts so well it is impossible to believe you are not watching a documentary so deeply does she inhabit this poor woman.

No spoilers - but as you watch reflect on how this film could be a parable for the experience of being gay, our responsibility to ourselves and what it means to live successfully.

This quiet film will live with you for days afterwards. I'd definitely watch it twice.

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7 out of 7 people found the following review helpful:

self-obsessed drivel!

A Customer from Bournemouth,England., 27th August, 2008

Todd Haynes can be a brilliant director;but this,his first(?) movie is downright awful.It's NOT an allegory for Aids,it's NOT a take on 80's suburban L.A.,it's just not anything!A portrait of a boring,self-pitying,self-obsessed 'Stepford wife'.We had a good chat while this dribbled past in the background...like a dying fire!Thank the gods of film that Todd Haynes went on to make truly great cinema.But...give this a wide berth...you have been warned!!!

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Strange

MiniDot from , 16th November, 2009

I didn't enjoy this film and eventually switched it off after 45 minutes. Found the camera work to far away and wasn't very sure what the point was to be honest! Very strange. Disappointed as I really like Julianne Moore

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Safe to say it's awful

A Customer from Morpeth, 20th March, 2009

Probably is the things the good reviews say it is too, but slow, boring, tedious.......you get the picture! Unwatchable, really.

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2 out of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

AMB from , 11th October, 2008

Maybe it was meant to be a campaigning film. After 1 hour nothing much happened so I had an early night. Film quality was poor, as though they had used discount or out of date film. Other than that, just slow and boring.

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Safe No spoilers!!

A Customer from gravesend, 28th September, 2008

No spoilers!! Superb acting from Julianne Moore who almost becomes the main character Carol' a suburban housewife whose life descends into pitiful illness apparantly caused by the enviroment.There are other darker issues at work and certainly carol seems already detached from her almost surreal surroundings before the onset of the illness.Wonderful photography`and direction helps the horror build and gradually take you down a notch at a time accompanying carol on her journey.The terminator-esque score adds to the sense of(un)reality and fits like a glove.There is a strong lesson to be learned from the scenes at the retreat .I'll leave it to Ralph Waldo Emerson-'a person becomes what they think about all day long'

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