Film
Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara play secret lovers in Carol, Todd Haynes’s sumptuous 2015 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s semi-autobiographical novel The Price of Salt. In 1950s Manhattan, Therese (Mara) is an aspiring photographer working in the toy section of a department store for the Christmas season. There, she meets the glamorous Carol (Blanchett), who is buying a doll for her daughter. Their chemistry is instant; an excuse to further meet is proffered when Carol leaves behind a pair of leather gloves. They share furtive, longing glances across the snow, have tête-à-têtes in the booths of cosy diners and reflect on failing relationships with men at holiday parties. The romance is slow burning and exquisite, the city blanketed with snow and lashed with rain, the cold-weather costuming immaculate. Rebecca Liu
