Safe (1995 Film)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Safe'' is a 1995 American psychological drama film written and directed by
Todd Haynes Todd Haynes (; born January 2, 1961) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films span four decades with themes examining the personalities of well-known musicians, dysfunctional and dystopian societies, and blurred gender ...
. The film stars
Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...
, Peter Friedman,
Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His films include ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991), ''Candyman ...
, and James LeGros. Set in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
in 1987, it follows Carol White (Moore), a suburban housewife whose monotonous life abruptly changes when she becomes sick with a mysterious illness which she believes is caused by the environment around her.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began in Los Angeles on January 3, 1994, and concluded on February 13. ''Safe'' premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
on January 25, 1995, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 30. Despite underperforming commercially, the film received critical acclaim, with particular praise for Moore's performance. It received four nominations at the 11th Independent Spirit Awards, Best Feature, Best Female Lead for Moore, and Best Director and Best Screenplay for Haynes. ''Safe'' topped the "best film of the 1990s" poll by ''The Village Voice'', and was described by critics as "the scariest film of the year", "a mesmerizing horror movie", and "a work of
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
counter-cinema". In 2015, Haynes said that the themes explored throughout the film, disease and immunity in a post-industrial landscape and how recovery is a burden often placed on victims of illness, were even more relevant than they were at the time of its release.


Plot

In 1987, Carol White is a housewife living in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles with her husband Greg and stepson Rory. She spends her days gardening, doing aerobics, and meeting friends. Her marriage and family life appear stable but sterile, and her friends are polite but distant. After the family's home is renovated, Carol begins experiencing physical symptoms in everyday situations: She coughs uncontrollably when exposed to exhaust fumes from a nearby truck while driving, suffers a panic attack at a baby shower, and has a nosebleed while getting a perm at a hair salon. As her symptoms worsen, she becomes convinced that they are triggered by exposure to chemicals. Finally, she collapses while at her dry cleaners, which is being fumigated with pesticides. Doctors are unable to diagnose or treat Carol and state that she is physically healthy. She attends psychotherapy sessions, but her symptoms do not improve. She finds herself very alone with her condition, as her community remains indifferent to her suffering. While hospitalized, Carol watches an advertisement for Wrenwood, a new-age desert community for people with "environmental illnesses." The commune is led by Peter Dunning, an author who encourages residents to use self-help techniques. Realizing that she can no longer function in her current life, she leaves everything behind and moves to Wrenwood. Even in a community of people who are friendly towards her and suffer from similar health problems, Carol becomes increasingly isolated despite claiming that she is getting better. Lesions appear on her face and she increasingly relies on an oxygen tank. Eventually, she moves into an insulated dome separated from the rest of the community. There, as a "treatment" suggested by others in the commune, she looks into a mirror and repeats, "I love you" to herself.


Cast

*
Julianne Moore Julie Anne Smith (born December 3, 1960), known professionally as Julianne Moore, is an American actress and children's author. Prolific in film since the early 1990s, she is known for her portrayals of emotionally troubled women in independent ...
as Carol White * Peter Friedman as Peter Dunning *
Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His films include ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' (1991), ''Candyman ...
as Greg White * Chauncey Leopardi (credited as Chauncy Leopardi) as Rory White * James LeGros as Chris * Martha Velez as Fulvia * Susan Norman as Linda * Kate McGregor-Stewart as Claire * Mary Carver as Nell *
Steven Gilborn Steven Neil Gilborn (July 15, 1936 – January 2, 2009) was an American actor and educator. He portrayed Harold Morgan on ''Ellen''. Gilborn was born in New Rochelle, New York. He attended Swarthmore College, where he was awarded a bachelor ...
as Dr. Hubbard * Peter Crombie as Dr. Reynolds * April Grace as Susan * Lorna Scott as Marilyn * Jodie Markell as Anita * Brandon Cruz as Steve * Dean Norris as Mover *
Jessica Harper Jessica Randolph Harper (born October 3, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Harper began her feature film career with a starring role in Brian De Palma's '' Phantom of the Paradise'' (1974), and subsequently featured in films including '' ...
as Joyce *
Beth Grant Beth Grant (born September 18, 1949) is an American character actor, character actress. Between 2012 and 2017, she was a series regular on the television comedy ''The Mindy Project'' in the role of Beverly Janoszewski. She is also known for her ...
as Becky * Rio Hackford as Lester


Production

Haynes first heard about "environmental illness" in 1991 on a TV magazine program that referred to it as "20th Century Disease". He and producer Vachon interviewed organizations that advocate for people who have environmental illness, such as Response Team for the Chemically Injured in Atascadero, California and The Chemical Connection in Wimberley, Texas, and in fact the monologue that Carol gives during her birthday party was based on transcripts of one of the interviews from Wimberley. Haynes also did research into
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
healing practices, and was especially interested in the work of Louise Hay, whose books became popular among gay men during the
AIDS epidemic The global pandemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), by 2023, HIV/AIDS ...
by telling them that self-love would heal their illness. The fictional Wrenwood was inspired by a yoga retreat at Kripalu Center. He also got inspiration from ''
Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles ''Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles'' (, "Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels") is a 1975 film written and directed by Belgian filmmaker Chantal Akerman. It was filmed over five weeks on location in Brussels, and f ...
'', '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' and '' The Boy in the Plastic Bubble''. For the script, Haynes has said that the conceptual origin involved setting up barriers that prevent the audience from getting emotionally close to the character of Carol, which was a concept he explored again in ''
Far from Heaven ''Far from Heaven'' is a 2002 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert and Patricia Clarkson. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Moore won the ...
''. He used political red herrings to make the audience trust certain characters at first, such as the leader of Wrenwood being a gay man. Since Haynes himself is gay, he thought the audience would expect the gay character to be trustworthy. For the role of Carol, Haynes was initially interested in Susan Norman—who was later cast as Linda instead—but Julianne Moore's agent reached out to Vachon and insisted on an interview with her for the role. Moore knew exactly how to play the character of Carol as soon as she read the script: "I wanted the character to not put any weight on her larynx at all", so that's what she did in the audition that won her the part. Cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy suggested the look of '' Red Desert'' to Haynes after reading the script, and together they decided never to let the camera get very close to any of the characters as a way to keep emotional distance. Potential investors wanted him to replicate the elements that had worked well in Haynes' previous film ''
Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...
'', but since this film was different in so many ways, it took a long time to find the funding for it. The budget was around $1 million. Finally, filming began on January 1, 1994, in Los Angeles, and lasted 6 weeks. For the film's premiere at Sundance, Haynes had removed the shot of Peter's mansion, but put it back in after hearing audience feedback because he wanted to emphasize Peter's hypocrisy. Ultimately, the film presents no answer for her illness or predicament. Her condition is given no name in the film, but director Haynes confirmed that it is a depiction of
multiple chemical sensitivity Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is an unrecognized and controversial diagnosis characterized by chronic symptoms attributed to exposure to low levels of commonly used chemicals. Symptoms are typically vagueness, vague and non-specific sympt ...
. He also said that Carol's isolation was both the answer and the problem for her.


Release

The film had its world premiere at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
on January 25, 1995. There were reports of people walking out of the theater because they didn't understand the movie. Vachon has said that critics at the premiere were mixed about the film, but by the end of the decade many had come around to it and placed the film among the decade's best. In May of 1995, it played at the 48th Cannes Film Festival in the
Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (, formerly ) is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. It was started in 1969 by the French Directors Guild after the events of May 1968 resulted in cancellation of the Cannes festival as a ...
section.
Sony Pictures Classics Sony Pictures Classics Inc. is an American arthouse film production and distribution company that is a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. It was founded in 1992 by former Orion Classics heads Michael Barker, Tom Bernard and Marcie Bloo ...
acquired distribution rights to the film and released the film in a
limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
on June 23, 1995.


Reception and legacy


Critical response

''Safe'' received positive reviews from critics.
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports 87% approval based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Safes eerie social satire and somewhat sterile stylization is balanced by comedic undertones and an impressive, understated performance from Julianne Moore." The film also holds a score of 76/100 on
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
.
Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...
, writing in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', lauds the first half of the film, but concludes that, as "brilliantly as it begins, ''Safe'' eventually succumbs to its own modern malady, as the film maker insists on a chilly ambiguity that breeds more detachment than interest ... Mr. Haynes makes fools of ... he film's New Agers while possibly embracing some of their views." Another problem, according to Maslin, is that "the shadow of AIDS implicitly hangs over … arol'sdecline, but it doesn't help bring ''Safe'' to a conclusion worthy of its inspired beginning." The ending of the film is highly ambiguous, and has created considerable debate among critics and audiences as to whether Carol has emancipated herself, or simply traded one form of suffocation for an equally constricting identity as a reclusive invalid. Julie Grossman argues in her article "The Trouble with Carol" that Haynes concludes the film as a challenge to traditional Hollywood film narratives of the heroine taking charge of her life, and that Haynes sets Carol up as the victim both of a male-dominated society, and also of an equally debilitating
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is "a focus on self-guided, in contrast to professionally guided, efforts to cope with life problems" —economically, physically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. When ...
culture that encourages patients to take sole responsibility for their illness and recovery. Carol's illness, although unidentified, has been seen as an analogy for the 1980s
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
crisis, a similarly uncomfortable and largely unspoken "threat" during the
Reagan presidency Ronald Reagan's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 40th president of the United States began with First inauguration of Ronald Reagan, his first inauguration on January 20, 1981, and ended on January 20, 1989. Reagan, a Rep ...
.


Accolades

''Safe'' received seven votes in the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's 2012 ''
Sight & Sound ''Sight and Sound'' (formerly written ''Sight & Sound'') is a monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). Since 1952, it has conducted the well-known decennial ''Sight and Sound'' Poll of the Greatest Films of All Time. ...
'' poll of the greatest films – with five votes from critics and two from directors – ranking it 323rd and 322nd, respectively. The movie was widely critically acclaimed. It gave Moore her first leading role in a feature film and gave Haynes a measure of mainstream critical recognition. *
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...
- Nominated for Best Director (Todd Haynes), Best Feature, Best Female Lead (Julianne Moore), and Best Screenplay (Todd Haynes)11th annual Spirit Awards ceremony - FULL SHOW, 1996, Film Independent on YouTube
/ref> *
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...
- Best Cinematography - Alex Nepomniaschy * 1995
Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) is a film festival held annually in Seattle, Washington, United States, since 1976. It usually takes place in late May and/or early June. It is one of the largest festivals in the world, and feature ...
- American Independent Award - Todd Haynes * 1996
Rotterdam International Film Festival International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
- FIPRESCI Prize Special Mention - Todd Haynes * 1999 Village Voice Film Poll - Winner VVFP - Award Best Film of the Decade


References


External links

* * *
''Safe'' on the Criterion Channel
*
Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Safe (1995 film) 1990s American films 1990s British films 1990s English-language films 1990s psychological drama films 1995 films 1995 drama films 1995 independent films American independent films American Playhouse American psychological films American psychological drama films British psychological films British psychological drama films English-language independent films Environmental films Film4 Productions films Films about diseases and disorders Films about psychiatry Films directed by Todd Haynes Films produced by Christine Vachon Films set in the 1980s Films set in 1987 Films set in California Films set in the San Fernando Valley Killer Films films Sony Pictures Classics films English-language drama films