Far from Heaven (2002) on Netflix
In 1957 suburban Connecticut, Cathy Whitaker seems the perfect wife and mother. One evening the police telephone her about her husband Frank, and Raymond Deagan takes over the yard work.
- Netflix3.4/5
- IMDb7.3/1051,958 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes87%
Trailer
Plot summary
Cathy Whitaker is a housewife in suburban Hartford, Connecticut, in 1957 who runs an orderly home for her husband Frank and their children. Frank is an executive at Magnatech, a company that sells television advertising. One evening the local police telephone Cathy and ask her to collect Frank, who tells her the matter is a misunderstanding. She notices an unfamiliar Black man working in the yard and goes out to confront him. He is Raymond Deagan, their late gardener's son, now taking over his father's garden work, and Cathy apologizes.
Cast
- Kyle Timothy Smithas Billy Hutchinson (as Kyle Smyth)
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Far from Heaven (2002)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Todd Haynes wrote the script picturing Julianne Moore and James Gandolfini as Cathy and Frank. Moore joined at once, but Gandolfini was unavailable because of The Sopranos, Russell Crowe believed the role was too small, and Jeff Bridges turned it down when his financial demands were not met.
- For the driving scenes the filmmakers used the rear projection process common in older films, and for one shot of Cathy driving to her daughter's ballet recital they reused an actual plate from Sirk's Written on the Wind.
- Cinematographer Edward Lachman used the same lighting techniques, lighting equipment and lens filters that a 1950s melodrama would have used, while supervising sound editor Kelley Baker used Foley to make rustling clothes and footsteps as prominent as they were in films of that era.
- Far from Heaven was the last film scored by Elmer Bernstein; the soundtrack album for it runs 46 minutes and 9 seconds.
