Safe | | Cast : | Julianne Moore, Xander Berkeley | | Director : | Todd Haynes | | Studio : | Columbia Tri-Star | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | June 30, 1995 | | DVD Released Date : | August 21, 2001 | | Language : | Unknown (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | March 02, 2005 | | Summary | too close to home | Content
 | I can never make up my mind about Julianne Moore. She is undeniably talented, but sometimes I just don't like her. In Safe, Moore is astounding as a woman who comes to suffer from mysterious "environmental illness". The illness grows progressively worse, and she seeks help from a variety of conventional and homeopathic doctors. The root of her problems don't seem clear, and doctors tell her she is not really sick. She drives herself crazy wondering what is wrong with her, wondering why people don't believe her. Watching her struggle and frustration was interesting because Moore embodied this frustration perfectly. At the same time, though, I felt the whole story hit too close to home for me because I had a close relative go through a similar crisis of identity/health/depression, and being the helpless bystander to what appears to be imaginary illness is incredibly difficult and frustrating. Xander Berkeley as Moore's confused husband is excellent, acting both as a concerned husband but one who runs out of options and does not understand where his wife is coming from nor necessarily who she is or who/how she needs him to be. He never quite reaches a stage of total indifference, but he is frustrated because he does not have a clue what he can do nor what she is going through. As such, this was an interesting look at dynamics in marital relations, and indeed in human relations (how people behave toward others... most perceived Moore's character to be a hypochondriac, and this colored the way they behaved toward her, for example). I would recommend this movie, although I would not say it is an uplifting choice. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 22, 2005 | | Summary | Depressing Study of Mental Viruses and Institutionalization | Content
| Nice shot composition, great performance from a young Julianne Moore (however, will her domestic-housewife-in-a-dilemma act get old?), and with a menacing realism, this movie is painful: If the fast forward button hadn't been invented I would have never have finished this one. I believe Haynes was making a statement about mental illness and institutionalization (that it doesn't work), and by substituting an environmental virus for mental illness, Haynes makes his audience feel vulnerable. But despite how successful it was in reviling and depressing me, I hated sitting through it, so I have to give the lowest recommendation. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 17, 2005 | | Summary | Visually pleasing, but what a waste!! | Content
| I wanted to like this movie, I was intrigued and it was visually beautiful, but it was so heavy handed and asked too many questions without giving any answers. How many shots of car exhausts or aerosol dispensers does the director need to make his point? Why is everybody around the main character so devoid of any emotion or compassion? Why is her life , so full of material possessions, so empty? Why is everyone at the retreat either crazy or entraced by the charismatic figure who runs the place? Surely there are people affected by this disorder who don't end up living like the bubble boy. I like Ms. Moore, but she plays this role with a "deer in the headlights" look. I don't understand all the rave reviews, I give this turkey one star. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 16, 2004 | | Summary | are you allergic to the 20th century? | Content
| Safe is a minimalist examination of heightened suburban experience told through steadfast stillness and quiet. Long shots and quiet environments make for a gracefully flaccid examination of human neuroses. Sterility is a virtue in a film concerning the virus of civilization.
Here, Julianne Moore exhibits masterful physical control in her interpretation of Carol White, an upper middle class suburban wife. Often dieting, she works out with friends, cares for her stepson, designs her home with the most modern and acceptable of furnishings, and experiences 1980s femininity. As she begins to exhibit strange flaws of health, nuances of her character begin to arise, and the film glides into examinations of society and the toxicity it can present.
It is soon discovered that Carol is allergic to her environment, prompting her to seek medical and alternative assistance to alleviate her ailments. It is decided that she will attend Wrenwood, a New Age community dedicated to the façade of assistance while manipulating the patients to believe their ailments are of their own doing. Soon trained to inflict guilt upon themselves for becoming allergic to their own environment, Carol and the other patients slowly become dependent upon Wrenwood, convinced of a helplessness and inability to survive independently. Finality is realized as she expresses empty love to the sickly vessel in her prison mirror.
Safe is an understated film with great directing, effective and often interesting lighting, wonderfully stagnant camerawork, and superb acting. Societal critiques are abound in this film that is sure to cause one's mouth to gape open while viewing. It divulges a story with steady, meditative rhythm and stillness through carefully specific cinematic devices. As an otherwise perky character endures a demise into paper-like fragility, Haynes composes a film of depth, of maturity, and of effectiveness very seldom seen in modern cinema. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 25, 2004 | | Summary | Excellent Psychological Drama with Lingering Effect | Content
| Carol White (Julianne Moore), a homemaker, lives a life without doing the daily chores of a housewife as the family maid takes care of household tasks. In essence Carol has only one responsibility: her leisure time. She tries to fill her free time with aerobics, beauty salon visits, and new acquisitions for their safeguarded home. These activities do not provide an outlet for Carol's own identity as she is a mere trophy wife. Eventually Carol's body begins to rebel against herself through nausea, headaches, and nose bleeding. The family doctor examines Carol and he finds nothing wrong as her physical miseries worsen. Carol is sent to a psychiatrist, but her subdued persona does not cooperate. Carol's health continues to deteriorate as she discovers an organization that enlightens people about environmental illness. Environmental illness is an over hypersensitivity to pollution, pesticides, and all other toxins in the environment that exist in foods, perfumes and make-up among other things. This means that Carol must remove herself from civilization and the world in which she lives. Carol departs for a new age health sanctuary, Wrenwood, where she begins her recovery. Initially Carol improves physically, however, as she comes across a closely located highway her health begins to decline again.
Safe has a lingering effect as it slowly moves forward as Haynes purposely displays each scene in order to build a deep understanding of Carol's identity. It becomes an exploration of Julianne Moore's character as Haynes dissects Carol's psychology through meticulous direction of every scene. When the scenes are edited together it leaves the audience with a profound insight of Carol's illness. This insight offers a disturbing experience as Carol's decisions continue to affect her negatively both physically and socially. Julianne Moore's performance enhances the distortion of her character's mind as she performs brilliantly, which leaves the audience with a fascinating cinematic experience. |
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