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In the trailer for Carol, we see married woman Cate Blanchett fall for Rooney Mara in a budding lesbian relationship in 1950s New York.
Carol, directed by Todd Haynes (Velvet Godmine, Far From Heaven) is a film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt. The film takes place in 1952 and follows the story of Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), a young woman who works in a department store who gets romantic with Carol Aird (Blanchett), an elegant and older, married woman. The film also features Bloodlines' Kyle Chandler as Aird's husband and American Horror Story's Sarah Paulson as Carol's friend, Abby.
Highsmith, who herself was working at a department store at the time she wrote the novel, was inspired by a woman who frequently shopped there. The Guardian also credits Highsmith's inspiration for Carol to her former lover, Virginia Kent Catherwood, "the elegant and well-heeled socialite from Philadelphia." Highwater wrote the novel under a pseudonym, Claire Morgan.
The film premiered to rave reviews at Cannes, where, oddly enough, a number of middle-aged women were denied entry for wearing flats instead of heels. Mara tied with Emmanuelle Bercot for the Best Actress award at the film festival.
The dreamy trailer opens with the two having a first date at a restaurant, then sweeps through series of wordless scenes set to "My Foolish Heart." We see a pining Mara, a brooding Blanchett in a diner, the pair laughing, Mara crying and hints of an investigation into their love life.
In an interview with IndieWire, Mara talked about her onscreen chemistry with Blanchett, who was slated to play the titular character before Mara was hired.
"I feel like chemistry isn't something you can really predict, it's kind of a free thing that happens. It's like catching lightning in a bottle. It either happens or it doesn't. You can't create it, it's either it's just there or it's not." Mara continued, "It was really there. I felt it right away."
Carol comes out on November 20, following a screening at BFI London Film Festival's American Express Gala in October, according to Variety.
A clip from the film shows the pair eating dinner during one of their first meetings.
Another shows an infatuated Mara snapping photographs of Blanchett as she shops for a Christmas Tree.
