Safe (1995)

Director:

Todd Haynes

Writer:

Todd Haynes (written by)

Release Date:

30 June 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | Drama

Tagline:

In the 21st century nobody will be...Safe.

Plot:

"Safe" has been described as a horror movie of the soul, a description that director Todd Haynes relishes...

Plot Keywords:

Couch | Paranoia | Chronic Illness | Sickness | Aerobics

Awards:

3 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Julianne Moore	...	Carol White
Peter Friedman	...	Peter Dunning
Xander Berkeley	...	Greg White
Susan Norman	...	Linda
Kate McGregor-Stewart	...	Claire (as Kate McGregor Stewart)
Mary Carver	...	Nell
Steven Gilborn	...	Dr. Hubbard
April Grace	...	Susan
Peter Crombie	...	Dr. Reynolds
Ronnie Farer	...	Barbara
Jodie Markell	...	Anita
Lorna Scott	...	Marilyn
James LeGros	...	Chris
Dean Norris	...	Mover
Julie Burgess	...	Aerobics instructor

MPAA:

Rated R for a sex scene and brief language.

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Portugal:M/12 | UK:15 | USA:R | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

Brandeis-Bardin Institute - 1101 Pepper Tree Lane, Simi Valley, California, USA

Company:

American Playhouse Theatrical Films

Trivia:

In an outdoor restaurant scene, one of the people sitting in the background is the father of the director Todd Haynes. His sister Wendy is also in that scene.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Game-On: (#3.2)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Give Yourself To Love

brilliant depiction of suburbia and the new age movement

This is my very favorite movie, one of the scariest I've ever seen. The alienation and isolation of the suburbs come across beautifully in this film. Car culture and sprawl definitely contribute to the empty feeling one receives from following this story of a rich suburban housewife's allergic reaction to her vapid life. The mood and statement of the film are epitomized by the scene in which Carol is driving alone on the freeway, going into convulsions from "the fumes", all while the scratchy radio produces mundane religious babble. Ironically, she pulls off the road and is "saved" by the confines of a parking garage. How appropriate based upon the pigheaded tendency for urban planners to say, "Boy, this traffic is horrible, what do we do about it? I know! We'll build more parking garages!" The scratchy babble of religious radio in the scene indicates the hypocritical irrelevance of spirituality when it exists as part of a alienated consumer-driven, environmentally-destructive society. Religion, particularly the new-age movement seems to parallel the suburbs in its pretty blandness and emergence as a way for capitalists to try to redeem their souls/family life after destroying society (eg the inner city). New age and suburbia combine when Carol goes to Wrenwood (a place even more sterile and removed from reality than Carol's suburb), a healing retreat for people with environmental illness. Despite a lot of fluffy, positive talk on behalf of an AIDS victim guru, Carol's physical and spiritual condition only decline at Wrenwood--she becomes more and more like Lester, the faceless guy in the white suit (the perfect new age suburbanite) who is afraid of everything and is expected to die based on that fear.