films | reviews | interviews | news | images | posters | store | links | webmaster |

Safe Review
A review by Damian Cannon.
Copyright © Movie Reviews UK 1997

Focusing on the peculiarly Nineties concern of becoming allergic to everything, Safe is either an important warning or a miasma of mindless psycho-babble. Carol White (Julianne Moore) inhabits a huge house, in the San Fernando Valley, with her husband Greg (Xander Berkeley) and young son Rory (Chauncey Leopardi). The grime and crime of downtown LA are a world away, as far removed from the antiseptic cleanliness of the Valley as it's possible to be. Surrounded by domestic staff, Carol pretends to be a home-maker but spends most of her time in an endless circle of coffee-mornings and aerobics sessions. In the constant drive to redecorate a new couch is delivered, an item which turns out to be black rather than teal. Like a lurking, malicious smudge which refuses to disappear, the sofa offends Carol's sensibilities and just has to go. A trip into the city soon remedies the problem but, on the freeway home, Carol finds herself trapped behind a smoke-belching truck. Overcome by an intense coughing fit, Carol dives into a car-park and gradually recovers.

Carol's personal physician has trouble explaining the attack, finding her perfectly healthy. From his purely mechanistic viewpoint Carol is fine, thus he finds himself falling back on a prescription of pills and telling her what she wants to hear. The drugs have little effect though; Carol finds herself constantly tired, irritable and withdrawn. Greg is both worried and angry over this illness, which has come between them, particularly given its lack of symptoms and definite cause. After a regular exercise session, Carol finds her gaze drawn towards a flyer which proclaims "Do you smell fumes?". Since Carol is finding herself sensitive to the smallest impurity, ranging from the overpowering LA smog to subtle aftershave, she attends one of the meetings. Finding a group of like-minded sufferers, Carol starts wearing a mask and carrying an oxygen cylinder. Various tests are carried out to determine the extent of her allergies, giving Carol impetus to actually work at, and learn about, something useful.

The response of standard medicine, represented by Carol's doctor, is to refer her to a psychiatrist. Since there's nothing physically wrong the illness must be psychosomatic, apparently. However, after a life-threatening seizure in a dry-cleaning shop, Carol is rushed to hospital. While the tests still reveal nothing, Carol looks worse than ever, having trouble breathing even the air of the hospital. Eventually Carol decides that the only solution is to get "clean" - to remove her body of its toxic load by moving to a pristine environment. This involves leaving for New Mexico and the desert retreat of Wrenwood, with the support and incomprehension of her family. In this isolated commune Carol is heartily welcomed by the director Claire (Kate Stewart) and her assistant Susan (April Grace). An extended group of people affected by Environmental Illness, the focus is on healing by recognising internal pain and dealing with it. This new-age, semi-religious philosophy grates with Carol initially but after a while she feels right at home.

In line with the film's overt agenda (that we are polluting the planet and now it's fighting back), Safe is far more concerned with the details of our environment than it is with the people living in it. The White's ostentatious house is a prime example; Carol is dwarfed by its structure, often appearing tucked away at the edge of the frame, and always insignificant. Around her the jam-packed freeways belch pollution, chemical sprays contaminate the air and the bleeps and whistles of modern-day life replace the dawn chorus. Hidden away in a financial bubble, Carol is cut off from reality even before she develops EI. The script, such that it is, leaves a great deal of room for interpretation; the blank pauses and self-aware statements could easily be satirical, yet this isn't the perceived tone of Safe. The acting is amazingly flat and inexpressive, the result of a performance by Moore which is either fantastic or abysmal. Altogether, the film never really seems to become focused on what it wants to say. Perhaps this is indicative of the the confusion rampant in our society (and our headlong rush towards the apocalypse) or maybe Safe is a pretentious, self-important and boring piece of cinema. I favour the latter.

-end-