Todd Haynes’ bittersweet jewel has glam Cate Blanchett and ingenue Rooney Mara falling in love in the tinselly 50s, a must for sophisticated festive film fans
What’s the greatest Christmas film of all time? It’s the question that dominates the cultural discourse and the television schedules from basically mid-November each year. There are the Elf lovers; the diehard Die Hard fans; the acolytes of Miracle on 34th Street; the people living for It’s a Wonderful Life; those who will eschew nights out to watch Home Alone; and the fans who insist that the greatest Christmas film is Love Actually, actually.
I’m here to tell you that the greatest Christmas film of all time is, in fact, Todd Haynes’ Carol. It’s not a film that often comes up as a contender in the debate, and yet it has so much going to recommend it as top of the tree. (And much overlooked is that it’s literally called … carol).
