(a Safe: Nowhere to Hide afebegins with journey home, an eve ge through frictionless ‘world, From inside a black Mercedes beneath a deep he dusk ky, we oe pst the manicured lawns and iridescent stret amps ofa moneyed suburb inch San Fernando Valle. The swelling synthesizer hum onthe soundtrack gives this raelingshota science ition sheen, the sense of ‘raversingan alin landscape. The mood is aminous even funeral, and our destination, which les behind siding elocte gate isa mansion ss welcoming asa mausoleum. The fins proagonst, Carl White, ep outof he canto her garage and sneezes, portent of maladies to come, The fist words from her mouth are complaint that sounds ike an apology: e's Sreezngin here” Toward the end of Sa Carols gun heading home, this time hundreds of miles away.in the still the New Mexico desert Homes ‘no longer faux Tudor behemoth buther very own windowless porcelain dome, where she has retreated, oxygen takin tow, ina ido stave ofthe ambient contaminants that may be makinger sick. The fist homes opulent, the second one spartan; both are designed to keep out the world, safe havens that areabo prisons of the self Anexistential horror movie in which the monsters bth all around sand nowhere tobe seen Saf (1998) marke a turning pointin he carer of Todd Haynes, who came to notoriety with the frty-three-minutecuthit Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story 987), an unauthorized account of ‘Karen Carpenter's losing battle with anorexia shotin Super and starving a castof Barbie dlls. graduate of Brown University who majored in art and Semiotics inthe heyday of postmodernist deconstruction, and an ACT UP sctist at the height ofthe AIDS crisis, Haynes sparked contovery again with is fist feature, Poison (90D, a Gene inspired triptych ofstores about transgression an stigma that won prizes a Sundance, jump started what came tobe known as the New Queer Cinema, and, thanks to a.completion ‘grant from the National Endowment forthe Ars became lightning rd in QRaAemerginginco major stardom, moved Haynes beyond the ole of ‘roublemaking iconoclast. The American independent fm scene of the nineties, fueled by the Sundance boom, wasa hotbed f rossover ambition Unlike most of his peers though, Haynes sought not be assim into ‘he mainstream but to infiltrate. nthe two decades since he has carved uta continually surpisingand somewhat improbable career smugeling ‘es from rte hoon into of Hollywood entertainments, Using the ‘vernacular of mass cuiture against itself his moviesare queer not necesarily in content but certainly inform, Superstar encapsulates the wo types lms we have ome to associate with Haynes: essayistean-biopies of pop icons and cerebral ifs he melodramatic genre that Hollywood used tcl women’s pictures (and he himself as termed stories about women inhouses", Whether they ft the Former category (1998's Velvet Goldmine hisglam-rock Fantasia about David Bowie-like singer In Not There, from 2007, which uses a evolving oor oF actos to trace the siting personae of Bl yan) or the ltr (Sa he 2002 Doulas Sick pastiche Fr from Heaven; the 2011 miniseries Mildred Perc, which removes the not tappings ofthe Joan Crawford vbicl and ‘einstats the class conflicts of James M, Cain's Depression-era nove all his ‘lms evolve around the mysteries and trap of deny calling artention to ‘he social and cultural processes through which tis constructed. Eusve by design, the typical Hanes protagonists blank slat, a vessel for meaning sometimes this means shape-shifing trickster figure, swith his Dylan and owe surrogates and sometimes, asin the case of Saft emeans aperson, whe seems barely to exist (The film could just aswell ave been calle mt Not There) Pale, fail Carl Whit, with he ish squeak ofa voice, can barely complete sentence. Ever utterance, in er meek Valley upspeak, registers sa question, ofan admission of her own uncertain place inthe world Sel facing to the poin of invisibility, she appears tobe on the verge of paralysis tall times, not east during sex, as she lies motionless under her grunting husband Gre (Xander Berkley), She hes ro discernible maternal ond with her tcpon, Ror and speaks to he Latina maid, Flv, ik abeseeching child (asking for "some leche, por fever”). The most routine attempts at small ‘alk-inthe gymocker room, atabuby shower withthe dry leaner—nuen ‘to minefield of faut silences Haynes hs scknovledged theinfunce of Jeanne Dilman, 25, quad Commere, 1080 Bruxelles, Chantal Akerman's :adically minimalist 1975 portrait of fmale domesticity coming undone, and lke Akerman's masterpiece, Safe presents itsffeedess heroine ina series of precisely composed lng takes, Saises rigorous ints use of draton, but some ofits framing choices are even more extreme the director of phoography, Alex Nepomnischy, emphasizes Cart alienation by strandinghor in cavernous interiors anon the margins of wide shots uf Jeanne Dicinan encourage ust read its heroine's regimented routine at & defense againsther on anxiety and anger, Safe declines to divulge the contents of Cato’ inner lif, Weare unsure that she even as one. This possible deficiency isonly underscored whena shrink tells her that eis ‘here to find out-whars oingon in you" Carls to borrow fromthe parlance of semiois tralyan empty signif. Filled with sins yet purposefllylackingin signposts, Safe encourages close ‘cai Confronting wid of protagonist, viewers ae compelled t filin he gnps-ofen tral (In an early scene, Carl vista rend who ells her houta recent los, inan exchange tha eonsss entirely of coded elipses: we surmise twas fer broter, or ha bother, andthe women skirt around the dead man's sexuality and cause of death without once saying whats ‘heir minds or mentioning the word gay or AIDS) Both for her and fr us,‘Carr evencuany segs to ake snap enrougn ene symproms Oran inexplicable silment. Freeway exhaust eaves her choking: a perm induces a nosebleed her husband’ deodorant makes er retch rst. The family physician insists that theres noching physically wrong with her an allergists similarly stumped as to what could be trgaering such acute actions. The men around Carol, including Greg all bu declare this cas of female hysteria, insinuating that whatever aiser isin her head. Anakernate “swer emerges when she spots fir atthe gym that read: Do you smell fumes? Ave you llerge tothe twentieth century” Through support groups, she learns of something called mukiple chemical sensi, ot vironmental lines a disease that ven ints name ass tobe rel metaphorically, Haynes has reputation asa brainy conceptalist, but what often goes anemarkd is his kil asa social rte and historian, Most of is ns are sharply atuned tothe larger cultural foresat workin specific era: the New ‘Deal ities in Mira Peree the Eisenhower fies in Fa from Heaven, Pointdly stin 1987, deep in che wough ofthe Reagan-Bush years, Safe exposes the ogi of New Age doctrine ts cult of sl its notion of salvation s5.commodity-and the conditions tht foster The envionment that als ‘Carl harbors not jst sundry chemical agents buts an undercurrent of fearand an inchoate hunger fr redemption talk radio rants, droning TV ‘infomercials the chatter ater arabic cls bu “emotional ‘malozenanes” In cis doomsday stmoephere, Caro ads her way tan ‘usory promised land inthe desert a retest clled Wrenwood run by self: ‘elpgurueter Dunning (eter Friedman. As “chemically sensitive person \with AIDS" Peter hasan “incredibly vast” perspective, one ofhisaoltes| tells Carl, Where the doctors questioned the existence ofher sicknes, ‘Wremvood affirms and nso doing, validatesher. Butitaloinsillsa poisonousy mixed message: even fhe chemicals are making her sick the use les within, The cure ifaregimen of selF improvement that sounds an “Sw loc ike elblame. “The only person who can make you sckis you" ‘eter tells hit charges, more ores quoting om The AIDS Rook Creating Postve Approach one of several best sellersby New Age empress Louise Hay, who made a fortune in the eighties and nineties stumping fr positive ‘inking asa miracle panacea ormany of sina viewers, Safe proved as resistant diagnosis Carts silent. The fils seal ateribute sits deadpan ambi Its perspective shifs imperceptibly betwen strcal and empathetic; comedy and horror singe in unpreditale ratios, The meticulous script and direction and Moore's brilliantly restrained performance, eave open the possibility that Caos condivon has both a physical bass and a.peychological dimension, “The movie functions ia partas an AIDS allegory, dealing a ie does with an |mmune-systom disease andthe New Age thinking that many with chronic ‘nesses embraced inthe eghtos and ninetias, often as an alternarve tothe ead ends of conventional meine But Haynes refases to make Saf simply film about AIDS an his idelong approach, hardly a res ofsitishness, allows im to serutnize his most provocative themes~the stories we tll, curselves about sickness, he need for contro evenfitisan illo, the perverse comfort of elpailty-beyond the rap ofentty polities Safetakes the linear, inspirational wajetory of the medical eas-history ‘movie~attiumph over odds ora coming to terms—and bends itint cree, ‘wo mirrored halves, moving Carol from one contlled environment 0 nother both dominated by patriarchal ures who tell he, albeit ery ferent ways thatshe mae herselfsick. Hayes has noted that there is ny hopin Saf itcan be found athe ls midpoint, The revolt of her bay {orces Caro nto some semblance ofan exatined life, possibly forthe fist time. But the potential for an awakenings shot lve, From Caras vantagepoint, he most persussve metric of recovery—the ses path—takes De form of retest, n mote than one sense A film abou an inasculste woman with an indeterminate condition, Safes concerned, among other thing, with the dangers and difficulties of naming Carol could be sid to suffer fom a particularly enerating version of what ‘Betsy Frieda, The Feminine Mystique, famously called “the problem that sno name” Mille chemical ensitvity-has a contentious sats within ‘he medial eatblshment.a skeptical toxcologst deserbed itn the eariy nineties 2a name in search ofa dseags” I sicknos gives Carola identity, ‘Wrenwood teaches her a language arin you know the words shetels Peter pologetially. But tas she might she can master the New Age liga Asked to give a speech a communal meal, she blues outan Incoherent steam of regurgitated platitudes: “I elly hated myself before came ere. ryingto see myself hopefily more as Tam, mare, ore posit, ike seingthe pases Is Carol's failure to internalize the tenets of lFhelp another symptom of "unconscious resistance or another sign of her terminal Bankes? The lm nds with hr alone is her baren igloo cocoon, an increasingly prominent ec botch on her forehead, sil eying to lar the words. ‘whispers to herself inthe miro. “really lve you" Safe was so outof step ‘with he postive of the imes—the very thing sought to condemn and ove you she "ndermine-tha some reviewers chose to interpret this a hopeful conclusion Viewing today, there no mistaking the movie for anything other than a tragedy ts pessimism its at-out rejection of the false logic oF | happy endngs~isa measure both ofits anger and its compassion. Haynes, ‘who engendered sympathy for Barbie dllin superstar, pulls offan equivalent sleight of hand here. For much ofthe move, Carolisata distance, practically onthe threshold of visiityanimpassive Stepford cipher in danger of being swallowed up by her environment. The inal shot rants her a rareclose-up in which se dred faces th eamera and he audience, She's lookingintoamitror.and we may bess wel at reflection ofour most salnersle selves.Desry Rides Again Riding ‘Show oat: Rolin’ on the igh River The Night Porter: Power, Spectacle, and Desire esoeoesstrong: wes ana resent 0 purse ner os ren mana Yes ‘ofapprenticeship. She has always pursed cinema of ideas, her work affirming ast eassesses freedom against fascist and clerical theories, er characters deviate from socal and politcal conformity they oppose the sitals of power Theyre driven to a kindof ransgresson tht enables them totranscend the prison limits of societal structures In ater works they move toward an agonizing proces of self-awareness and traycslaion. ‘Born on January 12,1837, n Carpi (Modena) nthe northern gion of “Enila-Romagna, Cavni was greatly atracted to moving images froma yourgage: During her high school years she founded acne club Her "upbringing placed her between her mother’ militant antifascism and her father's sphere of conservative values ofthe 1930s landowners. Cavan woul late assert secu, play independent postions ‘Cavan’ formal education was iteraryand dasical But after graduating ‘om the University of Bologna, she decid ogo to Rome w attend Italy's ‘atonal ln schoo, the Centro Sperimentale i Cinematografia, where she was he only woman studying directing She graduated in 1962 and began workingasa freelance director for RAL the state television network. Her first assignments were historical documentaries, in which she was able to experiment with cinematic techniques, shooting in 16mm and 35 mf ‘instead ofthe standard vdeo, Two notable programs she made inthis period sre History of the Third Rich (1061-62) and Women of the Resistance (1965) ‘The first fourpart series on Nazi Germany documents the unfathomable atrocities of the extermination camps, Caran spent months athe Movil, watching aw footage In ation to documenting the camps, she focused on ‘he way in which the spectacles staged by Hitler's regime disguised violence ‘o fabricate national prestige For the second work, she interviewed female Ilan partisan fighters who hd survived the Lager (Nari concentration camps) Cavani was surprised by the fact that ony the victims wanted to remember, while everyone else was in hasteto forget the war andits horas The Niht Porter could not have been relied without her technic and psychological investigation of Nazism in these programs As amature artist, ‘Cavan would resin anuinber of characterises from her dacumentary ‘ning including the predominance of medium shots aless mobilecamera, ‘he us ofa normal lens (50 mm), meticulous reconstruction of elity by ican af thei details, anda nelinaton to experiment with arrative Ccavan'searly work impressed Angelo Gulch, head of special programming at RAT, who proposed the idea ofa feature film on tay patron sine Francis of Assis ied in 1966 and was the mast controversial rogram ofthe year. Catan divest the Figure of Sain rancis of legendary steibutes and portrays him as normal ndvidual who performs evolutionary social rol. Anarehetypal story of class and generational confi, this dramati lm gives remarkable evidence of Cvan'sstylistie techniques nd als serves an des transton from her erty Adcurentaries to Galileo (1968), The Cannitls (1969), The Guest (7), and Milarepa (973). In these dramas, the question of power and knowledge, ‘which central to Cavan’ cinematic discourse, is posited within the spectacular settings of religious, poiteal an socal revolutions. Tele protagonists ae idalsts who tansyress the boundaries of conventional Sociatin search of identity. They undertake adventurousjourneys fom the center tothe margins of society in order to experience anew way off (allo, Antigone, Anna and the Tibetan yo persnify the unrest ofthe ‘Thistendencyto entertain new experiences to explore the ims of cultural conventions is lly displayed in The Night Porter, Beyond Good and Evil*heatrical feature, Ripley's ame (2002), a psychological drama adapted from Paticia Highsmith’ celebrated Ripley saris. In chese films, Cavan Introduces more dangerous state of mind, placed outside taonal morality The rai view ofl, rather than che soca obstacles toself- realization, ie eh comes to dominate her cinema, She privlegesimages ver dialgue to advance her narrative and tn convey her charters ‘motions and thoughts. In particular, Cavan concerned wth he ‘hematzation of compulsive, repetitive desire an pleasure that exceed the log histor ‘The Nigh Porter was he frst fm to move in that direction. The passion that ‘ed eatir protagonists to confront te hierarchical boundaries oftheir times ‘ov fuel an inner journey centered on a scandalous love aff The story concerns the encounter of an ex-SS offic, Max (Dirk Bogarde) and former concentration camp prisoner Lucia (Charlotte Rampling na ‘Viennese hotel in 1957, where Luci, now martied tan Ameriean orchestra conductor staying with her touring husband, Max and Laci replay the ‘unos sexual umes that bonded them nthe Lage. After Lucia moves into ‘Ma's apartment and while they are being hunted by a group of Nai war criminals, the couple carry the fateful fae mutual anition ‘Theplor develops through series of Mashhacks Max and Luca reveal ther ‘most hidden sexu desres in an interior that becomes theater of ester bistorical realities: they themselves become the spectacle that exemplifies he barbarity of the Third Reich, Dring the ini sequence ofthe Aashhacks, Cavan establishes an amigas form of communication between the prisoner nd her torturer throxgh the camera lens. Maxis rst ‘denied we fling Luca naked, upon her arvivalat the concentration camp. He feuses ona closeup a er teri stare as she curs way from the bright light simed ater. The viewer seems no longer tobe watching ‘mut rather tobe wimessinga howe events itunfolds Here, as clsewhere in The Night Porter the compliciy of einem with ansgression and voyeuristic compulsion becomes asubject ofthe fm sel. Cavan works with spline sets in onder to convey tension through elaborate lighting patterns confining framing. and the positioning ofthe ators bodes. ‘Weare constantly made to participate ina poetic ze that encompasses the characters’ obsessive ambiguity The use of reflective surfaces in che decor, in conjuneton with the fashbacks alters the temporal continuity ofthe story ‘Backgrounds ae often ou of focus to provie implicit commentary shout the couple's emotional instability Spotlights, mors, movieand stil eameras convey asense ofthe reaction of the spectacle of history. They evoke a demonic underworld which he ides onder of the sels opposed withthe madness ofbing [Contrary to what some critics have writen, Lia snot Jewish prisoner bbutthe daughter of socialist activist. In many interviews, Cavan explicitly ndersconed the universal dimension of Luci’ story and explained that she wanted the issue ofthe abused victin onchide every victim. In one ofthe ‘most controversial scenes, Lucia performs as Salome dees in Nazi regalia ‘oanaudience of leering officers and masked musicians. In his smoky and ‘macabre setting. an atmosphere reminiscent ofthe German expressionist ‘heater that preceded the rte of it, she spayed asa body forthe fantasy. Mx succumbs tothe seeton of Luci’ ambiguous sexuality and rewards her with giftbox as soon as the danceisower extreme closeups allow uso observe Lucas childlike antiipation. Bute curiosity urns into ‘horror. She watches her gftin silence as she is doomed to share the fate of Herodias’s daughter: During this scene, thecoupl’s body language expresses the regressive natureoftheirbond an their complicity in time and space: What makes itso ‘importants that Luc’ esret dances inrnsclly connected with dread sn death, the resis ofthe concentration camps, Theheterosextal framing of her body isa counterpoint to the world ofthe character Bert. a lasial dancer whe with hisod seductiveneay, visualizes for Caan the ‘homoerotic cult realized by the nareissisti corps ofthe SS. Bertembodies ‘he hypnotic power ofthe regime and its manipulation ofthe German soul tough the staging of alluring spectacles, Cavan visualization ofaspectal Icerior, asel-created world of projection and imagination, defines the character storys performance about power. reveaingthe interplay of control and subversion, Eros and Thanstos In The Night Porter, the supremacy of desires portrayed through hallucinatory compositions ana pictorial expressionism that evokes such arsstsas Munch, Kline, and Schiele Vienna ity luminated by ol say light, a tonality ha signal psychi disitogration Max and Lucia ae a couple witha great taste for theunderground. They are rag individuals ‘who sek a provocative meaningin life but re frm of desis historically aseandal, Ccavan'scharaters do not acquire consciousness tthe end, but hey are {riven to selinicted death out of extreme hc: In Ma's apartment a site of power ibiinal pa, the couple Rly drop their masks andl choose ‘wend thei siege Ofall the images inthe ial ar ofthe film thatof Max and Lucia walking away from the camera famed by the overpowering structure of the ion bridges che most haunting: Theres no musial ‘commentary to mark the moment when they are gunned down and their trae fl ie wireless marionettes. In this expessonistc cityscape, the soli limits ofthe bre vanish int amiss horton where sky and water dissolve ‘Max and Luci represent predetermined toes assigned to themby power: heir strengths into accept them. Some cis denounced the erode context of ‘he lm and argued tha The Nigh Porter should be considered pornography. ‘But Cavan not interested in exploiting her characters by subscribing to dhe notion of sexual aberration encodedin the Bmovies ofthe socalled mode re? tro term used to deseribe French fs from the lite 1960s nd early 1970s ‘hares the Nari occupation of thee country during World War ID, kn her ‘im, whatis importants not that Max and Lucia resume ther scandalous relationship butthe way ithas been visvalizd as an ambiguous encounter in histor. Covani designates the interplay ofthe lok as simulacrum for an sexthetcizaton ofthe body politi onination rele the paradoxical historical situation in which dhe couple reenact their love. Ths, stds and masochism represen the creative level oftheimaginary Mavs apartment, che new Lager, becomes prison ia ‘which freedom canbe attained only by reese slfdestructve setions Dirk Bogude’spuppetke performance revels the signs ofhistorial redetermination tis contrasted with the perverse beauty of Charlot ‘Rampling. Lucia and Max show the fundamental fae of Nazism, the cold «exhibition of rational violence perpetratedon the individ within controlled systems of power. mes of erotic enavement rd ‘The Nigh Porter represents the Cavanian film atsbest She asserts her presence as the producer ofthe lok and works to place her film aginst the strategies of dominant culture, Her characters embody a dream ofa moment beyond, se agine the rhetoric andthe rituals of power, ven when tallies ‘oa demonic underworld tothe experienc of pleasure ad terror represented by Max and Laci. As ofthis writing, Cavan has directed *hirtcen feature ls, aswellas documentaries, television series, and operas (he latest im, her thir on Francs of Assis is scheduled tobe released ine Three Reasons: Safeo =