Film: All That Heaven Allows

The film All That Heaven Allows is about a widow named Cary who falls in love with a much younger man, Ron. They were from two different worlds, Cary coming from wealth and Ron who is very free spirited and lives in the countryside. The way the director, Douglas Sirk, shot the film, whether it was the dramatic music or the position of the actors or the props in the scene, it all flowed together very nicely and it had that extra drama that melodramas need. In the book Melodrama, by John Mercer and Martin Shingler, it says “Cary is frequently depicted surrounded by meaning-laden objects in her luxurious domestic environment” (Mercer and Shingler 53-53). In class, we used the term “cluttered” and I liked that. Cary’s house was very cluttered and full of things. Then Ron, on the other hand, barely had anything. He had almost nothing but himself and his trees and he was content, but then here is Cary in her mansion with all of her fancy things and she is very unhappy. I like how Sirk included the scene where Cary was coming upstairs from the basement, because she wanted to get rid of some of the “clutter” from around the house. It showed how after meeting Ron and falling in love with him, her mindset of things were starting to change. As a whole, I truly enjoyed this film. Although it was from a very long time ago, it was not boring to watch like most of those kinds of films are. Everything was very interesting and all of the drama that happened kept me intrigued the whole time. Altogether, this was a great film.