Safe 4K 1995 Ultra HD 2160p

"Safe" has been described as a horror movie of the soul, a description that director Todd Haynes relishes. California housewife Carol White seems to have it all in life: a wealthy husband, a beautiful house, servants, beauty, and a lot of friends. The only thing she lacks is a strong personality: Carol seems timid and empty during all of her interactions with the world around her. At the beginning of the film, one would consider her to be more safe in life than just about anyone. That doesn't turn out to be the case. Starting with headaches and leading to a grandmal seizure, Carol becomes more and more sick, claiming that she's become sensitive to the common toxins in today's world: exhaust, fumes, aerosol spray, etc. She pulls back from the sexual advances of her husband and spends her nights alone by the TV or wandering around the outside of her well-protected home like an animal in a cage. Her physician examines her and can find nothing wrong. An allergist finds that she has an allergic reaction to milk but explains that there is no treatment for that sort of allergy. She sees a psychiatrist who does nothing but make her nervous. In the hospital, Carol sees an infomercial for Wrenwood, a new-age retreat for those who are "environmentally ill," and leaves her husband and stepson to try and find salvation at this retreat: headed by a phony, grandstanding, "sensitive" individual named Peter Dunning.

User Review

Southern California, 1987. Carol, a well-groomed housewife who dabbles in interior design in her spare time, lives here with her husband and adopted son. Her measured life is organized and planned according to a schedule: get-togethers with friends, aerobics, the hair salon, sex. ... A real tragedy for Carol could be the black sofa upholstery that is mistakenly delivered instead of the light green set she ordered from a catalog. But one day, while driving home, Carol nearly passes out from an excess of exhaust fumes.

A cough becomes the first symptom of a strange, mysterious illness—a consequence of environmental pollution. But her active fight against toxins and all sorts of diets only make the situation worse. What is presumed to be chronic fatigue syndrome is replaced by physical torment, the cause of which her doctors cannot diagnose. Relief comes only after Carol moves to a special retreat, where other victims of the environmental disaster have formed a sort of commune. Here, they believe that this ailment is the result of the toxicity of sixty thousand man-made chemicals…

The subtle, constant suspense, established right from the very first scenes, immediately suggests that the film will follow in the tradition of the thriller. But this assumption turns out to be false. At some point, Thomas Mann’s *The Magic Mountain* comes to mind. However, despite the obvious originality of the concept, the film still fails to achieve the philosophical depth that would take it beyond the scope of purely ecological issues—important, but ultimately not of a metaphysical nature.

Info Video

Codec: HEVC / H.265 (94.1 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Info Audio

#English: FLAC 1.0
#English: Dolby Digital 1.0 (Commentary by director Todd Haynes, actress Julianne Moore, and producer Christine Vachon)

Info Subtitles