Link to Article: https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/96-all-that-heaven-allows-an-articulate-screen

This article provides the context and tense circumstances surrounding the film’s creation. Like hinted at in class, “All That Heaven Allows” was largely set up for failure. Its genre, melodramatic, was often dismissed as trashy and a “woman’s weepie”. Additionally, the article mentioned how Universal was hesitant to repeat the older woman and attractive young male pair of Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson coming off of their 1954 film, “Magnificent Obsession”. Wyman just came off a divorce with President Reagan and Hudson had come out as gay, which caused additional anxiety to Universal when shooting this film. Due to all these factors, the film was largely deemed a failure with all the previously mentioned issues being reasons for the failure. However, due to “All That Heaven Allows” exceptional editing and cinematography, it made a resurgence and transcended the norms of other melodramatic movies at the time.

The article explained the reasons for the film’s initial failure and its eventual resurgence, but it didn’t go into much detail about the resurgence itself. After watching the film, I believe its revival is largely due to the exceptional editing and cinematography. For instance, Sirk uses strategic cuts to intensify the emotional tension, such as during the scene where Cary and Ron are getting to know each other in Ron’s nursery. The scene begins with an establishing shot of the nursery, placing Cary and Ron within their surroundings. As they start forming a connection, the camera dollies closer, and the focus becomes shallow, emphasizing their growing bond. These visual choices help the audience grasp the connection developing between them. Additionally, the continuity editing enhances this bond. Sirk adheres to the 180-degree rule during their conversation and uses an eye-line match when Cary looks at the mill. He also includes a match on action, cutting from the characters moving screen right to them walking back into frame toward the mill. Overall, the cinematography creates emotional tension and strengthens the relationship between Cary and Ron, while the seamless editing keeps the audience engaged in their connection.

While watching the film, I noticed the deliberate and skillful cinematography and editing choices that likely contributed to its resurgence. After reading the article, which discussed the movie’s initial shortcomings and eventual revival, I gained a deeper understanding of its context and why it ultimately achieved the recognition it deserved.