I am a huge sucker for classic melodramas like Casablanca and Sunset Boulevard, so I was looking forward to watching All That Heaven Allows for class. Besides its radiant autumnal hues and superb acting, I was drawn into the story through the characters’ relationships with each other and society as a whole. When we are first introduced to Cary’s children, Cary is staring at her reflection in the square mirror of her vanity. We hear the children call, “Mother!” as the dolly moves in towards the vanity, allowing viewers to watch their first interaction through this indirect frame.
We then cut to a medium close shot showing Cary welcoming her kids home directly, eliminating the emotional distance that the vanity shot initially conveys.
Shortly after this scene, Cary’s daughter Kay expresses happiness that her mother is putting herself out there, commenting on the vibrant, almost scandalous, red dress her mother is wearing to a social engagement. Additionally, she shares that she has never agreed with the old Egyptian custom in which wives were walled in alive to their dead husband’s tombs with all of his belongings. Paired with the visual of Cary boxed into her vanity, I found the mention of this historical fact very intriguing because it presents a symbolic parallel to how Cary feels at the end of the film.
After the disapproval of her children and their concerns about the selling the family home to move in with Ron, Cary decides to end this controversial relationship, thus settling back into traditional society. During a lonely Christmas season, she feels hopeless for a happier future and struggles to find purpose in her life. Once again, we see her literally boxed in by a window pane as she watches local carolers and cries.
These emotions reach a climax when her children come home for the holidays and inform her of the rapid changes in their lives. In this scene, Kay is the one wearing red, potentially signifying her youth and vitality, while Cary is wearing an “age-appropriate” gray sweater.
Kay tells her that she is engaged to be wed, and her son suggests that they sell the home since he is headed abroad for work. Betrayed and hurt by the fact that the house was used as a reason to keep her from Ron, Cary is visibly distressed and utters “that the whole thing has been so pointless.” Suddenly, her Christmas gift from the kids arrives and it is a television, a symbol of domestic luxury in the changing times. Through the framed television screen, we get another indirect look at an anguished Cary who realizes that this “gift” is like her own Egyptian tomb.
