Safe 4K 1995 Ultra HD 2160p

Story Movie

Everything in Carol White’s life is going well: a comfortable life, a loving husband, a son, a huge, luxurious home, friends, aerobics classes, growing roses… The illness creeps up on her unnoticed. The doctors are baffled. The illness strikes at the very core of her sense of self. It’s an identity crisis known as “20th-Century Syndrome.”

Review 4K Movie

One of the most mysterious and terrifying movies. And the director didn’t need anything to create that eerie atmosphere: no fake blood, no sudden screams. The director even hired the then-unknown Ed Tamney as composer, who, using simple instruments, created SUCH a blend of fear, melancholy, and eclecticism that the title track “Safe” alone is enough to send a chill down your spine. "Safe" is terrifying because it infuses every detail with a drop of poison—such potent poison that even the most harmless things resemble a snake ready to strike.

You’ll be left with countless questions, but you won’t get a single answer.

Even on the hottest day, the pink album in the heroine’s hands gives off a chill. And there is nothing more terrifying than the false, mirror-like smile of the hairdresser in the salon. Todd Haynes rips the “heart” out of the cozy trappings of the 1980s housewife world, mercilessly and at length exposing them, and then returns them. But upon their return, these things undergo a terrifying metamorphosis, and a void lurks within each of them. The void is the same as before, but it only seems as though there was no metamorphosis at all. It’s simply that the wrapping that protected them has been torn away. It kept them [safe].

The Horror of Everyday Life

"Safe" flows along at its own pace for a full two hours, occasionally flaring up during key episodes. These episodes give the film a multifaceted meaning. It is a metaphor for AIDS; it is the groan of a chemical-saturated Earth; it is the burden of the “universe within man” (in other words, everyone is lonely in their own way); it is political allusions; it is a call to Life with a capital L. It is a sorrowful look at human loneliness among one’s own kind, which is even more acute than complete solitude. And it’s also the eternal theme of “suffering for everyone,” which runs through every film by Haynes. Carol, the one and only, who clearly harbors something inside from the very beginning and shudders when invited to “laugh at a joke,” pays the price for everyone at once. The burden of the environment, the burden of society, and the punishment for pretending for the sake of the family—it all falls on her shoulders. And all that’s left for her is to learn to love herself in front of the mirror in a creepy, empty little house belonging to some rural cult. Even in this sect, she doesn’t find the long-awaited salvation, but she does encounter a warm reception and finally gets what she’s been missing. Loneliness. But not the kind of loneliness where you force a smile so as not to upset your fake friends. The ability to be alone with yourself and think—that’s the kind of loneliness everyone needs from time to time.

Watch "Safe". Watch it thoughtfully and be sure to watch it in the original, because the translation ruined everything (it drowns out the music, and the voices are monotonous). Todd Haynes’s film is, in its own way, a desperate attempt to “get through.” It captures humanity’s fear of the relentless 21st century that is fast approaching (1995). And who is Carol? Is she a kind of voice for humanity at the turn of the century, or simply a woman punished for getting lost in the world and sacrificing her individuality for the sake of comfort? I’d love to find out!