The conflict between art and commerce has been a part of the filmmaking process from the moment the first moving images were committed to celluloid. Because the medium is a very expensive one, oftentimes commerce wins out when these two factors come to a head so I’m always impressed with filmmakers who are able to make big budget commercial movies that are also deeply personal. One director who consistently managed to do this was Douglas Sirk and one of his most personal films was the 1958 World War II story A Time To Love And A Time To Die.
Sirk was best known for his glossy melodramas set in the world of upper class WASPs and featuring major stars of the period like Rock Hudson and Lana Turner. He made classic films like All That Heaven Allows and Imitation Of Life that felt like your typical Hollywood entertainments, but were really subversive critiques of a seemingly perfect America that was hiding a darkness just below the surface. Todd Haynes’ masterpiece Far From Heaven was a tribute to Sirk from its visual style to its themes, characters and even use of music.
In 2002, writer/director Todd Haynes released the film that may be remembered as his masterpiece, 
