All That Heaven Allows

Douglas Sirk - 1955
I really got a lot out of this; it does things that films shouldn't be scared of doing, but seemingly are (thus this, in a better world, wouldn't be as important a film as it is... but we can say that for anything).
Within Sirk's deeply elegant mis-en-scene, with those lovely economic but still often complex moves, we have a very expressive use of colour. It seems, in general, quite simple; part of the screen is a cold blue, of the outside, the nasty habitants, and we have the warm yellows and organges of the other life. Nuance is allowed by the multicolours in one key scene (expressing conflict?). Shadows seem to function for staging, one of many devices- there is much turning away and small blocking differences, to subtly push emphasis and feeling about. All very impressive.
Socially, this film plants nails on heads. The central theme is clear; we have this love, but the nasty pettiness of small town America will not allow it. This is a basic trashing of all-American values, which is great.
What I particularly appreciated was, firstly, the general celebration of 'alternate lifestyles', just the wish to live differently. This still strikes as a bold move in a Hollywood picture.
Most importantly, we have a care, a concern, an, understanding, for the slightly older woman. Her life is important, we care; lives of quiet desperation. Yes she's lonely, and why can't we acknowledge it? Her children just steamroll over her, as does everyone, as does Hollywood. Does she too not deserve a life? Most subversively, here, is she not allowed to have desires, pleasures (clearly noted here in the Freudian talk)? Yes, the wonderfull restarined, beautiful in her lack of glamour, Wyman may like Hudson for his spirit; but she also likes him because he is a sexually attractive beefcake, and why on earth shouldn't she like him for that?
This is why I found this film important; because it finds people important, draws them to our attention.
Note: Yes, it's a melodrama, and has its own conventions. Yes, people don't wear their hair like that any more, or say the same things in the same way. But why on earth should one laugh at people for simply being different? This is precisely what this film is about; learning to care, and not to mock, those who are different. Laughing at 'All That Heaven Allows' means mocking and not caring about its characters. It is complicit with the hateful townspeople.