2. Carol (Cate Blanchett) - Carol
A 1950s New York socialite, Carol (Cate Blanchett) longs for the touch of a younger woman. Seeing her across the floor of a department store one Christmas, she knows she has to have her. She is married, but that's no matter: to use an old cliché, the heart wants what the heart wants. The word 'heart' there could be substituted for 'body' and it would be just as apt, because Carol, the latest film from New Queer Cinema troubadour, Todd Haynes, is just as much about two women coming to terms with their sexuality as it is their taboo, clandestine love affair. Carol is the more experienced of the two women: she knows she is a lesbian and is good at making other women realise it, too. Fraught with anxiety, though, Carol, as played by the always sublime Cate Blachett, is, despite appearances, a bit of a mess, unsure of what she wants or how she wants it, smoking cigarettes like they're going out of fashion in the process (as a side note, Cate Blanchett is one of cinema's best smokers, always using the cigarette as a manifestation of her characters' unease. Carol ends the film glancing at her on-again/off-again lover across a crowded party, her darting, magnificent eyes settling for once to see that what she needs has been in front of her the whole time.