There's a moment in the movie Far from Heaven that struck me. Cathy and Raymond are standing on the street, outside of a movie theater. As they talk, the shots are a sequence of over-the-shoulder two shots. In the one over Cathy's shoulder, she seems to blend right into the wall. The pattern on her coat matches the pattern on the marble wall. I noticed other scenes in which a similar thing happens. When she stands outside the doctor's office with Frank, when she sobs on her bed, and the final shot of her at the train station as she waves goodbye to Raymond. The only part of her that stands out in that final shot, is her lavender colored scarf. But what does it all mean? Is Cathy just another object in the scenery? Notice that in each of these scenes, Cathy is in clearly experiencing some very strong or hightened emotions. Dressed in steely blue utside of the doctor's office, as Frank yells at her. Dressed in her black and white flecked coat on the street, she tells Raymond that she can't see him. Bathed in blue, she sobs loudly on her bed after Raymond tells her that he can't see her. Clothed in red, she waves goodbye to Raymond. Maybe it's not that she is just another object in the scene. But maybe, it's that the scenery, her clothes are the least important part of the scene. Those things are just a distraction from the emotions that are hers. That small use of mise-en-scen seems to capture exactly what her life is about.
Two other movies to see by director Todd Haynes are Velvet Goldmine and Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. The latter film isn't the easiest to find. I was fortunate enough to see it in a film class.