It’s really quite wonderful to get a perspective like the one in the documentary, Love Always, Carolyn. Carolyn Cassady was married to Neal Cassady, who was a friend of Jack Kerouac who was also her lover. Jack based the hero character of his novel, On the Road, on Neal. Now Carolyn is speaking out to set the story straight and to finally get people to stop asking her questions about her experience. Not quite. It only draws more attention and we see it from her side.
Told through interviews with mostly Carolyn herself, directors Malin Korkeasalo and Maria Ramström focus on Carolyn’s stories of her early life with Neal and Jack. She was the one who moved to San Francisco and they followed her. She had the children and kept them with a roof over their heads. The lives of Neal and Jack are often glorified, but in this film we see how life is just as complicated whether you’re famous or not. It’s also very interesting to get her children’s perspective because they knew very little of him as a father.
Carolyn Cassady and Neal Cassady outside their home in San Francisco 1952.
After viewing the film, I couldn’t help but feel sadness mixed with satisfaction. Sadness that Carolyn struggles with her version of the events and satisfaction that she was able to write a book about it to capture it forever. I think any audience will have that same sentiment.
Rating: A revealing look at the woman behind the men. 8/10
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