Oscar 2009 and the Saturn/Uranus opposition

Since astrology is life itself, then what happens in the heavens must be reflected in actual life. Astrologers all over the world have been mesmerized by Pluto's ingress into Capricorn and volumes have been written about it, but we should not forget the Saturn/Uranus opposition, which, in a nutshell, is a clash between the old order and the new one waiting in the wings. This clash is wonderfully portrayed in Revolutionary Road, which, surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, didn't make it in the final five nominated films for Best Picture.
In the film, Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet are a young married couple who are torn between their miserable and normal life and what their souls yearn. Kate Winslet embodies Uranus and she is the one who always pushes Di Caprio and refuses to allow him to compromise, as she follows her inner voice, which forbids her to settle down in a middle-class life. At some point, she even succeeds in waking up Uranus in her more saturnian husband and they both decide to move to Paris where, supposedly, all their dreams would come true. However, hard reality intervened, as it so often does in situations such as this one, and Di Caprio is offered a raise, in a job that he may hate, but it's his chance to succeed in a field that his father had previously failed. The clash is inevitable.
I'm not going to judge this film on its' artistic merits, which there may be a lack of, and perhaps the Academy was right in not nominating it, even though personally I enjoyed it immensely. Nevertheless, I think one of the reasons of this lukewarm reception was that the film also tries to be fair to Saturn and show glimpses of the negative side of Uranus. This may not be politically correct at the moment, since it seems Uranus has the upper hand, taking into account the fact that Pluto in Capricorn will inevitably bring out the toxic side of Saturn, making it much more easier for us to worship at Uranus' altar. What Di Caprio does, actually makes sense. It may be sad, but it's sensible. He is not averse to Uranus in principle, but he has a family to think of and another baby on the way. Furthermore, even though the film sides primarily with Uranus, uranian principles receive a blow when Winslet begins to demonstrate an erratic behaviour, so characteristic of Uranus. One moment she is madly in love with Di Caprio and they have passionate sex in the kitchen (hence the pregnancy) and the next, when he steps back, that same love disappears and hate takes its' place, which makes you wonder whether she was in love with the true Di Caprio or the Di Caprio who would take her to Paris.
The film's catalyst is Michael Shannon, the only one of the cast that got nominated, who plays a male Frances Farmer we could say, that is a Uranian man beaten by Saturn. But not completely. He immediately senses the tension between the couple and his presence constantly reminds Winslet of what happens to people who ignore Uranus. What is striking is that Shannon's progressed Sun is right at the middle of the Saturn/Uranus opposition, so who better than him to portray this dilemma?
The author of the book on which this film is based, is Richard Yates born in 1926 with four planets in Aquarius and Saturn in Scorpio. One can only imagine his suffocation and how personal this book was to him. What's even more interesting is that, though now dead, he is having his Uranus return. Astrological precision and synchronicity sometimes blow you away, no matter how used you become to witnessing them in action.

Read Roger Ebert review