The scene that acutely describes the tone of “Far from Heaven” (Focus) is when young David Whitaker (Ryan Ward) exclaims “Aww, geez!” to which his mother, Cathy (Julianne Moore), responds, “We don’t use language like that in this house.”

Such is a world that is illustrated to stylized detail — a dreamscape of 1950s America that is vividly explored in writer-director Todd Haynes’s brilliant film.

“Far from Heaven” has characters we have known all along — they’ve appeared in so many different TV shows and old movies, they are practically known to the familiarity of next-door neighbors.

Frank (Dennis Quaid), or “Pop” to his children, works long hours at the office providing for his family. Cathy stays at home and is a regular June Cleaver — prim and proper, she tailors to her husband and is kind to everyone in her presence. These are the closest aspects of the story that are in direct ironic nature to the film’s title.

Frank has been hiding his homosexuality from his wife and even himself. When Cathy stumbles in on him and his lover, the mood of “Far from Heaven” dramatically changes. The film’s narrative transforms from soap opera to complex character drama with the melodramatic backbone of the Douglas Sirk films of the 1950s. As Cathy battles the psychological torment of her husband’s veering eye, she instantly becomes affectionate toward her gardener, Raymond (Dennis Haysbert). Though she doesn’t know too much about him, she’s stimulated by his ideas and is attracted to him.

This is much to the dismay of her conservative upper-class friends who disapprove of her relationship with an African-American man.

The reason “Far from Heaven” works on so many levels is because it is constructed like a modern film, though everything you see and hear are definitely not contemporary influences. Elmer Bernstein’s lush and old-fashioned score, Edward Lachman’s gorgeous cinematography (a very close second to Oscar-winner Conrad L. Hall’s work on “Road to Perdition”), and the lead performance of Julianne Moore all contribute to the notion that “Far from Heaven,” alongside “Adaptation,” was 2002’s best film.

Julianne Moore’s portrayal of Cathy is very convincing, regardless if the film was set in 1927, 1957 or 1997. Her support was much more active than in, say, “The Hours,” especially Haysbert, playing Raymond with a relaxed romantic masculinity and confidence. The film’s best scene is between the two toward the end, in which Moore confesses perhaps the most beautifully filmed confession of love captured in decades.

There aren’t many extra features on the DVD, although the ones that are there certainly aren’t fillers. The features are long enough to make them interesting without seeming repetitive.

The most interesting feature, other than Haynes’s lively commentary, is the Sundance Channel’s “Anatomy of a Scene” segment. It is a quick overview of how much work goes into creating a single shot both in front and behind the camera, with insightful sound bites from Bernstein, Moore, Lachman and Quaid.

“Far from Heaven” is an honest film that presents everything on its surface.

It treats its audience with respect, hiding nothing from its viewers. The film is shocking in its presentation that uses the 1950s as a backdrop, not as a prop, to tell its story of heartbreak and the fragile condition of human nature.