Kate Winslet is my favourite actress. Fact. Yes, Titanic made her a household name and dominated the box office for the best part of a year, but her latest performances are the ones worth raving about. Winslet’s Oscar win in 2009 for her portrayal of Hanna Schmitz in Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader was rightly deserved as was her double Golden Globe win, one of which went towards her work in Revolutionary Road as April Wheeler. Two years later, after a much deserved break, Winslet is back, starring in the HBO mini-series adaptation of James M. Cain’s hardboiled novel, Mildred Pierce. Winslet’s decision to return to the screen in an intimate and small, television project is a genius career move. After all, over-exposure can be dangerous in Hollywood. Winslet now has the freedom to appear in a smaller projects that still demonstrate her stunning acting abilities. Winslet has been nominated for an Emmy. Quite right I think, as Mildred Pierce, quite frankly, is one of the best pieces of television I have seen in a long time and cements HBO’s status as a station that invests in new, exciting and visceral projects.
Mildred Pierce depicts a self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression, and her struggle to provide for her family after she divorces her husband. Attempting to uphold her family’s status in a world where money is everything, Mildred yearns for the love of her narcissistic daughter, Veda. Heartbreaking, astonishing and totally absorbing, HBO’s five-part adaptation is essential viewing.
This mini-series, as I understand it, sticks close to Cain’s novel as opposed to the 1945 film noir adaptation starring Joan Crawford. Having only seen the mini-series, I cannot compare although I understand that Crawford’s version turns the story into a murder mystery, something which is both insulting and detrimental to the original text, of which I hope to read soon. Ending more or less the same way as Cain’s book offers Winslet a character arch that is most likely, much more fulfilling as an actress. After all, Mildred’s uprising and the reasons for her spectacular downfall make a fantastic story, without the intrusion of the added murder plot present in the 1945 version.
I cannot say this enough, but Winslet is fantastic. It is in her subtleness and her quietness that she really shines. I am now convinced that Winslet can turn her hand to anything, such are the range of emotions that she portrays. Her struggle for Veda’s love is painfully realistic as is her bewilderment when she fails to receive this love. If we step back and observe the overall picture, Mildred, regardless of all her success, is just a mother crying out for her daughter. The saying, ‘money can’t buy you happiness’ comes to mind here. Her one aim in life is also her flaw and Winslet conveys the obliviousness of Mildred in a bold and striking manner, her facial expressions a physicality of her state of mind.
Winslet’s portrayal of Mildred, however, does not come without its criticisms. After all, as one critic states, ‘Cain created a woman of modest roots who becomes obsessed with giving her beautiful, snobbish daughter a better life and discovers a knack for business: Mildred is not long a victim and she isn’t always sympathetic.’ I have not read Cain’s novel, and so I may not be qualified to make such a statement, but for me, I do not think Winslet portrays Mildred as a victim. Yes, she may look the part of the victim, yet as I mentioned earlier, she is totally oblivious as to why she is not earning Veda’s love and so desperately moves on to attend to her daughter’s next whim. She does not have time to be a victim. Only when she discovers Veda’s true intentions does she realise her mistakes and even then she eventually moves on with her life. ‘To hell with her,’ Mildred mutters in the closing scenes of episode five.
The supporting cast are just as excellent. Guy Pearce as Monty and Evan Rachel Wood as the adult Veda play brilliantly off each other, especially in the last episode where their motives are revealed. Even Morgan Turner as the young Veda oozes hatred and has a fearless and chilling, deceptive quality about her. Maybe it would have been better to introduce Wood earlier in the series. Turner does a fantastic job of getting audiences to sympathise with Mildred, yet the leap in age and time is so sudden that Wood is given the hard task of making us despise Veda all over again, such is the difference. However, she manages to pull it off. Her final scene with Pearce, where Mildred discovers their affair, is gut-wrenching and the slow motion technique only adds to the disorientating revelation. Veda, as a character, is evil, yet deliciously dark in the way she wraps her mother around her little finger.Along with the 1930s soundtrack and the authentic thirties backdrop, Mildred Pierce is a television series that possesses the qualities of a feature film. This is a feminist period piece, a drama that stands out amongst the reality television that seems to dominate our screens these days. With five, one and a half hour episodes (adverts included), Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond’s screenplay is in no way rushed. While this has drawn criticism from a certain Stephen King who says it’s ‘too damn long’, I have to disagree. Haynes’ remake allows us to contemplate Mildred’s character and her perspective on life. We live the pain that Mildred lives, we feel her desperation and fall as she falls. This is not just a show, it is an emotional experience. Mildred Pierce dabbles in themes that include death, loss, love and hatred. Themes like these cannot be brushed over lightly. Haynes ensures they receive the justice and recognition deserved.
HBO is fast becoming my favourite station for television shows. Mildred Pierce is quality drama and with the epic Game of Thrones also under their belt, 2011 is looking to be quite a year for them. I watched Mildred Pierce on Sky Atlantic, hence the late review. (It only finished in the UK last night). Shame on Sky for waiting so long in airing this mini-series. Television like this, deserves to be seen.
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