Just watched the first two parts of this sumptuously mounted 2011 remake of the 1945 classic melodrama that won Joan Crawford her only Oscar. Oscar winner Kate Winslet inherits the role from Crawford in this steamy remake that fleshes out some of the characters and plotlines that were glossed over back in 1945. It is the height of the great depression where we meet Winslet as Mildred, a lonely housewife with two young daughters, the adorable Ray and the snooty and self-absorbed Veda. Mildred's philandering husband has just walked out on them, forcing Mildred to take a job as a waitress to support her daughters, even though she finds it shameful to take a job where she has to wear a uniform. As she learns the tips of the trade, she also manages a sideline providing pies for the restaurant, Before long, with the aid of her husband's former business partner, Wally, Mildred's dream of having her own restaurant is realized, as well as a new romance with a wealthy playboy named Monte Baragon, but her new business and romance are sidelined by an unexpected tragedy.
Todd Haynes, who directed Far From Heaven and I'm Not There, puts the same meticulous detail into the mounting of this story as he did to those films. He clearly goes back to the roots of the 1945 film, the novel by James M Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice), in establishing the independent spirit of the Mildred Pierce character from the beginning. Mildred gets over her husband walking out on her pretty quickly and even seems to take credit for it here. In the 1945 film, Crawford's Mildred is an intimidated wallflower who grows into her skills as a business woman. And even though we've just scratched the surface of it here at this point, this Mildred has had a mind of her own for a long time, but has sacrificed over and over for the sake of her girls. There's a great scene where she tells Veda about her plan to open her own restaurant and the way it plays, it comes off like she's saying it to Veda at the same time she's thinking about it for the first time. The Mildred in this story is screaming on the inside and as I've mentioned other reviews of her work, no actress today plays screaming on the inside better than Kate Winslet. Winslet won an Emmy for her powerhouse work in this miniseries and the endlessly versatile Guy Pearce won a Supporting Actor Emmy for his Monte Baragon. Brian F O'Byrne received a nomination for his flashy Bert Pierce and I also loved Mare Winningham as a world weary waitress named as Ida. The mini-series features spectacular production values, including Emmy-winning art direction/set direction and superb costumes. Contemporary melodrama at its finest. Can't wait to watch the rest.
Last edited by Gideon58; 11-16-21 at 07:11 PM.