I watched the first two episodes of Todd Haynes's adaption of Mildred Pierce last night starring Kate Winslet ,Guy Pierce and recent Oscar winner Melissa Leo (with Rachel Evan Wood to follow next week as bitchy daughter Veda).
Having seen the 1950's version starring Joan Crawford I was already familiar with the basic outline of the story. The two versions do differ, Todd Haynes's series includes more daring adult content (well it is HBO after all, sex scenes are mandatory :).
Kate stars as Mildred, your typical all American mother who seems to have it all. Two beautiful children, a nice house and an adoring husband. However, it quickly becomes apparent all is not well in suburbia. Mildred's husband is having an affair, so she kicks him out of the house and decides to go it alone. Money is in short supply however as her husband's housing company 'Pierce Homes' has gone under. Therefore Mildred is forced to 'take a job', something unheard of in that period for a married woman.
While the premise may sound like a cookie cutter story it is actually very involved and detailed in a sophisticated way. The series premiere has been criticized for moving at an overly glacial pace, critic's describing it as 'two hours of nothingness'. The beauty of telling a story like this on HBO is that the creative talent involved actually gets the chance to flesh things out and take their time with developing characters (it is much less of a trial than The Wire, which was frustratingly slow at times).
While I enjoyed the original film very much, here the characters are much more detailed, specifically the character of Mildred herself. Winslet is brilliant in the role (when is she not any good ?), her face tells a million different stories of pain and anguish. You really feel for her character, a woman who could come across to modern women today as a spoilt, entitled housewife but instead comes across as a sympathetic character.
With the recent financial crisis many viewers will find her situation particularly timely and relateable.
Melissa Leo plays Mildred's supportive neighbor in a very subdued role, she is not chewing the scenery as she was in her Oscar winning role in The Fighter and it's much appreciated.
The series is very well directed by Todd Haynes, reminiscent of his film Far From Heaven, with gorgeous cinematography and very detailed visuals. As the story progresses and the main players are established things really do pick up. I can't wait for next week's episode.
