Kate Winslet heads to TV via Mildred Pierce

NEW YORK — The classic 1945 film Mildred Pierce has been rebooted into a five-part HBO mini-series with Academy Award winner Kate Winslet (The Reader, 2008) playing the title role. Helmed by famed indie auteur and Academy Award nominee Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, 2002), his new adaptation of the celebrated film revives the consequential characters from James M. Cain’s 1941 novel of the same name, but departs from Michael Curtiz’s (Casablanca, 1944) original film noir which garnered Joan Crawford an Academy Best Actress Award.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited by HBO to a press screening of its new mini-series, and a few days later, to a press junket where several members of the cast were present (though sadly, not the star herself, Winslet).

As a movie fan, film noirs have always interested me. The more popular ones that come to mind are George Marshall’s The Blue Dahlia (1946), John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Fritz Lang’s Scarlet Street (1945). These films had a darker mood, style, and point-of-view, reflective of the time period that was post-World War II America. The Mildred Pierce of 1945 had this unmistakable theme, but Haynes chose to differentiate his approach, by staying faithful to the book’s original storyline. “The movie is a classic piece of Hollywood filmmaking,” he says, “(a) beautiful Michael Curtiz film. It’s just... It imposes a film noir framing device and aspect to the story that actually eliminates forces out of it, (leaving out) so many interesting aspects.” So Haynes accurately adapted virtually each page of Cain’s novel, dramatizing every material and notion about the depression, prohibition, class and familial rivalry.

Set in the 1930’s Great Depression era in Los Angeles, Mildred Pierce is the story of a separated and soon after divorced mother of two, determined to achieve success in spite of the ongoing economic disaster, failed love affairs, betrayal and the hardship of raising two daughters single-handedly. But amidst the misfortune and adversity, she manages to accomplish what some can only dream of, though tragically in the end, at a price she had not anticipated.

As she manages to do well in starting and expanding her restaurant business, she consequently struggles to obtain the love and dedication she so generously bestows upon her eldest daughter Veda, who turns arrogant and conniving in trying to keep into a higher class of her own, snobbishly above everybody else. While Mildred’s love affair with a polo-playing philanderer (Monty Beragon) becomes her escape, it regrettably leads her to a cataclysmic tragedy.

Winslet plays the role of Mildred Pierce impeccably, with the grace and strength of a woman determined to get what she wants. Her Mildred is a far cry from the original, transforming the famous role of Joan Crawford and making it her own. She is arguably among this generation’s finest actors, and she proves it yet again with her unparalleled portrayal of a mother torn between success from what she has accomplished, and unexpected failure for losing her daughters along the way.

As for Monty Beragon, Mildred’s playboy lover, Guy Pearce (The King’s Speech, 2010) admits preparing for the role by “getting the accent right, and understanding how to make the Monty that we see at the end connect with the Monty that we meet in the beginning, so as to not have a jarring experience. Also trying to understand emotionally what’s been repressed in him that can therefore explode out.”

And as far as working with Winslet, he says. “It was brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I’ve been a fan of hers for years, I think she’s absolutely fantastic. She’s a lot of fun. She’s got a big brain and is able to get a lot of things going on at once. She’s a hard worker and very responsible when it comes to being disciplined.”

What I did consider as a rather entertaining treat are his steamy and raunchy love scenes with Kate. When asked if the sex scenes worried him, got him excited or made him dread the script, he answers, “A bit of everything, really. It’s fun but it’s quite embarrassing at the same time.” He jokingly adds, “And I think Kate and I had to shag each other on the first day, it was very early on,” much to the laughter of everyone in the room.  “No, she’s very funny and she’s pretty relaxed about that stuff.”

Evan Rachel Wood (The Wrestler, 2008) plays Mildred’s eldest daughter Veda, a prodigiously talented but overly ambitious she-devil, conniving and deceptive, to say the least. It is for Veda that Mildred has practically dedicated her life to be able to shower her with gifts and other materialistic offerings in exchange for her love and respect.

In doing this role, could Evan have thought it would be fun playing someone this evil? “There’s nothing fun about this (laughs). This is the hardest role I’ve ever done, for sure. The most work. And the darkest. I didn’t really enjoy playing her but I respect her.” She adds that she only had two months to prepare before shooting began, studying to mimic the piano and working with an opera coach for the lip-synching. “I didn’t listen to any other music except for the songs the whole time, till it was over. And on top of it, you have this insanely complex, crazy character. It’s such an actor’s movie, there was so much dialogue, and with the ’30s dialogue, I had to go so much into that, everyday.”

Although her character attains her ambition as an opera singer, Evan admits opera music has not really interested her before. “I didn’t really (listen to it before), but I have a whole new respect for it now. I really got into it and started really loving it.” Though Evan has thoughts on a musical career, it is currently just an outlet, to give vent to the pressures of a frenetic acting métier. Her musical preference notwithstanding, Evan also is, like the rest of the world’s female teen population, a very big Justin Bieber fan. She discloses that only after seeing the documentary Never Say Never as a joke, that she was converted and became a firm “Belieber.” Evan is also famously known for her role as Queen Sophie Anne in True Blood, another evil character she masterfully plays.

Rounding out the exceptional cast are Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter, 2010) as Mildred’s know-it-all neighbor Lucy; Brian F. O’Byrne (Million Dollar Baby, 2004) as ex-husband Bert Pierce; James LeGros (Zodiac, 2007) as Wally Burgan; Mare Winningham (Brothers, 2009) as Ida; Morgan Turner (Remember Me, 2010) who plays the young Veda; and Hope Davis (About Schmidt, 2002) as Mrs. Forrester.

In the end, Mildred Pierce is the story of a resolute and persevering woman struggling to become accomplished in an era that is unyielding and harsh, more so to her particular gender. It is also the story of a mother ill-fated to love a maniacal daughter no matter the cost. This familiar yet unpredictable storyline will have viewers relating to Mildred Pierce’s joys and plight, and makes for a riveting albeit lengthy serial entertainment.

Mildred Pierce premieres tomorrow, June 9 with a special two-hour presentation starting 9 p.m. on HBO/HBO HD.