Mildred Pierce (2011)
Directed by: Todd Haynes.
Written by: Todd Haynes & Jonathan
Raymond based on the novel by James M. Cain.
Starring: Kate Winslet (Mildred
Pierce), Guy Pearce (Monty Beragon), Evan Rachel Wood (Veda Pierce), Morgan
Turner (Veda Pierce), Brían F. O'Byrne (Bert Pierce), Melissa Leo (Lucy Gessler),
James Le Gros (Wally Burgan), Mare Winningham (Ida Corwin), Marin Ireland (Letty),
Hope Davis (Mrs. Forrester), Quinn McColgan (Ray Pierce).
Todd
Haynes’ films have mainly been about their look and feel, and not necessarily
about their plots. This isn’t to say the plotting of Haynes’ films have been
sloppy – anything but – just that the plot of his films can often be summarized
in just a few short sentences, that do not give you the least idea of what it’s
like to actually watch a Haynes film. The one real exception may be his 2011
miniseries – Mildred Pierce, based on the novel by James M. Cain, and clocking
in at five and half hours. The film has a lot of plot and characters – yet
Haynes still remains focused on the look and feel of the film, and the
characters, and not quite so much on the plot. Even at this length, the final
installment feels a little rushed – as if Haynes realized he still had a lot of
stuff to cram in, and had to get it in under the wire (the first three segments
all clock in right around an hour – the fourth runs over 70 minutes, and the
fifth 80). The miniseries may not quite live up to the best films Haynes has
ever made – but it’s still excellent, full of great period detail and
performances – and represents a truer adaptation of McCain’s novel than the
Oscar winning 1945 film with Joan Crawford, and directed by Michael Curtiz
(although truer, doesn’t necessarily mean better).
The
miniseries takes place over the better part of a decade – the 1930s – in which
Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) has to struggle to support her two daughters. Her
husband, Bert (Brian F. O’Bryne) has walked out on the family – and didn’t have
much money to begin with – although he did when he and Mildred first got
married. Mildred has no marketable skills, and it is the Great Depression after
all. But she’s willing to work hard – first as a waitress and baker, and then
when she opens her own restaurant – serving chicken and waffles. While the
country is collapsing, Mildred makes herself into a success. In many ways, she
is the personification of the American dream – at least on the surface.
But
if Mildred Pierce were just about a hard working woman, there wouldn’t be
enough drama here. The story is really about how Mildred’s American dream turns
into a nightmare – all because of her eldest daughter, and Mildred’s inability
to say no to her. From the beginning of the film, Veda (then played by Morgan Turner)
is a snob, who looks down on anyone who has to work for a living – embarrassed
by the fact that her mother works as a waitress, and finding ways to punish her
for it. Mildred scrimps and saves everything so that Veda can have the music
lessons she wants, the piano she wants, etc. Even her relationship with men is
dictated by Veda. Mildred falls for Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce) – a wealthy
playboy, who has never done a day’s work in his life, and of course, he hits it
off with Veda, who shares his snobbery. When Monty’s family fortune is wiped
out though, he still doesn’t feel he has to work – and leeches money off of
Mildred, resenting her the entire time he does it.
The
1945 film version of the novel turned it into a murder mystery/noir – which is
what Cain is mostly known for (The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double
Indemnity for example), but not here. It also serves to give the film a happier
ending, as the character that audiences are likely to hate gets their
comeuppance in that film, that Cain, and then Haynes, does not. The story is
about parental sacrifice – something all good parents do to one extent or
another – but this time taken to extremes. Veda is an incredibly selfish and
spoiled – a child who thinks that everything should be handed to her on a
silver platter. If we feel sympathy for Mildred, we also have to be honest and
lay much of the blame on her as well. After all, many children are selfish – it
is the parent’s job to teach them something, and by giving in to Veda’s every
whim – even if it destroys Mildred – she is simply reinforcing the lessons that
Veda really is entitled to everything. Veda manipulates everyone around her –
including her mother – to get what she wants.
As
Mildred, Kate Winslet delivers a typically superb performance – one where you
can feel her desperation in that first installment, as she goes door-to-door
looking for working, and not finding it. Winslet is, refreshing, one of the
most unapologetic actresses in dealing with sexuality – and her Mildred is a sexual
being, going from Bert to Wally Burgan (James LeGros) to Monty with apology or
shame. Her relationship with Monty will eventually be mainly about Veda, but
when they first meet, the sexual chemistry between them is palpable. Winslet
does, subtly, change her mannerisms as the series goes by – aging in the final
installments, where she plays Mildred sliding into middle age, especially
compared to the lithe, overtly sexual turn by Evan Rachel Wood as a 20 year old
Veda (Wood, like everyone else in the film, is excellent). Winslet’s Mildred
Pierce is every bit as fascinating as the other “housewives” in Haynes’
filmography – from Julianne Moore in Safe and Far From Heaven to Cate Blanchatt
in Carol. What’s even more impressive is that all four of those characters are
completely different from each other – all of whom may be living in a patriarchal
society, where they are oppressed – but all of them are oppressed in different
ways, and respond differently. Mildred may simultaneously be the strongest and
most independent, and also the most foolish – she builds up and then loses
everything.
Mildred
Pierce isn’t quite the masterwork that Haynes’ other period pieces – Far From
Heaven and Carol – are. I think in some ways, the film is too rushed, and in
others it is too dragged out. Haynes has always loved immersing the audience in
period detail – not necessarily realistic period detail, but more stylized,
movie period detail. Mildred Pierce isn’t the colorful, Sirk-inspired melodrama
of Far From Heaven – but a drabber, dirtier, dustier movie, with more muted
colors. In the early installments, Haynes seems to delight in the details of
art direction, and the superb cinematography (by Ed Lachman, of course) – and
it almost feels like not a lot is happening. The last two installments really
have to jam in a lot of plot – I’m pretty sure about 80% of what happened in
the 1945 film happens in this installment, so some details – like how Mildred’s
business starts failing, and how some people who she helped start betraying her
– really does seem to be tossed into the movie as an afterthought - to be fair
to Haynes, business dealings may not be as exciting as the personal
relationships in the film – but even they are rushed. What makes the film work
in these moments are the performances more than anything – Winslet more the
rest, but there is excellent supporting work by Guy Pearce as a man who doesn’t
know how to do anything except be rich, Evan Rachel Wood, bringing Veda’s
spoiled behavior to new heights, Melissa Leo as a sympathetic friend to
Mildred, Mare Winningham as a not so sympathetic friend (although, you can
hardly blame her for her actions), and Bryan F. O’Bryne, who takes a fairly
dull character like Bert Pierce, and makes him tremendously likable.
So
no, I don’t think Mildred Pierce is the simple perfection of some of Haynes’
other work. Yet, it’s still one of the best miniseries of recent years – and
really should serve as an example to other filmmakers, who want to make
something longer than a movie, without committing to a television series.
Because Mildred Pierce is every bit a Todd Haynes film - and a damn fine one at
that.
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