Mildred Pierce

Woman on top. Haynes’s miniseries shows what the period melodramas avoided. Physical details, the faithlessness of the capricious characters, authentic poverty. Everything is converted into money, the easiest means of achieving the success that the characters either desire or are pressured to pursue. The characters realistically talk about how much things cost, which other films from the same period wouldn’t bother with. ___ Mildred’s social position, as it is seen by society and not by the protagonist herself, is best described by the Vedic saying “we are not in any way exceptional”. The question is thus: How to become SOMEONE? How to be a lady and still maintain one’s dignity? Let oneself be supported as a companion or take a menial job? Who controls whom, who gives the orders to whom? ___ With the protagonist’s emancipation, after she begins to drive in both the literal and figurative sense and after she becomes an outwardly confident lady, the setting and the emphasis placed on existential concerns also change. Financially secure, Mildred no longer has to worry about ensuring that her daughter has enough to eat, as she newly seeks her favour. Simply stated, she paid a high price for her freedom – she got money, but she lost love. The series undergoes a transformation from socially critical drama to melodrama (and almost to ancient tragedy, which the opera arias evoke). Compared to Curtiz’s film, the crime storyline and film noir elements have been suppressed, though the ending is even more ambiguous and doesn’t come close to establishing a satisfactory status quo. The post-war crisis of male identity has been replaced with a more intractable crisis of values intrinsic to both sexes. Not only are there no women that can be relied on, but no men either. ___ The setting in the crisis-ridden 1930s is not ostentatiously shown externally. By eliminating the formalistic excesses of modern series, Mildred Pierce gives the impression that it was actually made in the depicted period (except for the colours of the intentionally slightly dull visuals). ___ The complicated role of a woman who is unable to stop loving her greatest burden and, at the same time, the only constant in her life was an opportunity for Kate Winslet. She did not disappoint. She is not afraid to go to the edge, even at the cost of ugliness and accusations of revelling too much in the protagonist’s suffering, and to show the grand emotions that are simply a part of great drama. She reveals every bit of herself, not only during the bold and believable erotic scenes, whose purpose is not only to show her nude body, as they show that Mildred doesn’t have to hide anything from Monty (at first) or wear a uniform. Winslet plays an unhappy woman who doesn’t seem relaxed even when she laughs. Momentary joy can’t drown out all of the problems around her. Not this time, not in this miniseries, which is bolder and more honest than other films and series that enable us to escape from our concerns for a few hours. Mildred Pierce, a symptom of the ongoing economic crisis, brings them directly to us. 85% (2011-09-27) (less) (more)