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Winslet takes the Joan Crawford role in Todd Hayne's adaptation of James M Cain’s novel. More lavish than the 1945 film, it will certainly appeal to fans of Mad Men, says Peter Wild.

Todd Haynes’ five hour adaptation of James M Cain’s novel is more lavish, more sumptuous and has more breathing space than the 1945 film which starred Joan Crawford as the titular heroine. Recalling Haynes’ masterpiece Far From Heaven, HBO’s Mildred Pierce is the kind of period TV that will appeal to the many fans of Mad Men.

Kate Winslet is superb as the eponymous heroine, a woman newly abandoned by her husband, looking to make her way in a Depression-struck world with only her sense of propriety and self-worth to guide her. Eschewing the murder subplot grafted into the Crawford vehicle, Haynes is tremendously faithful to the source material, trailing Mildred through the launch of her own restaurant, a relationship with Guy Pearce and battles with her aloof daughters.

Fans of Winslet’s performance in Revolutionary Road, or indeed fans of Todd Haynes in general, will find a lot to both like and admire about the series – and the experience is immeasurably enhanced with a rewatch of the Crawford original.

 

Peter Wild on 18th October 2011
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