The Velvet Underground

 

Directed by Todd Haynes, The Velvet Underground is a documentary film about titular avant-garde rock n’ roll band of the 1960s whose music was never commercially successful yet would lay the ground work for a lot of music in the years to come. The film explores the music and art scene they were in as they were the house band for Andy Warhol and his world where they would create four influential studio albums from 1967 to 1970 that never sold a lot of records but influenced so many. The result is a ravishing and exhilarating film about one of the greatest bands of the 20th Century.

Formed in 1964 by Lou Reed and the Welsh musician John Cale that would later include Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker, the Velvet Underground was a band that were part of Andy Warhol’s art scene known as the Exploding Plastic Inevitable as the band would also include the German model/actress Nico. Through four studio albums from 1967 to 1970, the band would make music that was considered dangerous, avant-garde, and extreme in comparison to the music in the American west coast as they were never commercial successful initially. Yet, the music they made as well as some of the solo recordings from Reed, Cale, and Nico would prove to be influential to many as it laid the ground work for punk, post-punk, alternative music, indie, noise-pop, and all kinds of music.

The film chronicles not just the band’s formation but also the art culture they were in that also included forms of art, cinema, and music as if it was a scene onto its own. Featuring interviews with surviving members John Cale and Maureen Tucker as well as Lou Reed’s sister Merrill Reed Weiner and Sterling Morrison’s widow Martha plus several of Reed’s childhood friends, actress Mary Woronov, musicians Jackson Browne and Jonathan Richman, music industry figure Danny Fields, film historian Amy Taubin, avant-garde artist La Monte Young, filmmaker John Waters, and experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas in one of his final interviews before his passing in January 2019. The film doesn’t showcase the art world as well as the emergence of avant-garde music in the 1960s that was prevalent in New York City. It also showed the background of its four core members with Reed and Cale being the two dominant forces as the former lived in suburbia following a move from the city as Merrill said it affected him emotionally. Cale was from a small town in Wales where he had a grandmother that hated the English and hated the fact that her daughter married an Englishman and Cale didn’t learn English until he was 7.

The film also talked about Reed’s struggle to succeed as he did have bits of minor success where, through audio archives, he claimed that the one royalty check he had for less than $3 was more than everything he made when he was with the Velvet Underground. Cale talked about how he met Reed and they were part of a band called the Primitives where they had local success in Long Island with a song called The Ostrich though it was clear that Reed wanted to do more as the songs he was writing were much darker such as Heroin. Cale would play a role in helping those songs develop even though he barely knew how to play bass and guitar as he was more accomplished in piano and viola with his classical background. The two would bring in Sterling Morrison whom Reed knew back in Syracuse while Morrison brought in Maureen Tucker after original drummer Angus MacLise left the group. Much of the film’s first half is about their formation and how they became part of Andy Warhol’s social circle where they were the house band at his home base known as the Factory.

The first half talked about how Nico came into the group as she was known largely as a model/actress that was part of Warhol’s circle as she was used mainly as someone the band could bring in to help give them visibility. Yet, Nico proved to be a vital contributor to the band despite only being in the band for nearly a year as she left wanting to do her own music and other things as her departure is what had the Velvets break up with Warhol though Cale admitted that he didn’t know about it and didn’t want to break from Warhol. Cale and Tucker revealed that the second album White Light/White Heat was made mainly from their experience on the road where they had some horrendous shows in California as the band admitted they hated the hippies and they hated Frank Zappa. Jonathan Richman saw the band during the shows promoting the second album as he met the band and was given guitar lessons from Morrison while also being aware of the tension that was happening in the band that lead to Cale’s departure in September of 1968.

The second half does cover the second album but also brief insight into the third and fourth album with Cale’s replacement Doug Yule who is only heard through audio interviews along with Morrison before his death in 1995. Notably as it play into Reed’s desire to be successful as well as the fact that the band did have a loyal following in the American east coast despite their lack of commercial success. The frustration over the lack of success as well as tension in the band eventually led to Reed’s departure while they wisely talk about the fact that the band lead by Yule and other musicians made one more album that many say isn’t a Velvets album and never should be considered to be a Velvets album.

Haynes’ direction is stylized in not just using a lot of the experimental films from that scene into some stylish montages with the help of editors Affonso Goncalves and Adam Kurnitz but also in showcasing rare footage from those shows the band played during the time. Some of the editing montages is played in the style of the avant-garde films from Mekas, Stan Brakhage, and Warhol where Haynes also showcase that world where the Velvets were part of this world that included whip dances with Mary Woronov and Gerard Malanga while there’s a bunch of films playing around them. The interviews are straightforward as they’re shot from 2017 to 2019 as Haynes and cinematographer Edward Lachman have the people in a room as they’re relaxed with Merrill doing a dance to The Ostrich as it adds to Reed’s genius as a songwriter as it made his sister dance.

Sound designer Leslie Shatz help cultivate many of the audio interviews as some came from other documentaries and such as it help tell the story but also in some of the sound collages including the demos of those songs by the Velvets. Music supervisor Randall Poster compile not just a lot of the music of the Velvets including the individual work of Reed, Cale, and Nico but also some of the avant-garde music that came before them from John Cage and La Monte Young as well as some of the rock n’ roll and classical music that Reed and Cale were into as well as some of the music in the Mamas & the Papas that the Velvets didn’t like. It all play into the world that the Velvets and Warhol came from and what Bill Graham was trying to present in San Francisco as the latter definitely seem to envy what Warhol did where Tucker stated that Graham just tried to ruin them.

The film also play into the impact the group had in the world of music but also through art following Reed’s departure as there were brief reunions in the early 70s such as a legendary show at the Bataclan in Paris with Reed, Cale, and Nico as the members kept in touch. Even though Andy Warhol died in 1987 with Nico following a year later, the band minus Yule reunited in 1993 for a successful reunion tour that was supposed to go to the U.S. only for tension between Reed and Cale ended things. Following Sterling Morrison’s death in 1995, Reed, Cale, and Tucker reunited for 1996 Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame as well as performing a tribute to Morrison. Reed would die in October 2013 leaving Cale and Tucker as the surviving original members along with Doug Yule.

Through the records they made, the Velvet Underground would prove to have a lasting influence in popular music as their debut album was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006. Musician/producer Brian Eno stated that when the album only sold 30,000 five years into its existence upon its release, those people who bought those 30,000 copies started a band as it proved the influence they would have on popular music. In 1991, the album was certified gold in the U.S. having then sold 560,000 copies proving that the band did indeed have an impact.

The Velvet Underground is a tremendous film from Todd Haynes. It is a documentary film that doesn’t just cover one of the greatest and influential bands of the 20th Century but also the art culture they were from as well as the individuals who made the band so special. It’s a film that does sort of play by conventions in terms of its narrative yet the presentation is anything but conventional as it play into the spirit of what made the Velvet Underground so unique in their time. In the end, The Velvet Underground is a spectacular film from Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes Films: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Poison - Dottie Gets Spanked - Safe (1995 film) - Velvet Goldmine - Far from Heaven - I'm Not There - Mildred Pierce (2011 TV Miniseries) - Carol - Wonderstruck - Dark Waters (2019 film) - The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

© thevoid99 2022

Dark Waters

 

Based on the New York Times Magazine article The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Nightmare by Nathaniel Rich, Dark Waters is about an attorney’s battle against the chemical manufacturing company DuPont over their water contamination in a small town. Directed by Todd Haynes and screenplay by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan, the film is about the real-life battle between Robert Bilott and the DuPont Corporation in the mid-2000s over water contamination in a small Ohio town as Mark Ruffalo plays Bilott. Also starring Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Pullman. Dark Waters is a chilling and mesmerizing film from Todd Haynes.

Set largely from 1998 to 2015, the film is about the real-life battle between corporate defense attorney Robert Bilott and the chemical manufacturing company DuPont over water contamination in the small town of Parkersburg, West Virginia as the former’s grandmother lived there where she told a farmer to call Bilott over the deaths of his cows. It is a film that explore this man who is asked by his grandmother to help this farmer who is needing help as he had lost a lot of cows while showing evidence of deformed body parts. The film’s screenplay by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan is largely straightforward yet it follows a long period that play into legal battles and how Bilott kept fighting despite the strain it puts into his family life, his health, and issues involving the firm he works for as it’s a firm known for defending corporations. While the film briefly opens with a few people skinny-dipping onto a lake in 1975 where they’re forced to leave by a couple of men wearing jumpsuits as they spray something in the water. It sets the tone of what Bilott would discover as well as many revelations about what kind of chemicals DuPont has creates where Bilott at first is just doing his grandmother a favor even though his firm works for DuPont.

When the farmer Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp) reveal some of the locations as Bilott gets a closer look into the graveyard that Tennant had created for his dead cows as well as witnessing a cow being killed after acting crazy. Despite the lack of support he gets from the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm over his case, they do get eventually on board when the firm’s supervising partner Tom Terp (Tim Robbins) realizes what is at stake as well as the chemicals that DuPont had created known as perfluorooctanoic acid, that is used for Teflon non-sticking frying pans and carpet flooring, as the source that’s been contaminating not just the water at a nearby landfill in Parkersburg but at the town’s water where many of its locals are ill. Though the years of litigation, independent testing, and such would be long and arduous as well as reveal so much where Bilott realizes that he must fight despite the fact that it takes away a lot of his time from his family that includes his wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway).

Todd Haynes’ direction definitely has elements of style in his overall presentation but he also knows when to keep things straightforward. Shot on location in Cincinnati, Ohio as well as locations nearby including parts of areas in Ohio as Parkersburg, West Virginia, Haynes makes these locations central to the film as the small town of Parkersburg with several locals including the real Robert and Sarah Bilott as well as other characters do appear in the film in cameos. There are wide shots in some of the locations including shots of the DuPont chemical plant and the buildings in Cincinnati including the one where Bilott worked at. Still, much of Haynes’ direction emphasizes on intimacy in the close-ups and medium shots while also employing some unique dolly and tracking shots for some scenes to play into the atmosphere of a location whether it’s a local church in Parkersburg or a building hallway. Haynes’ direction also play into the dramatic suspense but also this feeling of a moment in time as it mainly from the late 90s to the 2010s as the Bilott home would often change that also feature a humorous bit where one of the sons isn’t happy about having to go to hardwood floors instead of carpet.

Still, Haynes maintains this sense of drama including moments where people representing DuPont want to target Bilott as well as locals from Parkersburg who feel that Bilott is disrupting their livelihood since they depend on DuPont for employment where they take it out on Tennant and another local in Darlene Kiger (Mare Winningham). While the third act does feel overwritten and at times does drag which Haynes definitely aimed for as it play into how long litigation gets where cases take years to do including data research. It does play into the struggles that Bilott went through but also revelations about his own worth and the sacrifices he made despite all of the strain he put on himself and his family all because he became concerned about a farmer. Overall, Haynes crafts an evocative yet haunting film about a corporate defense lawyer who fights for a farmer against a gigantic chemical manufacturing company.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of blueish colors for some of the daytime exteriors as well as the emphasis on sepia-like lighting for some of the interior scenes at night. Editor Affonso Goncalves does excellent work with the editing as it features some jump-cuts, dissolves, and a montage where Bilott explains to his wife in his discovery. Production designer Hannah Beachler, with set decorator Helen Britten and art director Jesse Rosenthal, does amazing work with the evolving look in the interior of the Bilott family home as well as the Tennant farm in its exteriors to play into its decayed look. Costume designer Christopher Peterson does fantastic work with the clothes that play into the evolving style that Sarah would wear throughout the film with everything else from the suits that Bilott wears to the regular and casual clothing of the people at Parkersburg.

Prosthetic makeup effects designer Michael Marino does nice work in some of the film’s minimal effects involving not just the look of a few characters but also in the mutated animal internal organs that Tennant showed Bilott. Special effects supervisor Bob Riggs and visual effects supervisor Ed Chapman do terrific work with some of the film’s visual effects which is mainly bits of set-dressing but also in the video footage that Tennant had filmed in his farm. Sound designer Leslie Shatz does superb work with the sound as it help play into the way characters in locations sound including a few court rooms as well as some of the video that Bilott watched that Tennant film. The film’s music by Marcelo Zarvos is wonderful for its ambient-based score that play into the drama but also the sense of dread that emerges in the film while music supervisor Randall Poster creates a soundtrack that largely feature country music from acts like Willie Nelson, John Denver, Waylon Jennings, Reba McIntyre, and Deana Carter as well as music from Kenny Loggins, Stan Getz, and John Milton Barrett.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal is great as it feature some notable small rules and appearances including real-life people were involved in the case such as Rob and Sarah Bilott as a couple at a posh party, the deformed Bucky Bailey as a man asking Rob for sports scores, Jim Tennant as a diner patron, Darlene and Joe Kiger as church attendees, Elizabeth Marvel as the voice of a doctor talking to Bilott late in the film, the trio of Aidan Brogan, Nathan Slaughter, and Graham Caldwell in their respective roles as the eldest to youngest version of Teddy Bilott, Beau Hartwig and Jacob Bukowski in their respective roles as the oldest and youngest version of Tony Bilott, Keating P. Sharp as the 11-12 year old version of Charlie Bilott, Louisa Krause as the attorney Clara Pfeiffer who is one of the few that supports Bilott in his case, William Jackson Harper as a colleague of Bilott who is baffled by Bilott working on the case, Kevin Crowley as a local West Virginian attorney in Larry Winter who helps Bilott, Denise Dal Vera as Tennant’s wife Sandra, Richard Hagerman as Joe Kiger, Jim Azelvandre as Jim Tennant, and Bill Pullman in a superb performance as Harry Dietzler as an attorney who helps Bilott in the cases as he raises many questions about DuPont.

Mare Winningham is fantastic as Darlene Kiger as a woman who lives in Parkersburg who turns to Bilott over something she received as she realizes something isn’t right while also knowing that the town will go against her in her fight against DuPont. Victor Garber is excellent as an attorney for DuPont who at first helps Bilott out only to become confrontational and denying everything Bilott is asking for. Tim Robbins is brilliant as Tom Terp as a managing partner of the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm who isn’t supportive of Bilott in this case until he realizes the severity of Bilott’s discoveries as he realizes that they must sue DuPont or else they would look even worse by supporting them. Bill Camp is amazing as Wilbur Tennant as a farmer whose cows had died due to the poisoned water from a nearby landfill as a man who just wants justice despite the fact that he would be ill from the water in his land.

Anne Hathaway is incredible as Sarah Bilott as a housewife/former lawyer who is concerned about her husband’s work as well as what he discovered where she tries to deal with all of it but also defend him when people are going after him as it is Hathaway at her strongest and most stern. Finally, there’s Mark Ruffalo in a tremendous performance as Robert Bilott as a corporate defense attorney for the Taft Stettinius & Hollister law firm who is asked by his grandmother to help this farmer only to realize a lot of things went wrong where Ruffalo plays into this man’s own desperation to do what is right even if it brings a strain to his family as it is an engaging and somber performance from Ruffalo.

Dark Waters is an incredible film from Todd Haynes that features great performances from Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, and Bill Camp. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, a chilling music score, and its exploration over a real-life legal war against a giant corporation and the chemicals they created. It is a film that is a haunting drama that explore a man whose job is to protect corporations only to fight against a corporation that has harmed not just a small town but everyone forcing this man to fight for the good of the world. In the end, Dark Waters is a marvelous film from Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes Films: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Poison - Dottie Gets Spanked - Safe - Velvet Goldmine - Far from Heaven - I'm Not There - Mildred Pierce (2011 TV Miniseries) - Carol - Wonderstruck - The Velvet Underground – The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

© thevoid99 2022

Wonderstruck

 

Directed by Todd Haynes and written by Brian Selznick that is based on his own novel, Wonderstruck is the story of a young deaf boy whose story parallels with the story of a deaf young girl from 50 years before as they try to find some mysterious connection that only they know. The film is a story about two kids who encounter something that only they can understand in a world that is complicated. Starring Oakes Fegley, Millicent Simmonds, James Urbaniak, Amy Hargreaves, Tom Noonan, Michelle Williams, and Julianne Moore. Wonderstruck is a majestic and ravishing film from Todd Haynes.

Set in both 1927 and 1977, the film follows two paralleling narratives involving two different kids who both embark on a journey of self-discovery as it relates to their own families but also a place where they can belong despite their deafness. It’s a film that is about not just loss but also the need to find some idea of family and a sense of belonging where the centerpiece of this journey relates to an exhibit in a museum. Brian Selznick’s screenplay does follow this paralleling narrative that takes place both in 1927 for this young girl named Rose (Millicent Simmonds) and in 1977 for this boy named Ben (Oakes Fegley) who are both connected in some way though the latter became deaf in a strange freak accident. The former is a young girl who lives at her father’s house in New Jersey who collects clipping of pictures of this famous silent film actress in Lillian Mayhew (Julianne Moore) just before the emergence of sound would come into cinema.

The latter is a boy who just lost his mother Elaine (Michelle Williams) in an accident as he lives with his aunt and cousins where he finds one of his mother’s belongings believing that’s where his long-lost father is. Rose is someone who is fascinated by this actress as well as create paper sculptures that would annoy her father prompting her to run away from home as it would be a similar situation for Ben as he decides to leave Minnesota to find his father as the destination for both Rose and Ben is New York City. Both of them are in the search for someone yet they also encounter an exhibit at a museum as the stories parallel one another with some surprising revelations that connects them both.

Todd Haynes’ direction is definitely stylish yet also magical in the fact it takes place in two different time periods with the 1927 portion shot in black-and-white and the 1977 portion shot in color. Shot on location in New York City for both settings but also in Peekskill, New York as some of the scenes in the older parts of the city as well as parts of Minnesota. Haynes employs a lot of paralleling imagery in some of the wide and medium shots in some of the locations that both Rose and Ben would venture into as well as some of the intimate moments as Rose often comes into conflict with her father while Ben is just trying to get to his old cabin that he lived with his mother unaware that it’s going to be sold. There are also some close-ups as it often play into the plight that Rose and Ben have with Rose being someone who was born deaf and is just eager to be loved while Ben is just confused as he can hear very little but has a hard time with his newfound deafness where Haynes’ camera is often playing up this sense of anguish and confusion.

Haynes’ presentation in some of the silent films that Lillian Mayhew stars in is a homage to the silent films of the past but also this emergence of change that is to emerge as there’s a lightness to the camera movements as it include a lot of scenes without sound to show the idea of being deaf. There are also scenes during the third act as it play into revelations that both Rose and Ben endure into their own destination but also their fascination into the world themselves when they both visit the Metropolitan Museum of Arts as it relates to a book about a certain exhibit that Rose encountered. A book that Ben believes belonged to his father with a bookmark from a store that maybe the key to the whereabouts of his father. What Haynes does is parallel these events which would represent an air of salvation for not just Rose and Ben but also in how they’re connected. Overall, Haynes craft an intoxicating and touching film about two deaf kids from different periods of time trying to find themselves and to be loved.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman does phenomenal work with the film’s cinematography with its usage of stylish lighting textures and schemes for many of the scenes set in 1977 to play up the look of the films of the 70s while the scenes in 1927 are shot in black-and-white to play into the world that Rose encounters. Editor Affonso Goncalves does amazing work with the editing in creating some stylish yet seamless cuts to create transitions for the two narratives and find a way to match them that include a few stylish montages. Production designer Mark Friedberg, with set decorator Debra Schutt plus art directors Ryan Heck and Kim Jennings, does brilliant work with the look of the cabin Ben and his mom used to stay in as well as the house Rose lived in with her father as well as some of the panoramas and such the two protagonists would encounter. Costume designer Sandy Powell does excellent work with the costumes from the dress that Mayhew wears for a play rehearsal and some of the clothes of 1927 to the stylish yet colorful clothing of the 70s.

Special effects makeup artists Adam Bailey and Michael Maddi do fantastic work with the look of a few characters including an old woman that Ben sees whom he would meet later on. Visual effects supervisor Louis Morin does nice work with the visual effects as it largely feature some set-dressing for some scenes in New York City in both 1927 and 1977 along with some other visuals in the panoramas that both kids encounter. Sound mixer Drew Kunin does superb work with the sound as it help play into the atmosphere of some of the locations but also the little bits of sound that Ben would hear in his growing deafness along with the lack of actual sounds to play into Rose’s perspective. The film’s music by Carter Burwell is incredible for its somber orchestral score that appears mainly in the Rose sequences with its string arrangement flourishes but also in some playful organ music for Mayhew’s film as well as some stylish ambient-style pieces while music supervisor Randall Poster cultivate this wondrous music soundtrack that features pieces by Robert Fripp & Brian Eno, Little Esther Phillips, Rose Royce, Gene Austin, Sweet, Eumir Deodato, and David Bowie including a performance of Space Oddity by the Langley Schools Music Project.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Lauren Ridloff as a maid at Rose’s home in Pearl, Amy Hargreaves as Ben’s Aunt Jenny, Murphy Guyver as a security officer who catches Rose, Morgan Turner as one of Ben’s cousins in Janet who goes to his cabin to smoke and wear her aunt Elaine’s clothes, Raul Torres as a museum worker in 1977, James Urbaniak as Rose’s father Dr. Kincaid, Jaden Michael as a kid named Jamie that Ben meets who helps him out as his father works at the museum, Corey Michael Smith as a museum worker that Rose meets in Walter, and Tom Noonan as a bookstore owner. Michelle Williams is brilliant in her small role as Ben’s mother Elaine as she is seen in flashbacks as someone who doesn’t tell Ben about his father while is trying to maintain her own life not knowing what is going to happen.

Julianne Moore is incredible in a dual role as the silent film actress Lilian Mayhew and an old woman that Ben sees at the museum as the latter is someone that is a frequent visitor as Ben would see her again later while the former is this luminous presence as an actress on the screen while is also someone else off-screen upon her meeting with Rose. Oakes Fegley is remarkable as Ben as a young kid in the 1970s who becomes deaf in a freak accident as he deals with his newfound deafness but also the loss of his mother as well as the need to find his father. Finally, there’s Millicent Simmonds in a phenomenal performance as Rose as a deaf girl who is enamored with this silent film star while dealing with the cruelty she gets from her father. Though it is a largely silent performance, Simmonds conveys a lot of angst and emotion into her performance as she is a true discovery.

Wonderstruck is a sensational film from Todd Haynes that feature two great leading performances from Oakes Fegley and Millicent Simmonds. Along with its supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, study of identity and family, a mesmerizing music score and soundtrack, and its study of living with deafness. The film is an enchanting film that doesn’t just explore two kids dealing with their deafness and place in the world as it is a film about the desire to connect as it is one of Haynes’ more accessible films. In the end, Wonderstruck is a spectacular film from Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes Films: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Poison - Dottie Gets Spanked - Safe (1995 film) - Velvet Goldmine - Far from Heaven - I'm Not There - Mildred Pierce (2011 TV Miniseries) - Carol (2015 film) - Dark Waters (2019 film) – The Velvet Underground – The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

© thevoid99 2022

Carol (2015 film)

Based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, Carol is the story of a love affair in the early 1950s between a young yet aspiring photographer and an older woman that is considered forbidden in those times. Directed by Todd Haynes and screenplay by Phyllis Nagy, the film is an exploration of a lesbian love affair being kept secret during a time where homosexuality was taboo. Starring Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, Sarah Paulson, Jake Lacy, and Kyle Chandler. Carol is a ravishing and evocative film from Todd Haynes.

Set during the holiday season of 1952, the film follows the forbidden love affair of a recently-divorced woman in her 40s and an aspiring photographer in her 20s as they keep it a secret. It’s a film that explores two women who are attracted to one another as they both seek something to escape in as the titular character (Cate Blanchett) isn’t just coping with the aftermath of a divorce as well as the expectations of being part of conventional society. For Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara), she is just someone trying to find herself as she works temporarily as a shop girl in a mall where she would meet Carol Aird who is shopping for a Xmas present for her daughter. A simple suggestion would become something more as Therese would mail the gloves Carol accidentally left at the mall and return them in which Carol would invite Therese for lunch as it leads to a relationship. Phyllis Nagy’s script has a unique structure though it starts off with Carol and Therese having a dinner as it would be shown again in a different perspective as it then flashes back to Therese reflecting on her romance with Carol.

The first act is about the meeting of the two women but also the complications in their lives as Therese has a boyfriend in Richard (Jake Lacy) who wants to marry her but she isn’t sure as she wants to go into photography. Carol is dealing with her divorce from Harge (Kyle Chandler) who doesn’t want to let her go though he knows about her infatuation with other women including longtime friend Abby (Sarah Paulson). Things intensify when Harge threatens to take their daughter away as he wants to rekindle things with Carol who isn’t interested as she becomes conflicted. The second act is about the two women escaping from their problems as they go on a road trip around the country where their romance would reach its peak. The third act is about the two women both venturing into separate journeys as well as the decisions both women would make for themselves as well as wanting to meet each other as it goes back to the opening scene.

Todd Haynes’ direction definitely stylish in terms of the compositions and scenes he creates as it definitely recall elements of old-school Hollywood of the 1950s. Though it’s set partially in Manhattan and rural parts of America such as Ohio, the film is largely shot in Cincinnati as well as other parts of rural Ohio to play into this world of 1950s American suburbia and the city as Haynes would use some wide shots to establish the locations. Yet, Haynes would go for intimacy in the medium shots and close-ups as it relates to the drama such as the way Haynes would shoot things inside a car through a window or what is going on at a hotel room. Haynes’ direction would also have that air of simplicity in the way he would present these intimate moments between Carol and Therese as Haynes usage of reverse-shots and medium shots help play into the way their conversations are carried as well as what happens when the two are equals.

Haynes would also maintain a sense liveliness for the scenes set on the road but also some melodrama as it relates to the family drama that Carol is enduring where Haynes would bring in bits of melodrama but not in an over-the-top fashion. By the time the film reaches the third act where it’s about Carol and Therese on their own as well as longing for each other. It does play into a world that is starting to change where Therese is finding herself as an artist while Carol’s world is falling apart. The direction becomes more wide open visually while the opening scene of the two women meeting each other is shown a new perspective as well as emphasizing more of where these women are at this point in the story and where they could go. Overall, Haynes create a rapturous and mesmerizing film about two women falling in love with each other in the early 1950s.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman does brilliant work with the film‘s gorgeous cinematography as its usage of colors for many of the interior and exteriors would have this dream-like quality for many of the scenes set in the day and night while having a crispness in the image since the film is shot in 16mm with 35mm lenses. Editor Affonso Goncalves does excellent work with the editing as it‘s largely straightforward though it does have some rhythmic cuts to play into some of the melodrama. Production designer Judy Becker, with set decorator Heather Loeffler and art director Jesse Rosenthal, does amazing work with the set design from the way Carol‘s home looks like from inside as well as the apartment of Therese and the hotel rooms the two would stay at during the road trip. Costume designer Sandy Powell does fantastic work with the costumes from the dresses of the women as well as the hats and jewelries that they would wear.

Key hair stylist John Jack Curtin and makeup artist Anne Taylor do terrific work with the look of the hairstyles and the kind of makeup the women wore at the time to display their beauty. Visual effects supervisor Chris Haney does nice work with some of the minimal visual effects as it is mainly bits of set dressing to play into the period of early 1950s New York City. Sound editor James David Redding III does superb work with the sound in the way some of the sparse moments in the mall sounds as well as how music is heard in some of the rooms as it help establish that sense of atmosphere that Carol and Therese would encounter. The film’s music by Carter Burwell is incredible for its sumptuous orchestral score that play into the drama with its lush string arrangements that is very low-key in parts but also sweeping in some of the melodramatic moments while music supervisor Randall Poster creates a wonderful soundtrack of music from that period from artists and acts such as the Clovers, Billie Holliday, Georgia Gibbs, Les Paul and Mary Ford, Jo Stafford, Helen Foster and the Rovers, Perry Como, Annie Ross, Eddie Fisher, Pee Wee King and His Golden Cowboys, and many others.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal is marvelous as it feature some notable small roles from Sadie and K.K. Heim as Harge and Carol’s daughter Rindy, Trent Rowland as Therese’ colleague Jack who appears in the film’s opening sequence, Carrie Brownstein as a woman Therese meets at a party late in the film, Kevin Crowley as Carol’s attorney in regards to issues relating to Harge, Cory Michael Smith as a traveling salesman named Tommy that Carol and Therese meets, and John Magaro as Dannie McElroy as a newspaper writer who would get Therese a job as a photographer for a newspaper. Jake Lacy is excellent as Therese’s boyfriend Richard as a man who wants to give Therese a lot yet has no clue about what she’s feeling. Kyle Chandler is fantastic as Harge Aird as Carol’s ex-husband who is eager to get back with her yet would make threats relating to their daughter as he feels neglected in favor of other women.

Sarah Paulson is amazing as Abby Gerhard as Carol’s longtime friend who was once a lover of Carol as she is one of the few that knows about Carol’s relationship with Therese as she would be a crucial figure in the third act as it relates to Therese about Carol. Rooney Mara is phenomenal as Therese Belivet as a young woman who falls for the titular character as she tries to keep her feelings in check yet is fascinated by Carol as it is this restrained yet touching performance from Mara as she has a great sense of rapport with her co-star in Blanchett. Finally, there’s Cate Blanchett in a sensational performance as the titular character as a woman who is dealing with issues with her family as she becomes intrigued by Therese as she sees her as something special as there is an air of radiance and anguish in Blanchett’s performance which definitely stands as one of her best performances of her illustrious career.

Carol is a tremendous film from Todd Haynes that features astonishing performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara. Along with a great supporting cast, gorgeous visuals, a fantastic music soundtrack and score, and a riveting story of forbidden love. It’s a film doesn’t just explore the complications of love but also what people will do to express it to each other. In the end, Carol is a spectacular film from Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes Films: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Poison - Dottie Gets Spanked - Safe - Velvet Goldmine - Far from Heaven - I'm Not There - Mildred Pierce (2011 miniseries) - Wonderstruck - Dark Waters (2019 film) - The Velvet Underground - The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

© thevoid99 2016

The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

Coming from the new wave of gay cinema in the early 1990s. Todd Haynes helped re-define the world of gay culture in the early 1990s at a time when homosexuality wasn’t being told much in Hollywood. Though the openly-gay director would step out of the world of gay cinema later in his career. He would eventually become one of the most profound, independent voices in American cinema. In 2011, Haynes goes to television for a five-part, five-hour miniseries in his adaptation of James M. Cain’s 1941 novel Mildred Pierce. While a project about a woman trying to win the heart of her ungrateful daughter might seem like a very ambitious project. It works into Haynes’ repertoire as a provocative yet stylish auteur.

Born in Los Angeles on January 2, 1961, Haynes grew up into a world where a lot was happening in film and art. In 1978, Haynes would get his first taste into the world of film with a short called The Suicide that he produced while in high school. In 1985, Haynes was in Brown University to study semiotics where he was inspired by the works of the openly gay poet Arthur Rimbaud. As a thesis, he created a short film about Rimbaud and his relationship with Paul Verlaine called Assassins: A Film Concerning Rimbaud. The short would become part of Haynes’ exploration into famous figures as Rimbaud’s work later be revisited in Haynes’ 2007 film I’m Not There as it also featured an early appearance from Laura Linney as an extra.

After graduating from Brown and moving to New York City where he discovered the independent film movement there. During a tenure studying at Bard in the mid-1980s, Haynes would take the time to learn the trade of filmmaking. It would be at this time Haynes would start his first real short film that would give him some attention.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

His 1987 short film about Karen Carpenter, the vocalist/drummer for the 1970s pop duo the Carpenters, was an eerie forty-three minute short about Carpenter’s battle with anorexia that led to her tragic 1983 death. Having Barbie dolls portray various characters including Karen. The film showed the group’s rise to success along with Karen’s struggle with maintaining a wholesome image and the expectations from her family.

When it was released through film festivals and art house theaters all over the U.S., the short grabbed a lot of attention including Richard Carpenter. Karen’s brother and the other half of the duo was upset by the film over its portrayal of his family and himself where Haynes insinuated that Richard Carpenter is gay. Because Haynes was unable to attain the rights to use the Carpenters’ music for his short film. Carpenter sued and won a lawsuit from having the film be barred from any public viewing. Though bootleg copies was available and eventually posted on the Internet. The film would prove to be a success for Haynes as the short would recall the themes of feminist repression, music culture, and homosexuality that he would explore in the years to come.

Poison

Based on the works of Jean Genet, Poison was a film in which Haynes took three of Genet’s stories into a film that would have Haynes explore his themes of repression and homosexuality. With the three sections each presented in different styles, Haynes devised an idea which defied traditional film narrative. Instead of showing each section as one standalone piece, he inter-cut all three sections into one entire piece.

Helping Haynes with this narrative approach is James Lyons who stars in the provocative yet confrontational Homo section of the film as a convict named Jack Bolton. Lyons was also at the time, Haynes’ boyfriend, as he would become one of Haynes’ key collaborators until his death in 2007 from HIV complications. Lyons served as editor along with Haynes where the two created a style that Haynes would later refine with 2007’s I’m Not There whom he would dedicated the film to Lyons. Another person that would be a key collaborator for Haynes is Christine Vachon who Haynes knew many years earlier. Vachon would help produce Haynes’ film as Poison would become their first collaboration.

With its three sections, the film was told in three different styles. The section of Hero was a cheesy TV documentary story about a strange boy who kills his abusive father and flies away. Horror was an ode to 1950s B-horror movies about a man who accidentally drinks an elixir that causes him to become a leprosy-ridden monster. In Homo, it’s a prison love story set in the 1950s about a man meeting another inmate whom he had known years earlier in a French prison. While Horror and Homo had strong narratives that each provided ideas of what was going on at the time. Hero was the weakest as it was the one with the least development and wasn’t engaging in comparison to the other stories.

When the film premiered at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival, it was considered to be a landmark film for the emerging New Queer Cinema as it won the festival’s top prize. Since the film was partially funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the film also drew controversy from conservative figures including the Reverend Donald Wildmon on the American Family Association. Claiming that it promotes homosexuality and all sorts of accusation, the controversy didn’t hurt the film but rather helped it as it became a modest art house hit. Even as it helped raise Haynes’ profile.

Dottie Gets Spanked

The 1993 short film that was shown on PBS was a strange coming-of-age story about a shy six-year-old boy who is obsessed by a TV star named Dottie. His obsession has him drawing pictures of Dottie while becoming fascinated by the idea of spanking. A visit to the TV set where he won a contest to meet her has his obsession increased including a moment where he watches Dottie gets spanked.

Based on Haynes’ own childhood experiences watching I Love Lucy along with the days of growing up around that time. The short was a comedic film that had Haynes revisit the early 1960s while making fun at the world of late 1950s/early 1960s TV. Haynes also added surrealism to the short in the dream sequences of the short’s protagonist Steven (J. Evan Bonifant) where he’s a king in his dreams. For a short that is sort of about sadomasochism, it’s a strangely innocent short feature that allows Haynes to not only broaden his ideas. It would also set the course for the period films he would make in the years to come while proving he has a weird sense of humor.

Safe

For his 1995 sophomore feature-length film, Haynes would break away from his experiments along with his themes of sexuality for something different. Safe told the story about a 1980s Californian housewife whose idyllic life is changed by the moment she suffers multiple chemical sensitivity. In response, she becomes afraid of chemicals and eventually becomes sick. Then she is taken to a retreat to help her recover from her disease.

The film is told through a lot of detachment as Haynes shoots the film with his camera being distant from the film’s protagonist Carol White. Throughout the entire film, there is rarely a close-up of Carol until the end as she seems to look at herself for the very first time. Throughout the entire film, there are elements of fear and paranoia as there are references to the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Even as the film features backgrounds and images of the environmental issues that were happening in the late 1980s. While it’s a mostly serious yet provocative character study of a woman falling apart. It’s also a satire of sorts where by the third act, Carol goes a new age retreat where its headed by a guru who has a overly-loving tendency about how to deal with issues.

Playing the role of Carol White is Julianne Moore, who at the time was an actress on the rise with such appearances in mainstream films such as Chris Columbus’ Nine Months, Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive, and Curtis Hanson’s The Hand that Rocks the Cradle along with a memorable appearance in Robert Altman’s 1993 film Short Cuts. The film wouldn’t just mark as a breakthrough for Moore but it was also be the first collaboration Moore would have with Todd Haynes. Moore’s performance of a woman who is quite unremarkable as she is more concerned at first about the color of a couch as well as the routines she has in her life. By the time she becomes sick, there is something haunting about Moore’s performance from the way she reacts to a child sitting on her lap at a baby shower to how she looks with no makeup and carrying an oxygen tank with her.

Helping Haynes present his detached yet haunting vision of the film are editor James Lyons and cinematographer Alex Nepomniaschy. Lyons’ editing definitely creates a slow yet entrancing style that helps build to Carol’s sense of fear and eventual breakdown. Even as Nepominaschy camera creates a sci-fi like feel to the photography though it’s not a sci-fi feel that is truly complemented in the film’s opening credits sequence. Another element of the film that is truly memorable is Ed Tomney’s eerie, electronic score that is driven by a dense synthesizer that also adds a sci-fi element to the film. Notably for the fact that it plays up to Carol’s newfound sense of isolation and loss.

When it was released in the summer of 1995, the film drew massive critical acclaim and was a hit in the art house circuit. The film not only helped Julianne Moore’s rising film career but also gave director Todd Haynes a wider audience. Leaning away from gay cinema, it allowed Haynes a chance to take on new projects that would show what ambition he has.

Velvet Goldmine

If Safe was Haynes’ breakthrough as a filmmaker, his 1998 film Velvet Goldmine was a stylish misstep. Exploring the world of 1970s glam rock with the music of artists like David Bowie, Lou Reed, Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, Iggy Pop, and Brian Eno. Haynes wanted to create a film that played up the crazy days of glam rock while creating a story about a 1980s reporter revisiting his youth in the days of 1970s glam rock while profiling a glam rock singer named Brian Slade along with his relationship with proto-punk singer Curt Wild. The narrative was also inspired by the storyline of Orson Welles’ 1941 classic Citizen Kane while the film’s title was named after a David Bowie B-side.

The film had an amazing ensemble cast that included Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzard, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Brian Slade. While many of the film’s narratives alluded to the influence of Oscar Wilde along with references of the rise of David Bowie in the world of glam. The film also had references to other individuals such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop in the Curt Wild character while Eddie Izzard played a variation on Bowie’s 1970s manager Tony DeFries, and Toni Collette as Bowie’s 1970 wife Angela. With Bale as the reporter who is enamored by the world of glam in his youth only to repress it in the 1980s. It’s a film that had a very interesting story with some entertaining sequences as well as amazing musical performances from Meyers, McGregor, and a cameo appearance from the British band Placebo.

Though Haynes and co-writer/editor James Lyons had an idea that was interesting. Not everyone liked it by the time was to go into production. One person who got a chance to read Haynes and Lyons’ script was David Bowie in the hopes that Bowie would be involved with the project. Instead, Bowie disliked the script and in response, denied Haynes the permission to use his music. That forced Haynes to re-work ideas for the script as well as having to use other people’s music performed by other musicians such as members of Radiohead, Suede, Sonic Youth, and other acts including Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay and the Stooges’ Ron Asheton.

While the film was praised for its stylized take on glam as well as the music, it received criticism for its story. Though it would become a cult hit, the film didn’t do well in the box office. Even worse was that the film received its harshest criticism from people involved in the glam rock scene such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, photographer Mick Rock, members of the band Roxy Music, and other luminaries. 80s pop singer Boy George of Culture Club was also critical of the film claiming it was an insult of his youth. A lot of the criticism felt Haynes exaggerated a lot of the things that happened including an orgy scene with gay and straight lovers. Despite the criticism, it was another exploration of Haynes’ fascination with pop culture icons and music scenes that would he later refine years later.

Far from Heaven

After a break from the disappointing reaction of Velvet Goldmine, Haynes decided to go back into his themes of repression. This time around, he sought inspiration from the films of Douglas Sirk. Sirk’s films of the 1950s were filled with melodrama, lush colors, and stories of unrequited love. After moving from New York City to Portland in 2000, Haynes was working on two projects. One of which he would do later on as the other project inspired by Sirk would be his next film called Far from Heaven.

Re-teaming with Safe’s Julianne Moore in the lead as Cathy Whitaker, the film is set in the 1950s as it’s about the idyllic wife of a New England’s housewife is shattered by her husband’s homosexual tendencies. With her husband dealing with his supposed homosexuality, Cathy becomes infatuated with her new, African-American gardener named Raymond who possesses a warmth that Cathy is gravitated to. The film also starred Dennis Quaid as Moore’s husband Frank, Dennis Haysbert as gardener Raymond, Viola Davis as Cathy’s maid Sybil, and Patricia Clarkson as Cathy’s best friend Eleanor.

With Edward Lachman providing the film’s colorful, lush cinematography that pays true to the lushness of Sirk’s films. Elmer Bernstein also provided the film’s sweeping score that plays to the melodrama. In look, the film was truly extraordinary while the story was also something that was unconventional and daring. Even as it carried themes that were considered taboo like homosexuality and interracial romance. While Haynes admitted that he was influenced by Sirk for the film’s look, he also went to the dramatic works of controversial German director Rainier Werner Fassbinder as an influence for the film. Yet, it is presented in a dramatic fashion as Haynes’ direction suddenly showed a newfound maturity for a director known for being very radical.

The film received four Oscar nominations including a Best Actress nomination for Julianne Moore. The film also drew the best review of Haynes’ career as he also received accolades from various critics awards including the New York City Film Critics awards. The film proved to be a massive success for Haynes as he would take a five-year break from the scene to work on his next project.

I'm Not There

The success of Far from Heaven allowed Todd Haynes to take on any project, Haynes chose to go back to the route of famous musical figures. This time around, his next project would be an ambitious yet experimental project about Bob Dylan. In 2000, Haynes moved to Portland, Oregon on a cross-country road trip from NYC to Portland where his soundtrack was Bob Dylan. Knowing that a project about Dylan would be difficult and Dylan not easy to contact. Haynes contacted Dylan’s son and fellow filmmaker Jesse Dylan and Dylan’s manager about the project. This proposal that Haynes had was finally delivered to Dylan as Dylan through his manager gave Haynes absolute approval to do the project.

Named after a famous bootlegged song from The Basement Tapes sessions, I’m Not There was a radical project that had six actors play different personas of Bob Dylan. With the name of Dylan not mentioned throughout the project, Haynes had a cast of actors with varied different backgrounds to play the personas of Dylan. For the pre-fame Dylan named after folk singer Woody Guthrie, Haynes chose a young African-American child actor named Marcus Carl Franklin to play the role that was based on exaggerations. For the dual rule of folk-era Dylan Jack Rollins and the late 1970s Christian-era Dylan named Pastor John, Christian Bale of Velvet Goldmine was to play the role.

Others who were brought to the film included young British actor Ben Whishaw as a character named Arthur Rimbaud who is based on a variation of Dylan from an infamous interview where he said inane things. Heath Ledger played an actor named Robbie Clark that chronicled Dylan’s personal life and relationships with women. Richard Gere played an aging Dylan named Billy the Kid lost in the world of Americana. The last person to play a Dylan variation is Cate Blanchett as the androgynous Jude Quinn, the electric-era Dylan.

Also featuring Haynes regular Julianne Moore along with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, and David Cross as Allen Ginsberg. The project was the antithesis of music bio-pics as it had an extremely unconventional narrative. Even as the music bio-pic was becoming clichéd in formula by 2007. The film was to be released with a Judd Apatow-produced music bio-pic parody coming out called Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story that also made fun of Bob Dylan. The film did receive positive reviews and modest box office while some critics felt the film was too unconventional. Yet, it drew a great reception from fans of Dylan who felt it was the definitive bio-pic about Bob Dylan.

Mildred Pierce

During his time after the release and promotion of I’m Not There, Haynes became interested in another project that was an allegory to economic problems in the U.S. It was in James M. Cain’s novel Mildred Pierce about a woman in the Great Depression trying to fend for herself in order to raise her two daughters. Eventually succeeding and opening a restaurant, she finds love while having trying to earn the love of her narcissistic, selfish daughter Veda. Haynes felt the story was true to what was happening with economic issues of the late 2000s as he chose the story for his next project.

Though a version of Mildred Pierce was made back in 1945 by Michael Curtiz as a noir-like melodrama that won Joan Crawford an Oscar for Best Actress as the title character. Haynes’ approach was going to be far different as he and producer Christine Vachon went to HBO to make it into a five-part miniseries starring Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce. At nearly six hours, Haynes’ take on Cain’s novel is closer to the book than Curtiz’s film while Haynes brings in a 1970s cinematic approach to the film. With a cast that also includes Guy Pearce, Brian F. O’Byrne, Mare Winningham, Melissa Leo, Hope Davis, and in the role of Veda Pierce, Morgan Turner and Evan Rachel Wood.

Haynes’ approach to the story has Mildred Pierce often looking out at something to not only her isolation but also in being detached to the world through the progression of her character. She starts out as a housewife who loses her husband by infidelity and becomes a waitress to take care of her two kids. Then, she becomes a success by creating her own chain of restaurants despite the tragedy she would endure early in the miniseries. While the character of Mildred would be successful, she would also encounter heartbreak and betrayal. Notably from her daughter Veda as the ambitious, ungrateful young woman would create drama and heartbreak for Mildred as it would eventually lead to an emotional confrontation.

The miniseries is definitely Haynes taking the ambition he had from Far from Heaven and I’m Not There while centering it on this woman and her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. While it is more than five hours, it allows Haynes to delve into the story and the characters from 1931 to 1940. Notably in the way he portrays the period with some realism but also give it an old-school Hollywood feel. The project proves that Haynes can create something that is ambitious but also play around his themes while adding ambiguity to a story as broad as Mildred Pierce.

Additional Projects

Aside from features and short films that Haynes has directed in his career. He’s also been involved as a producer as he’s helped fund projects for the films of Kelly Reichardt while serving as an executive producer for the 2005 Sundance-award winning film Quinceanera. Still, the projects Haynes has directed outside of film work has been diverse. Among them is a video for the song Disappearer for the legendary alternative rock band Sonic Youth in 1990. The video features images of people peeling off hair from their faces along with members of the band driving around with clips of them performing. The video would mark a relationship with Haynes and the band as they would contribute music for Haynes’ films like Velvet Goldmine and I’m Not There where they did a cover of the latter.

While commercials might not seem like a cool idea for anyone that’s an auteur. Yet, it helps pay the bills as Haynes directed a commercial for Heineken beer with its Share the Good campaign. The ad has people pass the beer along to other individuals as an act of love. With people of various different cultures and ideals going from one place to another to share in the joy of Heineken is not only filled with different sets and places. It also has a catchy song by Chris Knox as it’s one of the most entertaining beer commercials ever presented.

While Todd Haynes has no upcoming projects in the works at the moment, he’s already created a library of films that has made one of American cinema’s revered auteurs. Whether it’s taking on a period piece in the 1930s or 1950s, exploring the music world of glam rock, 70s pop, or folk music. He’s always doing something very different while giving voice to people who don’t fit in to a certain part of society or just rebel what is happening. Whatever project Todd Haynes will do next will surely anticipated as the projects he’s made as he is currently one of the best living film directors working today.

© thevoid99 2011

Mildred Pierce (2011 TV Miniseries)

Based on James M. Cain’s 1941 novel, Mildred Pierce tells the story of a middle-class housewife’s struggle to give her children a better life during the Great Depression. Though she finds works as a waitress and begins to work her way up, she also begins to deal with the ambitions of her eldest Veda as their lives turn tragic. The story would eventually become a feature film in 1945 by Michael Curtiz that starred Joan Crawford in the title role, which would win her an Oscar for Best Actress. In 2011, the melodramatic story is told once again into a new medium for a five-part TV miniseries. This time, under the helm of one of American cinema’s great talents in Todd Haynes.

Directed by Todd Haynes with a teleplay by Haynes and Jon Raymond. Haynes’ adaptation of Mildred Pierce is a re-telling of the novel by expanding on the melodrama with the realism of the 1930s. While some might consider the project to be a companion piece of sorts to his 2002 film Far from Heaven. The miniseries is a different take on the world of housewives that Haynes had previously explored in Far from Heaven and Safe. Even as he goes for a grittier yet stylistic approach to the story with Kate Winslet in the title role. Also starring Evan Rachel Wood, Guy Pearce, Mare Winningham, Melissa Leo, Brian F. O’Byrne, James LeGros, and Hope Davis. Mildred Pierce is a sprawling yet evocative drama from Todd Haynes and company.

Part 1

It’s 1931 during the Great Depression in Glendale, California when Bert Pierce (Brian F. O’Byrne) leaves his home and his wife Mildred after accusations of infidelity. With her two young daughters in the glamorous Veda (Morgan Turner) and the playful Ray (Quinn McColgan), Mildred realizes that she needs work. While her neighbor Lucy Gessler (Melissa Leo) helps out along with Bert’s business partner Wally Burgan (James LeGros). Still in 1931, as Mildred struggles to find work in any kind of field. While an employment agent helps her find work, she gets a job offer to work for a maid by a rich woman named Mrs. Forrester (Hope Davis).

Mildred turns her down as she continues to try and find work where during a lunch break, she sees an argument between waitresses as the manager (Mark Margolis) fires one of them. Realizing they’re short, Mildred volunteers for the day as she accepts the job of being a waitress. While she only tells Lucy about the job, she hopes that no including Veda would know about this.

Part 2

With help from Ida Corwin (Mare Winningham), Mildred succeeds as a waitress as she brings in some money. While things are fine at the restaurant, the only thing the customers complain about is the pie as Mildred brings in pies of her own to help boost things. Realizing that she can make money on her own with her cooking skills, she also learns the ropes of the restaurant business with Wally’s help to start a restaurant. Though Wally reveals that in order for Mildred to have her own business, she needs to divorce Bert. Bert reluctantly does so though he still gets the chance to see his daughters.

Mildred’s secret comes out when her new assistant Letty wear Mildred’s waitress dress. Mildred has a confrontation with the snobbish Veda while revealing the plans she’s having for the restaurant. On the last day of her job as a waitress, a man named Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce) arrives as he asks Mildred for a day at the beach in Santa Barbara. Mildred accepts where romance happens between Mildred and the fruit company heir. On the way home, Mildred would encounter tragedy that would change her life as well as her relationship with Veda.

Part 3

After the family tragedy Mildred faced, she decides to move forward to open her restaurant called Mildred’s. With her maid Letty (Marin Ireland) helping out for the first day, it starts off slow until it grew in that first night. With Ida and Lucy helping out, the first night becomes successful as Monty makes an appearance much to the delight of Veda. With Monty in Mildred’s life and making an indelible impression on Veda, everything seems to be going well. Even as Monty gets a chance for Veda to audition for a prestigious music teacher. Though the audition is a success, Mildred knows that she has to get a top piano for Veda so she can continue to practice.

With Prohibition on its way out and Monty having money troubles, Mildred takes Lucy’s advice to have a little bar in her restaurant. Yet, it’s not enough to deal with Monty’s financial issues while Veda’s time with Monty makes Mildred uneasy. Even as Veda is unimpressed by Mildred’s present while saying things that upset Mildred about Veda’s conversations with Monty. At a rainy night on New Year’s Eve, Mildred confronts Monty about his conversations with Veda along with the fact that she works and he doesn’t.

Part 4

With Mildred’s becoming a success as Mildred hopes to expand her business, Lucy finds a location at Laguna that would become a place where Mildred would exceed her finances. With help from Wally and Ida, Mildred’s third restaurant at the Laguna becomes another success as she also expands her entrees. After the news of her teacher‘s death, Veda (Evan Rachel Wood) tries to get an audition with a famed music impresario named Treviso. Instead, the audition becomes a disaster leading Veda to party with a group of young people.

Mildred is worried about Veda’s partying ways as she gets an unexpected visit from Mrs. Forrester. What Mildred learns from Mrs. Forrester has her worried while she asks Veda what happened. Veda revealed she turned to Wally for help as Mildred learns the realization of what Veda is trying to do. Yet, what is more shocking is Veda’s motivation to do so as Mildred kicks her out. With Veda gone, Mildred focuses on her business yet she longs for information about Veda. Then, she hears the news from Bert that Veda has succeeded as an opera singer.

Part 5

After learning about Veda’s success and hearing her sing through the radio, Mildred is desperate to contact her. She realizes that Veda’s music instructor is Treviso who is happy about working with Veda though suggests to Mildred to not make any contact with her for her own sake. With ideas of finding a new home in Pasadena, Mildred runs into Monty as they reconnect. Selling her his estate, the two get married as Veda makes a surprise appearance. Though everything seems fine as Veda becomes a big success. Mildred learns about some holes in her finances as it becomes clear what’s been happening. Even Bert reveals what’s been happening as people from her business have tried to warn her about something. It is there that Mildred faces not only betrayal but also heartbreak.

While the original 1945 film was a noir-like melodrama set in the 1940s, it was a very stylized approach to what James M. Cain had originally intended with the book. Under the direction of Todd Haynes, Cain’s story about a woman trying to win the heart of her ungrateful daughter expands into something much bigger and more realistic. Even as Haynes uses Mildred’s struggle early in the miniseries as an allegory to what was going in the late 2000s during the troubled economy. Yet, Haynes and co-writer Jon Raymond delve into the story about this woman’s desperate to succeed in her own times and win her daughter’s heart. Even by going to Cain’s novel and bring in characters that weren’t present or under-utilized in Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film.

The relationship between Mildred and Veda is the heart of the miniseries while characters such as Bert Pierce, Ida Corwin, Wally Burgan, and Monty Beragon are more prominent in the book. Even the character Lucy Gessler, who wasn’t in the 1945 film, is presented in the miniseries. With these supporting characters, they bring in their own perspective about the Mildred and Veda relationship though it’s told through Mildred’s perspective.

Since it’s told in nearly six-hours and in five parts, it’s all about Mildred’s progression from a wife whose husband has left her for another woman to struggle on her own. When she eventually takes a job as a waitress so she can raise her daughters. During this time as a waitress, she learns about the restaurant business and with the help of a few people. She starts her own restaurant and eventually succeeds by turning it into an empire. Yet, part of the motivation isn’t to give her daughters the chance to feel secure but also for them to have a very good life. Unfortunately, one of them wants more than that.

The character of Veda is someone that wants ambition and wants to succeed at any cost. When family tragedy occurs in the Pierce family, it does bring Veda and Mildred closer which also serves as Mildred’s reason to want to have Veda around her. Instead, Veda becomes more ambitious and falls for Monty’s lifestyle. The chance to play music and later, become a singer is Veda’s chance to not only leave Glendale but also leave the mother who she feels is holding her back.

With the relationship of the two progressing throughout the duration of the story, there comes various people involved that would look at this relationship. The one person that would help create the divide in the two is Monty. Monty is a rich playboy who likes to live a lifestyle that he can afford, at first. By the time his own finances dry up, he goes to Mildred for money as she takes care of him. Instead, his own time with Veda would be the breaking point as they won’t see each other for a few years. When he does reappear, he would be responsible for the reunion between Mildred and Veda. Yet, that wouldn’t last as he would create the problems Mildred would face the near-ruin of everything she’s worked for. What’s even worse isn’t just betrayal but also an indication of how foolish she can be.

Part of Mildred’s fault is her ability to try and please others such as Monty and Veda. Yet, they take advantage of her hospitality making Mildred into a tragic figure of sorts. Even by the miniseries’ climatic moment is where she finally reaches her breaking point following everything that has just happened to her. The ending of the miniseries isn’t as stylish as Curtiz’s film but it’s an indication of what Mildred has learned and realizes in the end.

The teleplay by Haynes and Jon Raymond succeeds in not only the character study of Mildred Pierce as well as other characters. They succeed in also creating the environment of what was it like during the Great Depression. Through Haynes’ sprawling yet stylish direction, he creates something that is not just reminiscent of 1970s cinema. He also brings a contemporary approach to the story while retaining the language of the 1930s. Yet, Haynes is always having his camera interested in what is going on with Mildred’s world and through the people around her.

There are scenes throughout the miniseries where Mildred is looking around whether she’s inside a car or at a restaurant looking around. It’s as if she’s is feeling detached by the world around her. Even as Haynes understands what Mildred is going through with her life. Even as the story progresses, she becomes more refined while is awaiting to be reunited with Veda. The scenes where Veda performs an opera is truly captivating as it’s shown not just from Mildred’s perspective but also in how Veda is displaying those emotions through her singing. It’s not just Veda singing to her mother where it seems like she’s being grateful underneath all of that performance is a young woman becoming more detached from the woman who tried to give her everything.

Haynes’ direction truly succeeds in creating a feeling of detachment while bringing new life to the world of the Depression in California though it’s mostly shot in the state of New York. The look of the 1930s during the Depression might not seem as decayed or in ruins but rather a period where people are struggling while trying to get things moving. Even as he creates wonderful shots and camera movements to get into the emotion of the story. Even as he ends each part with some sort of cliffhanger as the end of the first part really shows a great example of what is happening. The result is truly a magnificent miniseries helmed by one of American cinema’s great filmmakers working today.

Cinematographer Edward Lachman does a superb job with the miniseries’ gorgeous photography. Lachman plays up the sunny yet dreamy quality of many of the miniseries’ exteriors that gives it a Californian feel. For many of the interiors, Lachman brings in an amazing array of lighting schemes whether its to reflect sunlight against the glass in some scenes or creating a mood for what is happening. Lachman’s photography is truly exquisite as it is definitely the highlight of the miniseries’ technical work.

Editors Alfonso Goncalves and Camilla Toniolo do a phenomenal job with the editing of the entire series. With Goncalves on the first two parts, Toniolo on the third, and both doing the last two parts. The editing works in playing up to the drama and uncertainty about Mildred early in the story. Even as presents the story in a leisured yet methodical pacing while not making it too slow. While it’s length works as a miniseries which allows each part to be separated at over an hour each. The editing also works to convey the intense melodrama that occurs throughout the miniseries as it is definitely some fine work.

Production designer Mark Friedberg, along with set decorator Ellen Christiansen and art director Peter Rogness, does a great job with the recreation of 1930s California from the look of the restaurants and homes that characters lived in. Even with the cars as Freidberg and his team do something that is truly spectacular with the period setting including the grand scenes for the opera. Costume designer Ann Roth does a spectacular job with the costumes for the miniseries. Roth’s costumes plays up to the evolution of Mildred’s character from a middle-class woman struggling to find work to a woman with lavish clothes running a business. Even with Veda’s clothes early as child with someone wanting top-class to a much more grander style of clothing to represent her narcissistic personality.

Visual effects supervisor Lesley Robson-Foster does a very good job with the minimal sound effects to enhance the look of 1930s America along a few shots for some of the driving scenes. Sound designer Leslie Shatz does an amazing job with the sound work for the miniseries. From the way cars sounded back then to the surroundings Mildred would encounter throughout duration of the miniseries along with the homes she lives in. Shatz’s work is truly stellar in the way she allows the sound to intensify the dramatic elements of the miniseries.

The score by Carter Burwell is truly wonderful for the way Burwell plays up to the melodrama as well as the period of the music. Creating a score filled with lush arrangements and orchestral flourishes that is bombastic and also understated to play up the drama. Even with something as plaintive as a piano to help play to Mildred’s complex emotions. Music supervisor Randall Poster helps with the soundtrack by creating a mix of 1930s pop music at the time, notably I‘m Always Chasing Rainbows that serves as Mildred‘s sort of theme. Poster also selects varied classical opera pieces for Veda to play with vocals by Sumi Jo to serve as Veda’s voice. The music overall is fantastic as it’s another highlight of the miniseries.

The casting by Laura Rosenthal is definitely top-notch with the array of people that appears throughout the entire miniseries. In small but notable appearances include Paul Sparks as an agent trying to get Veda to New York City in the fifth part of the series, Mark Margolis as the diner boss, Miriam Shor as a diner waitress, Elvy Yost as Mildred’s secretary in the latter part of the miniseries, Halley Feiffer as one of Mildred’s waitresses, and Marin Ireland as Mildred’s maid/assistant Letty. Quinn McColgan is very good as Mildred’s youngest daughter Ray who provides all of the warmth and playfulness that anyone could ask for in a kid. Hope Davis is excellent in a small but pivotal role as Mrs. Forrester, a rich woman who snidely offers Mildred a job in the first part only to return in the fourth when she confronts Mildred about Veda.

Mare Winningham is great as Ida Corwin, a diner waitress who helps Mildred run the restaurant while being the person who tries to warn Mildred about the finances. James LeGros is wonderful as Wally Burgan, a businessman who occasionally sleeps with Mildred early in the series to help her start a business while being the man who would make decisions that baffles Mildred. Melissa Leo is phenomenal as Lucy Gessler, Mildred’s best friend and confidant who helps her run the restaurant business while trying to warn Mildred about Veda’s behavior. Brian F. O’Byrne is extremely impressive as Bert Pierce, Mildred’s first husband who leaves for another woman only to become a supporter of her and one of the few people she trusts. O’Byrne truly brings an everyman quality to Bert who is kind of a sap but a guy that is sympathetic as his own relationship with Mildred in the progression of the story becomes one of the most interesting as O’Byrne really shines.

Guy Pearce is amazing as Monty Beragon, the charming playboy who wows Mildred with his tastes as he helps her succeed. Yet, Pearce also brings a devilish quality to Beragon as he is someone who is more brutish and also lazy as a guy who just likes to live a lifestyle that he can’t really afford. It’s Pearce at his finest as he and Kate Winslet have some wonderful chemistry whether they’re in love or hating each other. For role of Veda Pierce, two actresses play the character in two different age groups. For the younger Veda, Morgan Turner is superb as this young, ambitious little girl who scoffs at the idea of the working class while being very spoiled. Turner adds a smugness to that character that makes her someone that anyone would love to hate. Yet, it’s a remarkable performance from the young Turner as it’s really a set-up for what will Veda become as a teenage girl/young woman played by Evan Rachel Wood.

Evan Rachel Wood gives, what is probably the best performance of her young career so far. Not only does she make Veda more unlikable, she makes Veda into a monster that anyone wishes would be dead. Wood truly brings a very dramatic flair to her character by being a bit over the top and also bringing the idea that she is a talented singer/musician in the way she mimics things. By the time the story progresses and she becomes larger than life, Wood definitely has moments she nearly steals the scenes from Kate Winslet including a nude scene that is one of the most infuriating moments of the miniseries. It is definitely a break-out performance for the young Evan Rachel Wood.

Finally, there’s Kate Winslet in what is definitely one of her greatest performances of her career. In playing the titular character, it is a very different performance than the one Joan Crawford gave in the 1945 performance. It’s stripped down and also very direct about a woman struggling to bring security to her young daughters and to succeed on her own terms. Winslet brings a real weariness to her character while her physicality in the way she reacts to things is just startling. Even as she has a great rapport with her fellow actors including Evan Rachel Wood where the two have great scenes together about their troubled relationship. While it may not be her best performance of her career, it is certainly among one of her best in an amazing career.

Mildred Pierce is a spectacular yet mesmerizing miniseries/melodrama from Todd Haynes featuring a towering performance from Kate Winslet in the title role. Along with some fantastic supporting work by Evan Rachel Wood, Morgan Turner, Guy Pearce, Melissa Leo, Mare Winningham, and Brian F. O’Byrne. It’s definitely a story that really plays to its sense of ambition and heartbreak. While it may not be as overly stylized as Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film, it is definitely a more realistic take on James M. Cain’s novel though both have the same idea. While it is a long story to watch, it is told in the right medium as a miniseries as Todd Haynes truly went all out for this story. In the end, the 2011 miniseries of Mildred Pierce is a dazzling yet intense project from Todd Haynes.

Todd Haynes Films: Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story - Poison - Dottie Gets Spanked - Safe - Velvet Goldmine - Far from Heaven - I'm Not There - Carol - Wonderstruck - Dark Waters (2019 film) - The Velvet Underground

Related: Mildred Pierce (1945 film) - The Auteurs #3: Todd Haynes

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