Coming Soon: OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL Also: CLOUD ATLAS
Complex, proto-feminist psychological novel gets faithful treatment in mini-series form
May 20, 2013
By Jimmy Gillman
Mildred Pierce
HBO Films; 2012; 336 minutes; TV-MA, for nudity, sexuality, language, adult themes, situations and language; Directed by Todd Haynes; Starring: Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, Brían F. O'Byrne, Melissa Leo, Evan Rachel Wood, James Le Gros, Mare Winningham, Morgan Turner; Screenwriter(s): Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond
Rather than try to outdo the 1945 version of Mildred Pierce, a Hollywood classic forced to abandon many of the book’s darker aspects because of restrictions put in place by the Hayes Code, writer-director Todd Haynes has attempted a faithful translation of James M. Cain's seminal novel in the form of a five-part mini-series, and the results are very good.
