What to Binge This Weekend: Todd Haynes's 'Mildred Pierce'
Welcome to Streamageddon 2015. This is the weekend that Netflix’s Jessica Jones and Amazon’s The Man in the High Castle face off for the hearts, minds and eyeballs of binge viewers everywhere. With each series clocking in at 13-hour long episodes and 10-hour long episodes respectively, you could potentially start streaming at 8pm tonight and finish both by 8pm Saturday evening…provided you don’t stop to eat, sleep or talk to another human being.
Of course, if you do attempt that remarkable (and potentially insane) feat, you’ll be left facing a big question: what do you watch on Sunday? Allow us to suggest a five hour chaser: Mildred Pierce, HBO’s Emmy-award winning adaptation of the 1941 James M. Cain novel, featuring Kate Winslet as the title character. But for true cinephiles, the real star of the series is co-writer/director Todd Haynes, an art house legend making his mainstream television debut. Mildred Pierce is a companion piece of sorts to his 2002 drama, Far From Heaven, a spectacular ‘50s-era period piece about a housewife (Julianne Moore) who defies suburban conformity, made in the style of a lush Hollywood melodrama.
Mildred Pierce rewinds the clock to the Great Depression, but still tells the story of a woman straining to step outside the conventions of her time. (It’s a subject that seems to fascinate Haynes; his latest film, Carol, opens in limited release this weekend and depicts a wrenching love story between Cate Blanchett’s wealthy wife and Rooney Mara’s young salesgirl against the backdrop of mid-20th century New York City.) As the series begins, Mildred has ditched her husband and takes a job as a waitress to put food on the table for her children, including snobby daughter Veda (Evan Rachel Wood). Quickly mastering the skills of her new profession, she goes from waitress to restaurateur, picking up a handsome new lover, Monty (Guy Pearce), along the way. But as her prospects improve, her relationship with Veda— who aspires to a high class, high profile singing career—is strained to its breaking point. Over the course of the series’ nine year timespan, mother and daughter circle each other warily, locked in a battle of wills they can’t seem to resolve with an equitable truce.
When it comes to recreating the past, few directors are as thrillingly meticulous as Haynes. Mildred Pierce’s rich depiction of America’s Depression years earned the Art Direction team a well-deserved Emmy. Haynes, sadly, went home empty handed in the Directing category, but his leading lady picked up a well-deserved statue for one of her very best performances. (It would be great to see the same thing happen for Mara at this year’s Oscars, as she’s the heart and soul of Carol.) So yes, binge away on Jessica Jones and The Man in the High Castle this pre-holiday weekend. But be sure to save some room for the visual and dramatic feast provided by Mildred Pierce.
Mildred Pierce can be streamed on Amazon and HBO Go.
