| Mildred Pierce | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
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| Genre | Drama |
| Directed by | Todd Haynes |
| Produced by | Todd Haynes Christine Vachon John Wells Pamela Koffler Ilene S. Landress |
| Screenplay by | Todd Haynes Jon Raymond |
| Based on | Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain |
| Starring | Kate Winslet Guy Pearce Evan Rachel Wood Melissa Leo |
| Music by | Carter Burwell |
| Cinematography | Edward Lachman |
| Editing by | Alfonso Gonçalves |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Release date | March 27, 2011 (United States) |
| No. of episodes | 5 |
| Official website | |
Mildred Pierce is a five-part miniseries that first aired on HBO on March 27, 2011. Adapted from James M. Cain's 1941 novel,[1] it was directed by Todd Haynes, and starred Kate Winslet in the title role, alongside Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, and Melissa Leo.[1] Carter Burwell wrote the original score for the miniseries.
It is the second adaptation of the novel, after the 1945 film noir produced by Warner Bros. and starring Joan Crawford.
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Mildred Pierce depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a new man, all the while trying to earn her narcissistic daughter's love and respect. The miniseries follows Cain's original novel exactly, dramatizing nearly every scene and dispensing with the murder subplot which was added for the 1945 film. The dialogue is even almost entirely taken word-for-word from the novel.
Parts of the miniseries were filmed in three New York locations: Peekskill, Point Lookout and Merrick.[2]
Mildred Pierce received generally favorable reviews. Metacritic assigned the series an average score of 69/100 based on 28 reviews from mainstream critics.[3] Salon.com called it a "quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece",[4] while The New York Times reviewer, Alessandra Stanley, commented that while the miniseries was "loyally, unwaveringly true to James M. Cain's 1941 novel", it did not "make the most of the mythic clash of mother, lover and ungrateful child", and was "not nearly as satisfying as the 1945 film noir".[5]
Novelist Stephen King, reviewing Mildred Pierce for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, praised the acting of Winslet, Pearce and Wood, and admired the show's attention to detail and structure,[6] but complained that the five-hour adaptation was "too damn long".
The series was shown Out of Competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival 2011.
The miniseries was nominated for the following Emmy Awards:[7]
| Category | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or Movie | Won | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Movie | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or a Movie (non-prosthetic) | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Carter Burwell | Won |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie, or a Special | Won | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie | Nominated | |
| Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music | Nominated |
| Episode(s) | Date | Viewers |
|---|---|---|
| Part One & Part Two | March 27, 2011 | 1.270 million[8] |
| Part Three | April 3, 2011 | 0.987 million[9] |
| Part Four & Part Five | April 10, 2011 | 0.964 million[10] |
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