Steven Soderbergh and his Informant! screenwriter Scott Z. Burns explore the speed at which both a virus and information travel in their new thriller Contagion. It’s a chilling look at the consequences of a pandemic spiraling out-of-control, lent weight and gravitas by an A-list cast featuring the likes of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Marion Cotillard.
Contagion‘s star-studded ensemble recalls ’70s disaster epics such as The Towering Inferno, and this may be the closest Soderbergh gets to making a film of that ilk. As always with the Ocean’s Eleven director, the work feels uncompromised and uniquely his. Big-scale spectacle is shunned in favor of a cool, clinical exploration of how government and society reacts to the crisis. Soderbergh admirably manages to maintain his experimental edge in a conventional genre set-up. This is arty moviemaking dressed up as popcorn entertainment, Traffic with a transmission virus.
The film begins with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Beth Emhoff returning home to her family after a business trip. We learn that she’s cheated on her husband Mitch (Matt Damon) with an old flame (Soderbergh in a voice cameo) and is suffering from cold-like symptoms. Within days she’s convulsing on the kitchen floor and later dies in hospital. Mitch’s son also passes away, and as panic intensifies he and his daughter find themselves quarantined in their town as the disease spreads.
Concurrently, Contagion tracks doctors Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne), Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) and Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard, identifying Beth as “patient zero”), who face the crisis on the front lines. Jude Law also has a prominent role as a sleazy, snaggle-toothed blogger who attacks pharmaceutical companies and claims to have cured his sickness with a homeopathic treatment.
Far from the hysterics of a Roland Emmerich disaster thriller, Contagion is a more measured take on humanity in crisis. With its soundtrack of rattling coughs and urgent score from Cliff Martinez, it propels along at brisk speed, building up tension and anxiety. It’s sweaty-palm, finger nails-digging-into-armrests cinema, and the bumping off of Paltrow within the opening moments quickly hammers home the fact that nobody is safe.
Many characters are introduced and as a result it’s difficult to form strong attachments amid the whirlwind-like narrative as it spans continents and government departments. Only Damon’s distraught father carries emotional resonance, particularly when he dresses up his living room so his daughter can have a prom night with her boyfriend.
Contagion‘s social decay and disorder shares parallels with the seminal TV movie Threads. Soderbergh is never quite as brutal or terrifying as that 1984 BBC production, but as paranoia and unease seeps through the screen it’s quickly evident that he and Burns have an authentic grasp on the mechanics of a disease-led downfall. This isn’t the Oscar-winning director at his best, but it’s compelling viewing nevertheless.
Category: Reviews
“Contagion” review
Last night, the five-part mini series, Mildred Pierce came to quite a disastrous end. In parts four and five, nine years have passed and Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) continues to break her back for her ungrateful daughter, Veda Pierce (Evan Rachel Wood) even after a heated argument leads to Mildred kicking Veda out of the house. As fulfilling as it was to watch Veda being thrown out after ripping her mother to shreds yet again, that satisfaction only lasted for a moment. Mildred’s constant need to keep her adult daughter happy consumes her life until it can’t anymore.
With all of the cooking showcased in parts one through three, the early years resembled visuals similar to Julie & Julia. Though parts four and five focused more on the dramatic elements that viewers were anticipating from the very beginning. It was so odd and in a way unsettling to watch Kate Winslet in a role that pushes her to be so inferior. For a woman managing her own restaurant and bakery, Mildred sure lacks leadership strengths with her own flesh and blood.“What are you insinuating, that my daughter is a snake?”
“It’s much worse.”As for Evan Rachel Wood, there were glimpses in past roles that she has played of a selfish little girl. Wood was able to let it all out as Veda, the lying, stealing, and manipulative young woman with nothing going for outside of her opera career. Wood was much more dramatic than some viewers may have anticipated, but it definitely works for this character. As the man whom Mildred ran into said, Veda is a wonderful singer but not a wonderful girl. Wood plays the part perfectly. Clearly, Veda is not just an ungrateful daughter but the world’s most awful human being. Her inability to be a good person proves to be the cause for her inability to be a success outside of her singing career. By the way, if you want to hear Evan Rachel Wood singing some more, pick up the Across The Universe soundtrack. Also, 1940s wardrobe definitely agrees with Wood.
Continue reading “Mildred Pierce” miniseries review: Parts Four & Five
“Mildred Pierce” brings noir back to television
There just aren’t many noir films being made today. Sure, Quentin Tarantino borrows heavily from the genre and some films incorporate an occasional throwback reference, but overall, the heavy-handed dialogue of smooth talking Humphrey Bogart-like characters, the harsh lighting and the mysterious, often gruesome, plotlines have been replaced by the more contemporary trends of understated acting, 3-D gimmicks and whatever you’d like to call the phenomenon that is Michael Bay.
Mildred Pierce, a five-part HBO miniseries directed by Todd Haynes starring Kate Winslet in the title role, tries to prove, however, that noir still has a place in the 21st century.
The series is set in Depression-era Los Angeles, and the story follows Mildred Pierce as she experiences the challenges of being a single mother trying to provide for her family in a time of staggering gender imbalances. The series is based on James M. Cain’s 1941 book of the same name, which was previously adapted into a 1945 film noir that won Joan Crawford the Academy Award for Best Actress.
While Mildred is a far more human character in the miniseries than in the somewhat misogynistic noir film, the miniseries does borrow heavily from the previous adaptation in terms of acting, lighting and mise en scène. This style has mixed results, however. At first, the noir-style dialogue comes off as stilted, making it feel like an Arthur Miller play is being acted out on screen. It is eventually possible to adjust, however, from contemporary expectations for the dialogue and to become comfortable with the reliable noir cadence.
Continue reading “Mildred Pierce” brings noir back to television
Mildred Pierce is a beautiful five part mini-series based on the 1941 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. Set in Glendale, California in 1931, this story follows a woman who is struggling to balance her new life as a single mother with two children and a new career.
In Part One, we meet Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) and Bert Pierce (Brian F. O’Byrne), a couple in a very hostile relationship. Mildred appears to be doing most of the work and taking on most of the sacrifices. When she asks Bert for simple forms of help, it becomes too much and he bails. His affair with a woman named Maggie also might have to do with his sudden exit.
The revelation to Mildred’s two children about their deadbeat father leaving was heartbreaking. Morgan Turner who portrays young Veda Pierce is a remarkably talented actress. At just eleven years old, Turner is clearly well fit for this craft and should not be overlooked in a mini series full of award winning actors and nominees. Young Veda ends up becoming one the most of evil little girls HBO has come across and it is mainly to do with Turner’s fantastic performance.
Another significant moment in part one took place when Mildred was counting change in the market, putting back one item for a more significant item. Mildred’s frustration was subtle yet incredibly painful. But this doesn’t last for too long… or does it? After quite a handful of unsuccessful attempts, Mildred gets a job as a waitress at a local diner with Ida Corwin (Mare Winningham) training her. Not only that, a newly single Mildred takes on a brief but very steamy relationship with friend, Wally Burgan (James LeGros). Mildred’s other friend and seemingly neighborhood gossip, Lucy Gessler (Melissa Leo) seems to be just as thrilled as Mildred. It’s fascinating, the reminder of how women were treated back in the day without a husband in their lives.
Continue reading “Mildred Pierce” miniseries recap & review: Part One & Part Two
HBO’s “Mildred Pierce”: A good review!
Joan Crawford must be rolling because Todd Haynes has apparently done a solid job in adapting Mildred Pierce into a five-hour HBO miniseries that will premiere on March 27.
In the below review, cultural critic Brendan Lemon says he liked Kate Winslet in the title role — she’s right for it, and has the time to flesh it out — and he also gives thumbs up to Brian F. O’Byrne as thoroughly modern Mildred’s first husband.
Plus Lemon sprinkles in comments about Mare Winningham, Melissa Leo and Evan Rachel Wood as the vicious daughter.
Source: La Daily Musto
