Posts Tagged ‘Kate Winslet’

Revolutionary Road

Last year there was ample hype about the Sam Mendes film, Revolutionary Road starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio. Whilst the Oscar buzz only got a best supporting actor nod for Michael Shannon, the film itself about the brittle deterioration of a marriage in 1950s suburban Connecticut was seamless and superbly acted. Kate Winslet reprised a similar role as she did in Todd Field’s brilliant 2006 film, Little Children as a anxious housewife trapped in the monotony of a soulless marriage.

The Random act of Infidelity

Whilst both films are worthy of attention, more notably Little Children, the novel, Revolutionary Road is an absolute must-read. Deftly crafted with superb subtle characters whilst referring to major themes of discontent, disillusion and the nature of insanity.

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The novel, Revolutionary Road, written by Richard Yates and is an ironic, sometimes humourous and especially scathing look at the hollowness of the Great American Dream especially piognant in its depiction of a society bound by the virtues of marriage, fidelity, corporate ambition and the myth of the white picket fence. Highly recommended novel, even better than the film adaptation.

Revolutionary Road will resonate now, nearly  fifty years on, as when it was first praised in 1962. The prose is wonderfully crafted with such detail and poignancy that clearly aims to undercut the sophisticated era it was meant to evoke.

Both the novel and the film version of Revolutionary Road are highly recommended but its always best to read the novel first before seeing the cinematic version.

If viewers loved Stephen Daldry’s brilliant Oscar winning adaptation of Michael Cunningham’s novel The Hours, then you will appreciate this talented director’s screen adaptation of German author Bernhard Schlink’s novel The Reader. Daldry somehow manages to get the anguish of his female characters so artfully portrayed, with Nicole Kidman winning an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolf and now Kate Winslet finally gets the recognition she deserves for her brilliant and complex portrayal of Hanna Schmidt in 1950’s Germany in a multi-layed narrative about secrets, the essence of history, justice and seduction…. The Reader’s subtlety lies in the context of youth versus experience, secrets and lies… Highly recommended.

The Reader also stars David Kross (later to be seen in Steven Spielberg’s Warhorse) and veteran German actor Bruno Ganz.