Early Kate Winslet Films

In this episode, we talk about the early film career of Kate Winslet. Kate starred in a few huge productions such as Titanic, Hamlet, and Sense and Sensibility. Kate also starred in some very small productions. We talk about the first six films of this marvelous actress. Click and listen! 🎥🎥🎬🎬

Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:38

Hello and welcome to Cinema Chat with David Heath. I am your host. My name is David Heath. What a coincidence. Well, this is the podcast where we talk about movies from every era and just about every genre. And uh today we are going to explore the career, or at least the early career, of Kate Winslett, one of the finest actresses that uh is uh alive today. And what I have uh decided to do is to talk about her first uh several uh films that she was cast in and completed and acted in, and we're going to just talk briefly about each one of them, and this this might be part of an ongoing series, um, or we maybe we'll just explore more Kate later, uh, but we'll uh we'll monitor the situation. But the thing is, is I have talked very little about Kate Winslett on this podcast. Uh, I think our second episode or third episode was on Titanic. Now, I'm being perfectly honest and frank with you when I say that when I recorded that particular episode, well, the first six, eight, ten, maybe fifteen episodes or so, I didn't really know where what I was doing or where I was going with this podcast. Uh, tell you a funny story, uh, and I think I've mentioned it before, but when I s decided to do a podcast on movies, uh, it was something that I did literally at the spur of the moment back in May of 2018. And I was talking to my parents, I said, Well, I I think it would I think it'd be pretty uh awesome to record a podcast, and that would give give me an outlet to to express feelings about movies and and maybe do some movie reviews and talk about movies that I've loved through the years. And I literally recorded an episode that day, and and I finished it uh uh or in that evening and uh had it recorded and everything. I didn't know what I was doing, so those first few episodes are terrible, but I leave them on there just if you in case somebody's a completist and wants to listen to them. Thankfully, the first uh 10 or 12 episodes are the least listened to. So uh there's a few people that maybe they hung in there and listened to every episode, and I thank you for that. And by the way, if you are listening to every episode, uh uh please like and subscribe to the podcast on the platform that you're listening to this on. Uh, it helps helps this podcast trend. I I I do it only somewhat out of selfish means because I really the whole goal of the podcast isn't to put a bunch of money in my pocket, it's really just to uh explore uh film and maybe put some ideas out there uh for people that maybe haven't heard of some of these films. Certainly going to explore some of that today uh with Kate Winslet. Uh, I'm sure there's good normal good number of people that have lit have watched all of these films, um, but I I'm being totally honest, I did not. Um, and three of these I had not seen. And I I just think that Kate Winslett's career is not just extraordinary, but it's also somewhat perplexing because uh she she did Titanic, and we'll talk about that in a few minutes, uh briefly. Uh and uh but we'll also explore the stuff that she did right before and right after. And so uh we're we're going to uh just basically brush over each project and talk a little bit about her performances and maybe a little bit about the the films and uh see where it goes. Uh but uh Kate Winslet uh was born on October 5th of 1975, and uh she lived in in a modest home uh with a family with financially struggling parents. Her father was an actor that didn't have much work, and um they struggled to pay bills, and um uh Kate Kato began acting in school plays and in amateur theater, and clearly she had a passion for it, as she says in the uh interview clip that I just played. Um, but she got a couple of big breaks with some TV roles uh in the UK uh before landing a starting starring role in the movie called Heavenly Creatures. Uh and it was directed by uh uh Peter Jackson, who, of course, Peter Jackson, uh this happens in 1995, and he he is not Peter Jackson yet, the Peter Jackson that we know. Uh the this is not the Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, this is not King Kong Peter Jackson. This is uh this is uh a young man uh directing uh a film, and it's a small budget uh feature. Uh, but uh yeah, the film didn't make much money, uh, but it was noted, or or I should say noticed by by uh the critics. Uh essentially what it's about is about it's about two uh two schoolgirls uh that uh are you know kind of malcontents. They don't fit in their uh what's the what's the term misanthropes in in in a way. Uh her co-star uh is Melanie, Melanie Linsky, who probably has a a slight amount more screen time. I didn't measure it, uh, but um but the two of them were just absolutely uh fabulous in this movie. Uh, but it's about these two girls that they basically just have problems uh fitting in, but they're become really good friends, and they become uh pretty much obsessive with each other. Um and uh and uh we're not going to do any spoilers if you haven't seen it, because this is one that I hadn't seen. Um but uh the these two uh uh Mel Melanie Linsky is from uh Australia and um and uh this film was it was shot in uh uh New Zealand. Uh but it it's it's tragic, uh it's uh mind blowing. Uh and these two put on really great performances. However, uh it is absolutely terrifying, disturbing is really the better term for it. It's it's pretty crazy. Uh, but it's a true story about these two, these two girls, uh, and it is a wild ride. Um, but uh uh now things slow down quite a bit and then get a little bit less crazy when Kate made uh the her next film, Sense and Sensibility. Uh this this is so uh from the Jane Austen uh story, a much more proper character in this movie she plays, Kate does, and it's uh directed by Aang Lee uh in Sense and Sensibility. Uh even though Aang Lee directs this film, it's really essentially Emma Thompson's film. She wrote the screenplay and cast uh Kate Winslett personally uh in the movie, and she really wanted her to be in it. Uh but she played Emma Thompson's younger sister, uh Mary Ann, and you know, Eleanor is Emma Thompson and she's the sense, while Mary Ann is the sensibility, using air quotes. Uh but Kate received uh a BAFTA for her role, or it's essentially a co-starring or a uh supporting role, and she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress uh at the Oscars. And so it's really quite extraordinary. Film came out in 1995. Uh, this was followed up by Jude, uh, which was a small budget picture. Uh it's a British film set in the Victorian age, which becomes a common theme uh with Kay Winslett. Her films, uh certainly in the beginning, they're they're they're they're all period films. Uh it's it's really somewhat extraordinary. But uh this is like you said, it's a small picture, uh, a small budget picture. Uh Kay joins, uh she plays a character that joins up with a man that's separated from his wife, and uh they run into uh an extreme, I'm gonna use the word extraordinary again, extraordinary amount of pitfalls and problems and have issues because they are not married and it's the Victorian age and they are under the same roof. This caused them numerous problems throughout the film. And uh it had a limited release, but uh but once again, Kay gets a good review. Um, it's essentially an art house movie, but the the role the the the story uh essentially revolves around these two characters uh and and all of the uh different problems they have like getting a hotel room and things like that. And um uh this is an absolutely tragic film. And it it's just and again, we're not gonna spoil anything, uh, but it is absolutely tragic. And but Kate Winslett in a film that is somewhat, you know, like if this had been somebody other than Kate Winslett, uh, you know, an unknown that's maybe still unknown, um this may not have hit anybody's radar. Uh, but because Kate Winslett was in it, a lot of people backed up and and and saw it. Um but she could follow that with a much more mainstream movie, uh Hamlet. Of course, that's a everybody knows this is a Shakespeare, Shakespearean story, uh another tragedy, another period film directed by Kenneth Branagh. And uh he's the he's the in the he's the titular character, Hamlet, and Kate Winslow plays Ophelia, the the famous tragic character, uh, loyal to her brother and father. Um, and once again, Kate turns in a great performance as Ophelia, and she it goes through all sorts of emotions in this film. Excellent movie. Another film that's a period film, another film that Kay Winslett puts in a performance with that uh explores all different emotions is one that maybe you've heard of. Well, I mentioned it earlier in the movie. Uh Titanic or the podcast uh Titanic uh 1997. And um I uh most people have seen it uh so and we do have an episode on, although it was brief and I didn't really explore the subject thoroughly. But the idea is just to do a brief review on all these uh early Kate Winslet movies. So uh we don't want to spend four hours talking about them. But of course, Titanic, uh, she plays Rose, the um essentially the move the character of the movie revolves around, and uh Rose is a um woman, and this is another common theme with early Kate Winslet movies, uh, is that she plays uh a woman that a young woman that has some unconventional desires uh to you know break out of the normality box and be something different. And of course, in Titanic, the the something different involves uh you know being with essentially a uh you know a peasant, you know, a pauper, uh, you know, uh with uh Leonardo DiCaprio's character, uh Jack. And you know, much to her mother's strong disapproval. Uh, but uh uh Kate puts in a performance that is just fantastic. It's just it's it's beautiful. Uh something just a tidbit here. Um here are some names of actresses that were at least considered for a moment uh to play Rose. Uh Gina Davis, uh a little old uh for that role. Uh Rose Byrne, uh Nicole Kidman, uh Gwyneth Paltrow, Madonna, really? Really? Um Charlie Theron. Um I could see that. Uh Claire Danes, I could see that. Uh Reese Witherspoon Um and Drew Barrymore, which um, you know, I I've made it known that I have um a crush on Drew Barrymore that is eternal. Um, but um aren't you glad that Kate Wensley got this role? You know, um, by the way, uh the I want to say something about Titanic, and that is that people, and this is going to potentially rub some people the wrong way, but hey, I'm sorry. Don't stop listening just because of this opinion. It's just my opinion. But people sometimes criticize Titanic, and I think that the people that are doing it, not saying that they're always this way, but when they're doing this, they are behaving in a pretentious manner, um or maybe they're just lying. Titanic is a great production. There's absolutely no question that um at times it it's a little mushy. And and you if you made the case for uh maybe they should just have the shipwreck and not be not focus on a central character that's fictional, um I disagree, but you know, but I I hear that argument and I I understand it. Um but you know, when we think about uh the two main characters, uh Kate Winslett and and Leonardo DiCaprio, and where their careers went after this, it's like this was a a launching pad. They both could probably have made it anyway, but this was uh a big, big deal. And Titanic was a huge movie that had every reason to bomb at the box office, but it did not, it was a fantastic film, and of course it took home some Academy Awards along the way. Um, but Titanic, if you're gonna tell me, well, you know, this the screenplay is sophomoric, uh, you know, I don't agree, but I'll I'll hear that. But to say that this isn't a gigantic spectacle and and an enormous, enormously successful film is just, and I don't mean financially, a successful film, meaning it would it put a good product on the screen for people uh to consume. It's great, it's a fantastic film. And anybody that says otherwise, and again, they're they're really just being pretentious. And uh, and I know I'm pretentious, that's okay. It's okay if you're a little pretentious sometimes, um, but you know, hey, um it anyway, it's a great film. Uh, of course, the Rose character was not only played by Kate Winslow, it was also played by uh the wonderful Gloria Stewart.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

When uh I found out that Kate Winslett was uh cast, I said to Jim or whoever it was, uh, I would like to meet her. And they said, why? I said, Well, I want to see her her body gestures, her voice level, because I'm playing her, she's not playing me. So we killed a blue campaign, we talked, we talked, and it was a lovely afternoon. Let's celebrate.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

I mean, she is a remarkable woman, she's extraordinary in the stories she has about partying with the Marx brothers. I mean, she's just absolutely incredible.

SPEAKER_02 20:24

I know it's hard for you to believe that, but it really and truly is not my uh breast is mine, the stomach is mine, the hips are mine.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Good.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

I loved the time that I spent with her. I hope I'm like her when I'm that age.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Yeah, I think it's fantastic that somebody uh such as Kate Windsor had a chance to work with uh Gloria Stewart. Of course, they didn't do any scenes together for obvious reasons, but uh but it's it's a remarkable story. Uh Faye Ray was actually supposed to play old Rose in the movie, which is very interesting. Um, but Gloria Stewart evidently um harassed James Cameron to uh enough to get the role, and she you know seemed in her old age a lot more willing and uh this you know desiring to do uh the role um more so than Fay Ray. You know, I I guess you need to get to a certain age you you you you you you lose a little bit of your uh of your push. Um but um you know Gloria Stewart had uh a very brief career and then many years later she's able to come back and and do a well, uh very brief in the uh motion picture industry anyway. But uh she was able to come back and and do do this. Um I think it's I think it's fabulous. And uh the story about the making of Titanic is is uh off the chain, ridiculous. Uh but you know, just uh the whole fact that they they did it right at the time when anybody uh that could remember the sinking um would would would be almost everybody was gone by that point. And uh so realistically, uh 1997 was a great time to to to put a movie like that out. Uh Kate Winslet would be in a much smaller production after that, uh, a movie called Hideous Kinky, uh, which is not anything like what the what the title sounds. It's about a young mother uh that she goes on a journey with her two girls, and the young mother, of course, is Kate Winslett, and she goes to she's tired of life in England, and she goes on a journey uh essentially to find herself, and she goes to Morocco with her two girls, and uh the movie shows how this was a problematic issue because um, you know, essentially they were being nomads in in Morocco, uh, not really having a true home, and that wasn't good for two girls uh that were approaching or at school age, and it wasn't quite the wasn't quite the right thing to do. Um, but uh the movie explores that whole issue, and uh and there's some problems along the way, and all the way through the film, there's some problems, but uh Kate does a marvelous job. Uh, there were some bad reviews for this movie, and it was a mixed review uh situation, but no problem with Kate, she's awesome in it. But the absolute bravery that Kate Winslett had to do productions like this, it absolutely proves hey, I'm not in it to be a movie star or to be famous, I'm here for the work. And you know, clearly she's in Titanic and uh you know and Hamlet and Sense and Sensibility, these are big productions. Um, but if you think about it, sometimes being in these big productions, you know, that are very successful can get you roles that are more desirable, uh, even if it's for you know the smaller crowds or the art house crowds or uh or whatever. But he is kinky is a movie that isn't going to appeal to the masses. Um, but there's it's it's it's a it's a good movie. Uh it's not a great movie in my opinion, but it's a good movie and it's worth your time. Uh, especially not just being a cake, you don't have to be a cake completist. Uh, it is a worthy, worthy watch. Uh, one that maybe is a little more questionable, um, and maybe you do want to be a cake completist to watch, uh, or maybe you'll like it. Maybe you will. It's quirky and strange and odd, but uh it's a movie called Holy Smoke. And uh this is an Australian film that uh directed by uh Jane Campion, who is a little, in my opinion, is a little bit of hit and miss. Some of her stuff is really good, and other stuff it's somewhat yeah, uh I don't know. But she co-stars with Harvey Kaitel in this. Um, and what Kate plays in this is uh is a woman that is swayed um uh to India. And uh now this is not a uh a period piece piece, um, but does a lot of it does take place in India. Um and it's it is a wild film in a lot of ways, uh, but basically what Kate does in this movie, she is uh she is uh basically a cult member, and her family is horrified by the fact that she has been uh romanced by this cult, and um they hire somebody to deprogram her, and then that somebody is played by Harvey Kaitel. And uh there are some scenes in this movie that might be quite disturbing, uh, considering the enormous age difference uh between Harvey Kaitel and Kate Winslett. Um, but uh you know we're not gonna give away any spoilers if you haven't seen it and you want to see it. Uh definitely if you're a Kate completist, you you need to watch it. But um the film creeps me out just a little tiny bit, and it's definitely my least favorite of these early Kate films. But uh there's a a tonal issue with it. Uh I I feel like uh the movie sometimes is trying to be a quirky comedy, and other times it is this a drama. Uh what is this? And it's not a comedy drama in the sense, you know, it's not like uh like on Golden Pond or something, you know. Uh this is a movie that really sometimes tries to be a laugh out loud comedy. Uh, but at other times it it it's it's strange and um you know, and like an erotic thriller at times. It's very difficult to put this movie in a box and and say this is what it is, because I'm still not sure. Uh there's a lot of strange tonal changes, but uh this movie did have mixed reviews, uh, but again, it shows the bravery that Kate Winslet has, you know, doing this small picture, and you know, and um and Harvey Kaitel for that matter um has a lot of bravery. Is he you know he he has Hollywood Cachet could do um a lot of things, you know, and and so he but he's doing this. Um another film that shows extreme brave bravery by Kate Winslow. This is the last one we'll we'll talk about in this part of our Kate Winslet journey, which I think will probably continue. Uh, we'll do probably another episode. Um, but I'm struggling with it because I really want there's so many good Kate Winslett movies, which is one reason why I'm covering several at once, because I don't know how I'm going to dedicate this much time to all all of our films. So let's talk about them in bunches. That's how I was thinking. Uh, Quills is the next one, came out in 2000. Uh uh definitely an art house movie. Uh, it's uh an erotic drama uh with uh heavy hitters, uh Jeffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, and Michael Cain. Big time players, especially to be in a small production. This takes place in Napoleonic France uh uh around the beginning of the 19th century. I haven't pinpointed the exact date, but it's right around the beginning of the 19th century. Um uh but it it uh is uh about uh a man um that is imprisoned um by or because uh by the French government, because he's writing um objectionable books. Uh he's writing erotic novels, is what he's writing, and they are very provocative, very sexual in nature, and he quotes from uh from a lot of the text in this. And oh my goodness, don't watch us with your mom, folks. Okay. Uh the Kate plays a sympathetic figure in the film. Uh that uh and by the way, Jeffrey Rush, uh his his performance will remind you a tiny bit of the performance Anthony Hopkins gave in Silence of the Lambs. Now, albeit that he is not that figure, um, but you know, he isn't in pr in prison, and it's a little freakish. But one big difference is Kate's sympathetic to his to this man's character, and uh she continues to you know serve serve him uh kind of quietly. She's a chambermaid, but she serves him somewhat quietly uh in his cell uh and tries not to get in trouble for doing so. Uh uh uh Doug Wright wrote the screenplay. He he called Kate the patron saint, the quote, patron saint of the film, uh, because she signed on early to do it, and she was a champion for it. Uh, Jeffrey Rush, uh, again, just an absolutely fabulous uh performance here. Michael Cain is a very believable performance, and I think we all know Joaquin Phoenix is what he's capable of. He's a very restrained, very restrained in his role here as a clergyman, and Michael Cain plays uh the authoritative government figure that wants the marquee, the the writer, in jail. And uh but a movie that I'm okay with just seeing once. But um, but it is uh it is a it is a remarkable um production with some really fantastic performances, really great said designs, um and very strong sexual language. Uh um but in any case, uh well, I just wanted to do a do a podcast episode talking a little bit about Kate Winslit. I feel like I I've barely mentioned her name, and she's somebody that I think you know sorely deserves you know heaps of praise for uh her career. And uh we'll talk more uh about it in the future, I think, and maybe explore the middle of her career and then maybe the stuff that she's been doing in the in the last decade or so. We'll try to we'll try to figure it out, you know. Um, I think a couple of those films deserve real full blown out episodes on their own. So I'm trying to figure that out. But in any case, please like and subscribe. Uh and and hey, write a review, especially if you want to write a kind one. Uh write a kind review and and subscribe to the podcast. Uh you'll you'll get a notification when there's a new episode. Um, I think most the loyal listeners will know that I issue one every Sunday. This has been a uh almost 52 week week uh a year venture. Uh but we take a few weeks off uh during the holidays. But I uh want to say thank you for listening and listen again next week. We'll see ya.