The Case for Kate Winslet: The 1990s

At the risk of sounding biased in this year's Lead Actress category, I'm kicking off a two-part series celebrating the career of Kate Winslet, arguably the greatest actress of her generation. While I'd love to fully review the films I mention, there just isn't enough time in the world. In addition, I'm highlighting only what I consider to be great performances in equally great films (so even though I really like "Hideous Kinky" and "Holy Smoke," they don't really qualify as "great" in my book). In any case, hope you enjoy my ramblings and maybe even get inspired to check out (or re-visit) some of these films.


HEAVENLY CREATURES (1994) as Juliet Hulme (Grade: A)
Seventeen-year-old Kate Winslet, in her film debut, strongly hints at the possibility of greatness with her performance as the troubled, privileged Juliet Hulme in this real-life story. Peter Jackson’s film, based on a notorious New Zealand matricide case, is a complete success of imaginative filmmaking. Set in the 1950s, it tells the story of Pauline Parker, a local girl from a working class family, who builds a swift but extreme bond with Juliet Hulme, the newly-arrived student from England. Winslet’s Juliet is a fantastic creation; a potent mixture of exuberance and insanity with devastating results.

Key Scene: “Do you feel sweaty? I feel all sweaty,” Juliet tells Pauline (played by Melanie Lynskey in another unforgettable debut). She paces back and forth in Pauline’s small bedroom, nervously rubbing her hands together. There’s a hint of glee and sexual excitement at the thought of what’s about to take place. She’s equal parts scary and magnetic.

Fan girl confession: This is the first Kate Winslet film I saw and remains my favorite of hers to this day. I remember seeing a preview for the film on CNN’s “Showbiz Tonight” back in the day and becoming very intrigued – it just did not look like anything I had ever seen. When I saw the film, I instantly became a Winslet fan. I often go back to HC, which remains masterful, original, and absorbing. It is one of my favorite films and that is due in no small measure to Winslet herself.

SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (1995) as Marianne Dashwood (Grade: A)

Emma Thompson adapted Jane Austen’s novel (winning an Academy Award for it), Ang Lee directed it – the planets aligned. Sense & Sensibility revolves around the Dashwood sisters, with Winslet playing “sensibility” to Thompson’s “sense.” Winslet is bright-eyed, reckless, and in love with the notion of romantic love. There is not a trace of Juliet Hulme – Marianne is a seemingly simplistic character, but Winslet imbues her with layers of insecurity masked by an outwardly confident facade. She is at her most vulnerable in her scenes with Willoughby – and we literally see the light in her big blue eyes, so full of hope in the first half of the movie, go out gradually with every subsequent disappointment. Her chemistry with co-star and mentor Thompson is the main ingredient to the film’s overall success, and to my delight, the film stands up beautifully to this day.



Key Scene: Marianne’s devastating encounter with Willoughby at the ball. Winslet physically deflates in a matter of minutes, so much so that we almost feel the weight of her sadness crushing our shoulders.

Fan girl confession: I bought Emma Thompson’s diary about the film’s shoot. I became extremely intrigued by Ang Lee and his unorthodox directing methods.

JUDE (1996) as Sue Bridehead (Grade: A)

“Jude,” based on Thomas Hardy’s “Jude the Obscure” is, unquestionably, one of the most depressing stories set to paper and film. It tells the tragic story of Jude Fawley (the heart-breaking Christopher Eccleston) and his love for cousin Sue Bridehead (Winslet). Born into the lower-class, Jude longs to become a scholar. After an ill-advised wedding to Arabella (the brilliant Rachel Griffiths), he moves to Christchurch, where he works as a stonemason and studies on his own, always hoping to attend university. In Christchurch he meets up and quickly falls in love with his cousin Sue. Sue, as played by Winslet, is a woman ahead of her time. She out-smokes and out-drinks all the men at the bars and is in seemingly endless competition with the lanky Jude. Many of Winslet’s scenes in the early part of the film pay homage to the legendary Jeanne Moreau in Truffaut’s “Jules et Jim,” from the freeze-frames, to the way Sue smokes a cigarette (blowing smoke like a locomotive). This carefree first half quickly turns dark as Jude and Sue grow closer and become constricted by poverty and social mores. A film unrelenting in its gritty portrayal of abject misery, it is nonetheless a fine achievement and one worth re-visiting for the utterly underappreciated performances by Winslet, Eccleston, and Griffiths.



Key Scene: Jude and Sue return home to a horrific scene involving their children. Winslet is incredulous, terrified, stunned, enraged, all at once. It is a masterfully acted scene by both Winslet and Eccleston and one that has stayed with me ever since.

Fan girl confession: I tried reading “Jude the Obscure” in preparation for the film, but could not get past the first 20 pages or so. I’m thrilled that I outgrew that phase of my life and went on to devour books like a maniac.

HAMLET (1996) as Ophelia (Grade: A)

This is one of the quintessential cinematic adaptations of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Winslet comes close to being the definitive Ophelia with a performance so good, it becomes hard to separate the actor from the role. Winslet does not play Ophelia as just a madwoman, but rather as a young woman experiencing love and heart-break for the very first time. She is both perplexed and attracted by Branagh’s fantastic and complex Hamlet. Her Ophelia is perhaps the most raw and vulnerable I have seen on film. She succeeded in bringing out the humanity in a character that has often been played as a one-dimensional nut job.


Skip to the 3:00 mark for Winslet (or don't, Branagh's soliloquy is excellent).

Key Scene: Winslet’s very last scene – Ophelia sings “bonny sweet Robin...,” and her voice breaks. A sense of doom and desperation overwhelms her. She is defeated and hopeless.

Fan girl confession: I snuck into a special screening they had at my alma mater. The print they showed was deliciously crisp -- I had never seen a better looking film.


TITANIC (1997) as Rose DeWitt Bukater (Grade: A)

There’s not much one can say about “Titanic,” a beautiful epic that is all too often (and unfairly) maligned. Winslet plays Rose to DiCaprio’s Jack. It is a simple story that works because of the two leads. Here we have the two best actors of their generation working off each other and transporting audiences. As trite as it may sound, I cried when Jack died. In fact, I cried during the last ten minutes of the film. I wasn’t the only one – it remains my most memorable movie-going experience because, for the first time, we all felt as one. It’s what movies should do but more often than not fail to accomplish.



Key Scene: When Rose chooses life – she blows on that whistle like a madwoman. It is a beautiful, life-affirming moment.

Fan girl confession: I went to see a special showing at a Times Square theater on Thanksgiving 2001. There were only three of us in this huge theater!

That's it for now. Check out the second part of the series featuring Kate's best performances and films since 2000 here.