Kate Observations
Here is a collection of random Kate observations I've made: (under
construction, more to come!)
-
Kate sings a little in quite a few of her films, have you noticed? In 'Heavenly
Creatures' she sings the beautiful aria "Sono Andati" from the opera 'La
Boheme', which of course is on the HC soundtrack, and does a very impressive
job with it; she has a wonderful upper register for those high notes. The
song is used to supplement the drama and tragedy of the moment as Juliet
and Pauline fear being parted. (The aria is actually sung in the opera
by Mimi to her lover as she is dying.) Plus of course there's the scene
in which she and "Pauline" traipse through the forest singing Mario Lanza's
"The Donkey Serenade" at the top of their lungs. Then in 'Sense and Sensibility',
she not only plays the piano as Marianne several times, but also sings;
I don't have the soundtrack yet and don't know the song titles. It is while
singing and playing that Colonel Brandon first sets eye upon her character
and is thoroughly enchanted. In 'Jude' Kate only sings once, during a brief
scene near the end in a church, where she is seen singing a hymn with the
other churchgoers. She also plays the piano at one point in the film as
well.
In 'Hamlet', her singing is quite a key part of the "mad" scenes in which
Ophelia demonstrates that she has completely lost her grip on reality (singing
snatches of songs, of course, is a traditional trait associated with madwomen
in literature). The part where she sings the little "Will he come no more?"
ditty is a truly heartbreaking moment in the film; it gets me emotional
about every time. Then of course you have 'Titanic,' in which Kate sings
twice. The first time is with the rest of the first-class passengers at
the church service, singing a hymn; you can hear individual voices as the
camera moves from row to row, Kate's included, and the scene ends with
a full shot on Kate singing the most significant line, "For those in peril
on the sea." The second time is near the end, as she lays upon the floating
wreckage; her chilled lips barely move as she gazes distantly at the stars
above and sings the "Come Josephine, my flying machine" sung earlier in
the film by Leo when they're together at the ship's bow. Yet another chilling
and heartbreaking moment with a very cold, surreal feel; a woman quite
alone and just barely alive.
Anyway, Kate indeed has an enchanting and beautiful voice, and her moments
of song have served well to enhance these various performances. I wonder
if she's had any kind of voice training at all, or singing experience?
Another common aspect found in many of Kate's films thus far is dancing/spinning.
Someone pointed this out on alt.fan.kate-winslet,
and I realized it was quite true. First of all, there's 'Heavenly Creatures'
- you have the one scene where Kate and Melanie Lynskey are dancing together
in a circle, and are whirling around together (to the tune of Mario Lanza's
"The Loveliest Night of the Year," in their evening gowns.) Then in 'Sense
& Sensibility', you have quite the same shot again - this time it's
Kate whirling around holding hands with Greg Wise as Willoughby, both ecstatic,
Kate grinning and squealing. Then, the same thing again in 'Titanic'; Kate
and Leo grab hands and spin around together during the dance in the steerage
party scene, grinning and squealing again. Isn't that odd? I don't recall
anything too similar in AKIKAC, 'Jude', or 'Hamlet', but I can't recall;
wasn't there some dancing in 'Hamlet' that Kate was a part of? At any rate,
that's a rather interesting observation; Kate must simply have quite a
knack for spinning around in circles. :)
Kate is interestingly tied to two other British film stars who I rank among
my favorites - Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, of course. Emma and Ken
used to be a couple and starred together in such wonderful films as "Dead
Again" and Branagh's "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Henry V," both excellent
Shakespearean adaptations. Kate first starred with Emma in "Sense &
Sensibility," for which Emma had adapted the screenplay from a classic
by Jane Austen. Later, Kate went on to work with Kenneth, in "Hamlet,"
for which he had adapted the screenplay from Shakespeare. Both Emma and
Ken were Oscar-nominated for these screenplays, but only Emma won hers.
And, when they split up, Kenneth paired with Helena Bonham Carter,
a young British actress who shares quite a bit in common with Kate. Kate
auditioned for the lead female role in Kenneth's "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein,"
but lost the role to Helena. (Later, he cast Kate in "Hamlet" without even
having her read or audition!) And, she is frequently compared to Helena
because both are known for doing period roles; Helena has done little else.
Kate, however, has said many times that she'd love to do a more modern
film, and of course her next film, "Hideous Kinky," is set in the 70's,
which is the closest to present day of all of Kate's work. I for one would
love to see "Corset Kate", as she has been dubbed, in a contemporary role;
after all, she is actually a very contemporary girl in real life, complete
with combat boots and cigarettes.
More connections between Kate and Helena: Both have played Ophelia in
a film of 'Hamlet'; Kate was in Kenneth Branagh's version, Helena was the
Ophelia in Franco Zeffirelli's 'Hamlet' with Mel Gibson in the title role.
I hated that version, actually - for one thing, I thought Gibson was horribly
miscast as the gloomy Danish prince, and I also think Kate made a much
better Ophelia than Helena. (Of course, I've never been a big Helena fan
as far as her acting goes...)
And, now this year Kate was up against Helena in the awards - both were
Golden Globe nominees for Best Actress (neither won - another Brit, Judi
Dench, did), and also the Oscar and the Screen Actors Guild award in the
same category. (Neither won.) Interesting.
Kate getting wet again.
My email friend and fellow "rabid Kate fan," Jesse (maintainer of the Unofficial
Kate Hotline!) pointed out another very interesting Kate observation. Kate
is wet at at least one point in almost all of her films! In HC, it's in
the bath with Paul (and then she goes for a swim with Paul at Port Levy,
although you don't really see her wet then). In S&S she gets thoroughly
drenched in the rain, twice, I think. She gets soaked in the rain a few
times in Jude, and is also seen near a river and dancing by the waves of
the ocean. In Hamlet she gets hosed down with water after having gone mad
(and drowns herself off-camera), and then of course there's Titanic, in
which she's soaking wet for about an hour! Interesting. Jesse also mentioned
that she might be wet again in 'Hideous Kinky,' as there are some swimming/bathing
scenes in the book; not much of a chance of rain in Morocco, though.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with the game "Six Degrees of
Kevin Bacon," but it's an amusing way to stump your friends and yourself
as far as knowledge of the entertainment world. What started as a little
Internet phenomenon has become a sorta Gen-X pop culture staple, at least
here in the U.S., and it's one of the ways bored college students can occupy
themselves and test their trivia. To play, you simply pick an actor or
actress, and try to connect them to actor Kevin Bacon through their film
or TV roles. For example, Tom Cruise would be easy - he was in "A Few Good
Men" with Kevin Bacon. Being a film junkie myself, I actually find myself
playing this game in my head all the time when my mind wanders.
Anyway, I was thinking recently about what exactly the quickest route
to Kevin Bacon would be from Kate. It took me a little while, but I think
I've realized the easiest path. Ok, here goes: Kate was in "Titanic" with
Bill Paxton, who was in "Apollo 13" with Kevin Bacon. Voila! :) The first
path I came up with, a bit longer, was: Kate was in "Sense & Sensibility"
with Hugh Grant. Grant was in "Extreme Measures" with Sarah Jessica Parker,
and Parker was in "Footloose" with Kevin Bacon. You could also go through
the likes of Leo DiCaprio, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, or even Billy
Zane, but I think Bill Paxton is the quickest way. (Someone has also suggested
to me this one: Kate was in "Titanic" with Leo, who apparently was in "Critters
3" with Kevin Bacon?)
I already previously mentioned on the Titanic page, but I thought I'd go
into further detail here. There seem to be quite a few similarities between
Kate and another favorite young actress of mine, Claire Danes. Ok, yes,
there are the obvious differences. Kate is taller, British (Claire's American,
of course), smokes, has longer hair, and rather different roles and film
credits than Claire as well as 2 Oscar nominations. However, here are some
of the common aspects of the two:
- Both Kate and Claire are natural blondes who have sported a range
of different hair colors for different roles. Claire went red for her TV
series "My So-Called Life," the show that really introduced her to the
American (and international) public and gained her much fame and critical
praise, as well as a Golden Globe. Kate went red for the film "Titanic,"
which was also the critically acclaimed project that made her a household
name worldwide; she also bagged a Golden Globe nomination, albeit in the
film category for Best Actress.
- Both Kate and Claire have now co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio (who
I believe is older than both of them) as romantic leads in big-budget,
massively popular films - "Romeo+Juliet" and of course "Titanic". Both
films feature a poignant, intimate romance between them and Leo, complete
with lots of kissing and a love scene in each (although Kate's featured
a bit more nudity). Both actresses have talked about how funny and wonderful
they think Leo is, and both insist they were never romantically involved
with him in real life. And of course, both movies hit it big with the teenage
crowd; in fact, most of the girls who fell in love with Leo in R+J returned
to swoon over him in Titanic. There are tons of personal websites and webrings
out there devoted to both films, most of which focus on the romance part
of the story. Also, both romances are tragic in nature - both Claire and
Leo die in R+J, Leo dies and Kate narrowly averts death in Titanic.
- Both Kate and Claire have played the ingenue in a film of a Shakespearean
tragedy. Claire, of course, was Juliet in (a modern-day version of) "Romeo+Juliet,"
while Kate marvelously played Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh's traditional-setting
"Hamlet". Both Juliet and Ophelia kill themselves near the end of the film;
Juliet by gun (dagger in the original play), Ophelia by drowning, off-camera.
And of course, both do so for love of the leading male, although in Ophelia's
case insanity also plays a part.
- Both Kate and Claire were up for the role of Juliet Capulet; Kate
auditioned for R+J but was ultimately not cast (obviously). Kate said of
the experience: "I tested for it three years ago, when Leonardo was definitely
already doing it, but I knew, reading it, that I was too old for the role-
too old inside." I tend to agree with her; she simply seems a bit too mature
to convey Juliet's naivete and wonder. I also wonder if Claire maybe had
been considered for "Titanic"? Don't know about that one...
- Both Kate and Claire have played a character named Juliet; Kate was
Juliet Hulme in "Heavenly Creatures" and Claire was Juliet in R+J.
I admire and appreciate both talented actresses and consider them to
probably be my favorites foremost. Interestingly enough, I'm right between
them as far as age; Kate is 3 years my senior, and Claire a year younger.
And, I've been aware of them for about the same time; I "discovered" both
around '94/'95; Claire when MSCL debuted and Kate when I first saw HC.
"Jude" is the only film in which Kate is a mother herself; "Hideous Kinky"
of course will be the second. It is also the only film in which Kate's
character has a job; Sue is of course a schoolteacher for a while. It is
not, however, the only film in which Kate smokes and drinks, as she also
does a few times in "Titanic".
All of Kate's films thus far have been directed by men, have you noticed?
The upcoming Jane Campion film, "Holy Smoke," will be Kate's first woman-directed
picture, which should be interesting.
Here are some interesting Kate observations made by LdVinci I thought I'd
post as well:
1) In "Jude" soon after Jude and Sue meet, they are together on a bridge
reading a book. Sue tries to keep the book away from Jude, he grabs her
and then they spin together. More spinning! [Yep, I noticed this as well
when I recently re-watched "Jude" myself.]
2) In Jude, the scene where Sue is smoking and drinking in the bar,
showing the boys how enlightened she is, is much the same as the scene
in Titanic where Rose shows steerage how down-to-earth she is.
3) In both Heavenly Creatures and Jude, Juliet/Sue ride bicycles with
her significant other in moments of bliss.
4) The town in HC is "Christchurch." The town in Jude is "Christminster"
5) Kate's feet: In S&S, Willoughby removes Marianne's shoe and examines
her foot. In Titanic, Rose does a full ballet "Pointe" for steerage. I
believe (though I'm not entirely sure) as Sue is dancing in the bar (in
Jude) there is a shot of only her feet.
6) As a natural response to being wet, Sue complains to Jude "I can't
get warm" and complains to Jack (Titanic) "I'm so cold."
7) Sue (Jude) is first seen wearing a white dress with black pinstripes.
Rose (Titanic) is also first seen in a white dress with black pinstripes.
8) She is often in bed/un-well: Juliet (HC) has TB; Marianne (S&S)
has a twisted ankle and Pneumonia; Sue (Jude) is giving birth.
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