best film:  Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind leads the way ahead of Titanic by a decent margin here for the best film of Kate Winslet’s career. Michel Gondry directs Charlie Kaufman’s wild dream world. All of Kaufman’s work should be treasured and appreciated, but Winslet’s Clementine is his greatest single character, and the film does not work as well, and that character does not leap off the page as much, without Winslet.

 

 

uncontestably Winslet’s best work and film – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – and it came during her run from 1995-2008 when she was one of the world’s best actors

 

 

best performance:   Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but really her top four performances below are rock solid. Her two films co-starring alongside Leonardo DiCaprio are both extremely well-acted by the pair and of course she plays bedlam (or near) as well as anyone with her debut (Heavenly Creatures) and Eternal Sunshine.

 

stylistic innovations/traits:   As previously mentioned above, in Winslet’s two best performances she plays characters with a real edge that play with reality and border on madness. Winslet can truly play anything though and her more grounded characters and performances (Quills, Finding Neverland) show poise and intelligence. Winslet was discovered by Peter Jackson at the age of 19 and cast her in Heavenly Creatures. Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility cemented her rise, and of course her place in cinema lore was sealed with Titanic. She remained one of the best actors on the planet for the next decade until her big year in 2008 (giving one of her performances in one of her best films, Revolutionary Road, and also winning the Oscar for The Reader). Winslet’s career has slowed since but even if she never full recovers, that is an extraordinary fifteen (15) year run at or near the top.

 

 

Winslet more than holds her own with DiCaprio in both Titanic and Revolutionary Road

 

 

 

directors worked with:  Nobody more than once but James Cameron is on the list, Peter Jackson, Steven Soderbergh, Ang Lee, Kenneth Branagh, Sam Mendes, Danny Boyle and Woody Allen.

 

 

it is very clear from Winslet’s debut, Heavenly Creatures, that she was one of her generation’s most talented actors.

 

 

 

top five performances:

  1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  2. Heavenly Creatures
  3. Revolutionary Road
  4. Titanic
  5. Sense and Sensibility

 

 

archiveable films

1994- Heavenly Creatures
1995- Sense and Sensibility
1996- Hamlet
1997- Titanic
2000- Quills
2001- Iris
2004- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2004- Finding Neverland
2006- Little Children
2008- Revolutionary Road
2008- The Reader
2011- Contagion
2015- Steve Jobs
2017- Wonder Wheel