The inevitability of death can provoke some seemingly inappropriate behavior – and not necessarily on the part of the one who lies in wait, but rather his loved ones, who are also waiting in their own way.
“When you lose someone, strange things happen” Kate Winslet speaks with a pause. “You laugh and think, 'Oh God, why am I laughing? It's so twisted.”
This is an element of her latest film. Goodbye Junewhich she is particularly proud of: a raw and authentic depiction of how someone dies. The film, in which she stars and marks her directorial debut, was written by her son Joe Anders, which was at least partially inspired by events in his and Winslet's life when her mother passed away after a battle with ovarian cancer in 2017.
Speaking to Exclaim! Winslet shares her pride in the way her son incorporated lived-in moments into his first script, from the dry sense of humor added to nuanced dialogue to his ability to create conversations he wouldn't otherwise be a part of.
Coming to Netflix December 24, Goodbye Junegoes beyond the pain of death and looks at the family dynamics that exist and complicate the demise of a matriarch. In his script, Anders observes the relationships between the adult children (played alongside Winslet by Toni Collette, Andrea Riseborough and Johnny Flynn), but from the perspective of a grandson, similar to his position when Winslet's mother died.
The British actress-turned-director relishes her son's ability to capture the joy of a younger generation coming together in a time of adult sadness, I thought. [it] it was just incredible,” Winslet recalls. “They didn’t care if the parents hadn’t spoken for a long time; They were just kids together.”
Movies like Goodbye June can often feel like a rush of emotions to viewers: a family getting together for the holidays for the first time in a long time, an elderly person succumbing to the effects of cancer, goodbyes, disappointments, tears. But Winslet was keen to avoid exploiting her viewers.
“I didn't want the film to ever feel sentimental or falsely sentimental,” she says from her perspective as a director and actress. “I don't believe in manipulating the audience. I don't like it. I don't want to ever deceive people.”
Winslet minimizes the physical effects of the disease, but the consequences remain prevalent through Helen Mirren's portrayal of the titular June. In a particularly powerful scene, June emerges from the toilet in her hospital room, visibly exhausted, and tells a nurse, “I feel so… humiliated.”
“You see enough grief to know that this woman is suffering more than she's letting on to her family, and that was what mattered most,” Winslet shares. “Showing those personal sides of June who protect [her children] what she knows is inevitable and they are all trying to protect her because they think she is in denial. In fact, they deny it all.”
Eager to do Goodbye June “As real and natural as it gets,” Winslet crafts a cross-generational story that explores the dignified (and undignified) stages of death, as well as the emotional complexity experienced by each family member. Recognizing the difficulty of talking about grief, loss and death in the family, which Winslet says “we don't usually talk about very well,” she wants her film to “encourage [people] to go home and have conversations that maybe they didn’t even know about.”
Moreover, while she emphasizes the artistic nature of the film, Anders' script includes the inevitable possibility of seeing her family, something she hopes extends beyond herself.
“I want people to connect with this film,” Winslet says. “I want them to maybe see something of their own experience in it, or at least see a story that resonates in some small way.”
