Cinema Studies: Mildred Pierce

What is the significance of the ‘false suture’ in the opening section of Mildred Pierce?




As Monte dies, whispering ‘Mildred’, the next shot shows a car drawing away from the beach house…A dissolve leads us into a shot of Mildred walking on the pier in a suicidal state. (Cook 1996:76)



The ‘reverse-shot’, which shows the real murderer of Monte Beragon is deliberately withheld, and this creates a ‘false suture’ in the opening sequence of Mildred Pierce.

The significances of the ‘false suture’ include the ‘creation of enigma’, the privileging of the patriarchal discourse through its function as a ‘snare’ and its representation of Mildred as the site of ‘duplicity’, as well as its reflection of the historical context within which the film is placed.

The ‘false suture’ creates an enigma: an enigma that deflects the audience from asking “Who killed Monte Beragon?” to asking “Why did Mildred Pierce kill Monte Beragon?” (Nelson 1985:450). This enigma is subsequently answered for the audience in the final flashback in the film (Nelson 1985:451). By changing the narrative’s central enigma, a disparity between Mildred’s story and the detective’s discourse is created (Nelson 1985:450). The knowledge that Mildred is not the murderer is withheld from the viewer, so that the resolution of the enigma rests entirely with the patriarchal police detective, who is the representative of the Law (Cook 1996:76).

The false suture establishes a “hierarchy of discourses”, wherein the female discourse is suppressed in favour of the male discourse (Cook 1996:69). Mildred’s story contains complexity and ambiguity, showing a concern for emotions rather than ‘facts’, while the detective’s discourse is aimed at reaching the ‘truth’, which involves the invalidation of Mildred’s version of the story (Cook 1996:71). Between Mildred and the detective, it is the detective who plays the upper hand; he is “the agent who instigates Mildred’s discourse and the termination point of each segment” (Nelson 1985:454). The detective is represented as the locus of omniscience; he knows that Mildred is not “telling the truth” (Nelson 1985:453). In contrast, the false suture articulates Mildred as the location of ‘duplicity’ and ambiguity (Cook 1996:78). By creating the binary oppositions of false/true and real murderer/innocent suspect, the ‘false suture’ functions as a ‘snare’; that which increases “the desire for a resolution which represents the truth” (Cook 1996:70).

The “displacement of guilt” to Mildred through the false suture is deemed related to the historical conditions at the end of World War II (Nelson 1985:450). The release date of Mildred Pierce coincides with the transition to a post-war economy and the return of the troops – a period whereby the relative economic freedom given to women as part of the war effort “had to be revoked” (Nelson 1985:457). As such, it can be said that the false suture’s significance also lies in its function as a tool for a patriarchal ideology .

The ‘false suture’ suggests a multitude of binary oppositions within the film . The ‘false suture’ in Mildred Pierce is more than just a clever maneuvering of filmic and cinematic codes. It is in itself a ‘discourse’ – perhaps, one that has profound significance on both the levels of narrative and ideology of Mildred Pierce.