There’s all sorts of new holiday releases on the Christmas movie schedule, but I think there’s one that’s particularly special. Kate Winslet has just put out her directorial debut Goodbye June, and I love how it tackles themes about family and the complicated emotions associated with the death of a loved one. In CinemaBlend’s interview with Winslet, the first-time director shared the way she decided to shoot Goodbye June, and I think it definitely speaks to her talent as a new filmmaker and shows the care she brought to the topic.
The new movie, which is now streaming for those with a Netflix subscription, follows a British family pent up in a hospital room during the holidays with June (Helen Mirren), the matriarch of the clan who doesn't have long to live. It leads her adult children (played by Kate Winslet, Andrea Riseborough, Toni Collette and Johnny Flynn) and her grandkids to all be in close quarters over the season as they process her looming death. Discussing her approach to the story, Winslet told us,
Actually, the most important thing is trust. And so, giving our actors an environment that was really uncluttered in terms of actual people in the room. So my crew and I worked really closely together during pre-production to figure out, ‘Okay, how can we all do our jobs technically and yet then walk away?’ So I had hidden microphones everywhere, no overhead booms. So there was never that distraction because, overhead microphones, especially for children… you see this thing in the air and it takes you out of the moment. So we were able to not have any of that.
Kate Winslet is obviously a beloved actress who has been making movies since the 1990s. She’s been vocal about some of the difficulties she’s faced over the years, like once being told she’d have to “settle for the fat girl parts” when she aspired to the profession as a kid. Winslet may have seen it all, but it sounds like she spent a lot of time making sure her actors felt comfortable and trusted. One way she did this was by hiding microphones on set so that the kids (and adults) wouldn’t be distracted by them. She continued,
I also was able to lock off cameras sometimes and all walk away. So we'd set positions, the actors would be half happy with what they were doing in the scene. And then we would quietly roll and I'd say to the actors, ‘Okay, we're gonna just leave you to it.’ And they'd be like, ‘Where are you going?’ And I'd say, ‘Well, you don't need me. We'll be out there.’ And I would leave the actors completely alone in the space with the cameras rolling and no crew at all. And actually, it was wonderful to see them respond to that because it helped them to feel unobserved.
I can imagine with the subject matter of Goodbye June, and the fact that most of it takes place in a hospital room, this was a really effective filmmaking technique. She also said this:
They felt private and they could be intimate and quiet in those moments. Like, for example, the scene with Toni Colette and Helen Mirren [when they are] sitting on the side of the bath, there's no one in that room with them at all. No one at all. And, it was quite efficient. We shot that scene in 25 minutes because the actresses are that brilliant. They finish a take and they just back themselves up and they go again. And, they just do it as many times as they feel they want to. And there you go. And so, giving them an opportunity to be in a space that felt as though it was entirely about them and in which they were really held and heard.
Critics have had a lot of positive things to say about Goodbye June, which is actually written by Winslet’s son Joe Anders about the experience of losing his own grandmother (Winslet’s own mom). Reviews have called it “impressively realistic” and everyone “brought their A-game” to Winslet’s debut film.
While it’s definitely one of the heavier Christmas movies I’ve seen in recent years, I found it to be really cathartic – especially as someone who lost a grandparent not too long ago and experienced some similar things the characters do. It feels so intimate (while often being funny and heartwarming too), so I’m not too surprised Winslet’s set was as intimate as it was.
You can watch Goodbye June on Netflix now.
