Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film Phantom Thread is difficult to characterise - a hint of Hitchcock with a pinch of Poe. Ostensibly a thriller, it nevertheless does not 'thrill', at least not in the conventional sense. Where it does thrill is in its qualities, it's strange narrative, sumptuous look, gorgeous sound and of the precise and unsettling performances. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Reynolds Woodcock, a hyper-sensitive, fastidious haut-couture designer who clothes royalty and the rich in 1950's England. He encounters the beautiful and spirited Alma, played by Vicky Krieps, who becomes his muse, moving into his town house under the watchful eye of Reynolds' enigmatic sister Cyril (sic) played by Lesley Manville. The approximate prototypes for these characters are, perhaps, those in Rebecca, but we end up with something more subtle, richer and strange than those creations of du Maurier and realisations by Hitchcock.
The film is exquisite, there is tactile, almost fetishistic pleasure in seeing the beautiful gowns being made, with the satiny sheen of the fabrics and and the sounds they make when pierced by pin and needle, and when fitted on the models and owners. It's very sexy! The carefully judged and tasteful soundtrack features the chamber music of Faure, Debussy, Schubert and Ravel, Bill Evans-esque Jazz, to which is added Jonny Greenwood's appropriately complementary score. But what is it about? Who is controlling and who is controlled? All the protagonists play these games in their own distinct ways and a strange symbiosis emerges. It also illustrates the terrible perils of holding too dear the refined and aesthetic life - beware! Ultimately it's all about the needle.
A beguiling film.
The film is exquisite, there is tactile, almost fetishistic pleasure in seeing the beautiful gowns being made, with the satiny sheen of the fabrics and and the sounds they make when pierced by pin and needle, and when fitted on the models and owners. It's very sexy! The carefully judged and tasteful soundtrack features the chamber music of Faure, Debussy, Schubert and Ravel, Bill Evans-esque Jazz, to which is added Jonny Greenwood's appropriately complementary score. But what is it about? Who is controlling and who is controlled? All the protagonists play these games in their own distinct ways and a strange symbiosis emerges. It also illustrates the terrible perils of holding too dear the refined and aesthetic life - beware! Ultimately it's all about the needle.
A beguiling film.
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