Phantom Thread opens in London where fashion designer Reynolds Woodcock designs and sews dresses for the city’s high society, even the royalty. His skill and expertise allows his clients to show off their best selves while he, himself, hides an obsessive and domineering personality behind those talents. To protect him from any distractions from his work, Cyril (Lesley Manville), his sister, manages his day-to-day operations, making sure that nothing disrupts them. One day, after designing a new dress, Reynolds meets a foreign waitress named Alma Elson (Vicky Krieps). She accepts his invitation to dinner which leads to the two of them eventually moving in together. She becomes his muse and his lover. At first, Cyril fears this may disrupt Reynolds but those concerns are quickly dismissed as Cyril comes to respect Alma.
But Reynolds is an aloof man, set in his ways and tastes. Bickering enters the picture and one afternoon, Alma sets out to prepare a surprise dinner for him against the warnings from Cyril. The results are disastrous and Reynolds doesn’t hold back his harsh words with her. She lashes back by poisoning his tea with some wild mushrooms. He collapses while working on a wedding gown and Alma nurses him back to health, staying by his side until he recovers. Realizing things need to change he proposes to her and the two are soon married. However it doesn’t take long before the bickering comes back. Added to that, Reynold’s style of dressmaking is beginning to fall out of fashion and he begins to see Alma as a distraction, something he may need to eliminate in order to return his life back to the status quo.
To say that this is an unconventional romance is an understatement. For some, the direction this film takes may be a bit off-putting. Alma’s actions can be looked at as abusive, even murderous. Her acts weaken Reynolds and leave him in a state of vulnerability, yet they also serve to bring the two together in a way impossible when he is in full health. Alma’s motives are clear but her methods may be a hurdle too high for some viewers to get over. He does love her but his strong personality gets in the way of making things work for them.
Daniel Day-Lewis conveys so much without even saying a word. He begins the film with a vigorous routine, shaving, trimming nose and ear hair meticulously, dressing vigorously. He is a man who is set in his ways and has no use for change. When he settles down at a table at the Victoria Hotel and orders lunch from Alma, the waitress, he is impressed with her ability to take his long and detailed order by heart and return with everything exactly as ordered. Their dinner together later will be punctuated by his overbearing personality, dominating the conversation with details on how he creates his dresses and how he secretes small objects and even messages into the clothing. Later that same evening he takes her back to his studio and takes her measurements to create a dress for her, altering her in some way with the things that are of interest to him. All of this gives us a real sense of just the type of man Reynolds is and it is truly fascinating to watch. Just his relationship with his mother alone could fill an entire movie. When he is ill and his mother is standing before him in spirit, he feels her presence without ever looking directly at her.
Alma is equally a powerhouse in her own way. She is insecure in her body but is told by Ceril that she is perfect as Reynolds likes a little belly on a woman. When Reynolds proves to be insufferable with her she dishes it right back at him. She wants to please him but will not kowtow to his every mood. She is, however, a bit of a mystery. Her background is never fleshed out and what little there is is garnered from intuition, discerned through little moments or reactions and not outright spelled out. There is an enigma about her that makes it a challenge to fully understand her and what draws her to him. This is not a typical romance and the film’s ending will reflect that. It has an unconventional climax that, while unexpected, is told perfectly.
Paul Thomas Anderson has crafted a masterpiece in acting and visuals. It is a beautiful film to look at and sells the glamour of the setting without explicitly pinning down the time frame. It uses score and classical music to drive the emotional moments while not calling attention to what it is doing. It is a subtle composition by Jonny Greenwood that secured him an Oscar Nomination that year. All of it combines together to make a film that feels composed specifically to induce a mood and drive a narrative while supporting an unconventionality similar to Paul Thomas Anderson’s previous film Punch Drunk Love. The two films share many similarities in tone and structure.
This is a hard film to recommend to anyone not already familiar with Paul Thomas Anderson films. It’s also a film that really bears repeated viewings to totally soak in the atmosphere and characters. It’s not going to be for everyone but those coming into it with an open mind will be rewarded with a rich tapestry of characters and emotions and it goes to unexpected places and examines emotional vulnerabilities in a way no other film has. This is a love story but it’s not like any one you’ve ever seen before and that alone elevates it above the majority of its peers. Add to that the amazing talents of Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville and you have a film that simply must be experienced.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: JoAnne Seller, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lili
Best Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Best Supporting Actress: Lesley Manville
Best Costume Design: Mark Bridges (won)
Best Original Score: Jonny Greenwood
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Release Date: December 25, 2017
Running Time: 130 Minutes
Rated R
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville and Vicky Krieps
Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson
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