Film ReviewsPhantom Thread: Never Cursed
Apr 26, 2018 Anchorage Press
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Films like Phantom Thread don’t come around too often. Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed this modern masterpiece, stitching together a story about a different kind of love, which also doesn’t come around too often, one that is inseparable from art, the creative process, and an all-consuming obsession that creates a world in which “normal” and “healthy” dynamics don’t exist.
Daniel Day-Lewis gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Reynolds Woodcock (he really should have won…). Reynolds is a renowned dressmaker who has built not just a brand, but a fashion empire that caters to highest echelons of post-World War II British society, and of course, Royalty. The House of Woodcock was built by Reynolds and his sister, Cyril, played by Lesley Manville, whose performance is also nothing short of award-winning. Anderson subtly lays out the uniquely close sibling relationship through the daily details, from morning to night, from all that is said and all that is not. Cyril comes in and goes out of scenes like Reynold’s shadow, alerting the viewer to the persistence of their history and bond without ever speaking of their life through the war and the relationship to their mother. Reynolds is a confirmed bachelor, a disposition that affords him the luxury of creating while a household and staff of predominantly women, including Cyril, tend to details. Reynolds, above all, is an artist who is self-absorbed and lives in a regimented world of his own design, his work is his love, and romantic interests come and go, never usurping the place of his art or even coming in a close third.
After a recent breakup (also managed by Cyril), Reynolds goes to the country where he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress who is clumsily out of place and seems to have been waiting for him all along. Anderson sets up the love dynamic beautifully from the get go, establishing Alma’s intellectual acumen and determination by the end of their first scene together. Day-Lewis flirts as charmingly as a young boy experiencing love for the first time, this too is an exquisite detail that plays out as the relationship transforms into obsession and a power struggle, and finally settles into… love? Yes, love. Who can judge, really?
Phantom Thread is a delicate story that is tight and unpredictable because the relationships are complex, and Anderson has developed characters that are, like real human beings, many things at once. Each character has agency and has to negotiate their respective existence against the wants and needs of others. The director takes full advantage of the era and settings, the gaze of the camera is seductive, with sensuous light that washes over the characters and floats off onto the viewer like the wake of a scent. Phantom Thread invokes classics like the 1944 classic Gaslight that stars Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman and is also about love, perception, and altering a lover’s reality.
Phantom Thread lures in viewers with beautiful costumes and a stunning soundtrack that is as rich as the visual aspects of the film. The soundtrack is a fine mix of classical pieces by Debussy, Schubert, Brahms, etcetera, but under the design of Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood, the soundtrack also delivers a turn here and there; because just like the plot, it isn’t as straight forward as it seems. The soundtrack also includes fine recordings by Oscar Peterson, and even a little something by George Gershwin and Kurt Weill.
At the heart of Phantom Thread there are some philosophical struggles, and a battle between an artist against himself and a changing world. Reynolds, like many great artists, is one with his work. He dictates how the garments are created, and infuses them with personal and private messages in the linings and seams; wishes, desires, and hopes that only he knows. As Alma exercises her will and determination, she disrupts the relationship between the artist and his art, thus breaking apart his reality and also offering him an opportunity to create a different relationship with her and his art, but one in which she is equal to his art. The scene in which Alma discovers the message “Never Cursed” for a Royal wedding dress, is the pivotal moment of Reynold’s shifting reality.
Bear Tooth
Phantom Thread
R for language
Monday April 30 at 8:30PM
Daniel Day-Lewis gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Reynolds Woodcock (he really should have won…). Reynolds is a renowned dressmaker who has built not just a brand, but a fashion empire that caters to highest echelons of post-World War II British society, and of course, Royalty. The House of Woodcock was built by Reynolds and his sister, Cyril, played by Lesley Manville, whose performance is also nothing short of award-winning. Anderson subtly lays out the uniquely close sibling relationship through the daily details, from morning to night, from all that is said and all that is not. Cyril comes in and goes out of scenes like Reynold’s shadow, alerting the viewer to the persistence of their history and bond without ever speaking of their life through the war and the relationship to their mother. Reynolds is a confirmed bachelor, a disposition that affords him the luxury of creating while a household and staff of predominantly women, including Cyril, tend to details. Reynolds, above all, is an artist who is self-absorbed and lives in a regimented world of his own design, his work is his love, and romantic interests come and go, never usurping the place of his art or even coming in a close third.
After a recent breakup (also managed by Cyril), Reynolds goes to the country where he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), a waitress who is clumsily out of place and seems to have been waiting for him all along. Anderson sets up the love dynamic beautifully from the get go, establishing Alma’s intellectual acumen and determination by the end of their first scene together. Day-Lewis flirts as charmingly as a young boy experiencing love for the first time, this too is an exquisite detail that plays out as the relationship transforms into obsession and a power struggle, and finally settles into… love? Yes, love. Who can judge, really?
Phantom Thread is a delicate story that is tight and unpredictable because the relationships are complex, and Anderson has developed characters that are, like real human beings, many things at once. Each character has agency and has to negotiate their respective existence against the wants and needs of others. The director takes full advantage of the era and settings, the gaze of the camera is seductive, with sensuous light that washes over the characters and floats off onto the viewer like the wake of a scent. Phantom Thread invokes classics like the 1944 classic Gaslight that stars Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman and is also about love, perception, and altering a lover’s reality.
Phantom Thread lures in viewers with beautiful costumes and a stunning soundtrack that is as rich as the visual aspects of the film. The soundtrack is a fine mix of classical pieces by Debussy, Schubert, Brahms, etcetera, but under the design of Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood, the soundtrack also delivers a turn here and there; because just like the plot, it isn’t as straight forward as it seems. The soundtrack also includes fine recordings by Oscar Peterson, and even a little something by George Gershwin and Kurt Weill.
At the heart of Phantom Thread there are some philosophical struggles, and a battle between an artist against himself and a changing world. Reynolds, like many great artists, is one with his work. He dictates how the garments are created, and infuses them with personal and private messages in the linings and seams; wishes, desires, and hopes that only he knows. As Alma exercises her will and determination, she disrupts the relationship between the artist and his art, thus breaking apart his reality and also offering him an opportunity to create a different relationship with her and his art, but one in which she is equal to his art. The scene in which Alma discovers the message “Never Cursed” for a Royal wedding dress, is the pivotal moment of Reynold’s shifting reality.
Bear Tooth
Phantom Thread
R for language
Monday April 30 at 8:30PM