[wpdevart_youtube]xNsiQMeSvMk[/wpdevart_youtube]
PHANTOM THREAD | FILM REVIEW
****
Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicki Krieps
(15, 2hrs 20 mins)
Allegedly Daniel Day-Lewis’ last film following a declaration to retire from acting, this idiosyncratic and absorbing film is his second collaboration with writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson. Their previous pairing was the excellent There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread is another examination of male obsession, although Day-Lewis here is vastly different than the thunderous, vampiric, milkshake-drinking Daniel Plainview of the earlier film.
As ever, he is hypnotically watchable as Reynolds Woodcock, a renowned dressmaker who lives for his work, caring little for anyone else unless it suits him. A narcissist with no qualms about abusing others in his life, dress-making absorbs him, a trade passed down to him by his parents. Woodcock’s relationship with his mother, who appears fleetingly as a ghost in a fever dream, appears to have been a claustrophobic and needy one. Every other woman has lived in her shadow. His sister, played with steely resolve by Lesley Manville, is the only woman he truly communicates with as dalliances come and go. Theirs is a co-dependent relationship also, as she puts up with her brother, managing his love life and professional acquaintances.
This changes however when he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps), who becomes his muse, for a time at least. She is a waitress serving him at a seaside cafe, where he orders a very thorough and specific breakfast. She remains mysterious throughout, seemingly entranced and suffocated by this self-obsessed haute couture genius. Their relationship takes complex and uncomfortable turns, Alma seems to be ruining his creativity as he falls for her and he rebels against it, blaming her for losing clients. Woodcock is a toxic masculine presence, but Day-Lewis makes him believable and compelling as well as sympathetic – no mean feat. Kriep’s Alma remains both accessible and confounding, especially as she tries ever-desperate ways to keep ahold of Woodcock, whilst also carving her own path in life.
Writer and director Anderson manages to surprise throughout as the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways, whilst the period detail is meticulous throughout, suiting the central character. Anderson has always made niche films dealing with the male psyche, from Boogie Nights to The Master. This is not as cold or deliberately obtuse as The Master or Inherent Vice, his last two films, but it is just as idiosyncratic, Anderson has a very specific world view; his films are never uninteresting, they may require patience, but ultimately unfold to offer something primal, It will not be to all tastes but this portrayal of a claustrophobic relationship is unsettling and lingers long in the memory. A phantom thread worth pulling.
words Keiron Self
Out now in cinemas.