Phantom Thread Review

Phantom Thread Review

    

    “Phantom Thread” is a romantic period drama starring Daniel Day-Lewis and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film follows a bitter aging dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his poisonous relationship with his favorite model and muse, the strong-willed and resilient Alma (Vicky Krieps). Rarely does a movie succeed in almost every aspect and still has what I call the “click factor”, which is an emotional response from a viewer that can’t be explained by good writing or any technical prowess. Its juts a story that connects with you, regardless of genre, subject matter, or any technical achievements of the film. Its why I can still enjoy myself when I watch “Back to the Future 3”. The film is fairly stupid, predictable, and childish, but goddamn if I don’t have a soft spot in my heart for both the Back to the Future series and westerns, and while many directors have made films that have had the “click factor” for me (the names Kubrick, Chaplin, and Coen come to mind), but none do it as brilliantly, consistently, and as captivatingly as Paul Thomas Anderson does it. To call the man simply a genius is to undermine the perfect masterpieces that he has captured on glorious 35-millimeter film, and Phantom Thread is no exception. A masterclass in perfect cinematography, film scoring, writing, acting, and narrative storytelling can be found in the films 2 hour 10-minute runtime. It is rare in today’s world to find a romance film that defies expectations and truly surprises me. Soon after watching Phantom Thread, I saw “Lars and The Real Girl” and “Wristcutters: A Love Story”, and while Wristcutters was definitely more surprising, one could still predict the direction the story will take at any point in the film, which becomes boring after a while. I was on the edge of my seat at every frame of Phantom Thread, not knowing what would happen. The film is as close to flawless as movies go, for plenty of reasons

    The first reason is of course, the 62-year-old, 3-time academy award winning, Irish/English elephant in the room, Daniel Day-Lewis, the world’s greatest actor challenged by none. The only actors I consider to hold a candle to Lewis is Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, both Paul Thomas Anderson regulars. The man is unrecognizable in almost every role he has ever been in. The person I see on screen is not Daniel Day-Lewis pretending to be Reynolds Woodcock, it is Reynolds Woodcock in all his bitter glory. If I were in charge of the academy, I would revoke Lewis’ Oscar from 2012 for Lincoln (give that to Joaquin Phoenix for The Master) and give him Gary Oldman’s Oscar from 2017 (Sorry Gary, Darkest Hour was a piece of shit), as his performance is not only Oscar worthy, but Oscar necessary. That being said, Oscars aren’t everything, nor should they be. Daniel Day-Lewis dives into the obsessed world of Woodcock and comes out clean on the other side. Every facial expression, every delivery, every movement, stare, pause, and step he takes he takes as Reynolds Woodcock and he does it flawlessly every time. Lewis’ stellar performance almost shadows that of Leslie Manville playing his equally bitter sister Cyril Woodcock and of course Vicky Krieps’ portrayal of Reynolds love interest, Alma. Every performance in this movie is done brilliantly and without error. There might’ve been a total of three line deliveries I thought were a bit off in the entire runtime, meaning one mistake every 45 minutes, which is beyond impressive. Even the extras perfectly embody the spirit of the film, be it a fine dining hall or a drunken new year’s party. The films phenomenally written characters are brought to life by these talented actors in a way that few films pull off, which leads me to the script

    Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed the film, and his signature style shines through, always there but never overpowering the story. His unique use of framing, handheld camera, and extreme close-ups tell the story in a more personal manner than most films could ever dream of achieving. His films, aside from feeling very passionate and true, have a lot of class and respect for the audience, not explaining everything and showing you exactly how to feel, because Anderson understands something that only the very best of film makers can capture- people are complicated. No one is just good or just bad. Good people do bad things and vice versa, so to constantly remind you that this person is the bad guy is ridiculous and unrealistic. The motifs and nuances of the story are hidden in the background and are there for the audience to find, not for the audience to just understand after being explained repeatedly, like how people say that Alma is very childish, and Reynolds agrees, but his several tantrums throughout the film are very childlike in manner, showing his hypocrisy and tendency to judge people. the films writing is brilliant, with twists and turns I never saw coming, a real, complex relationship, and an ending that made me realize why I like movies so much, because no matter how much I’ve seen, no matter how much of a cynic I’ve become, a film can still leave me at a loss for words. The characters are so well defined and layered that they could absolutely be real people and I would not be surprised in the slightest. There is a lot of unexpected comedy and levity in the script too, a lot of it a direct result of Lewis’ delivery, all of which is perfectly timed and never out of place. There are many themes and ideas layered in the script, some being more obvious, like Alma’s name meaning “the soul” and how obsession can lead to the destruction of relationships, to more hidden ideas like how clothes play into a life of solitude, the sickness of love, and how obsession can help one deal with grief. The script is perfectly paced, justifying its 2 hour runtime, with no scene going on too long and no sequence too short.

    The music in this film, besides the aforementioned accolades are the films holy grail in terms of success. This film might have the best score ever written for a film in the last 20 years, counting the works of Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Jon Brion, Justin Hurwitz, Johann Johannsson, and Alexandre Desplat. The sounds of fingers running down the keys emulating the sound of spools of thread being unraveled, and gentle violin notes resounding and echoing to the viewer of the tortured mind of Reynolds Woodcock. The costumes and production design of this film are all brilliantly done and meticulously crafted, as is every element of this fantastic film, a classy, respectful and thoroughly entertaining look into the crazed relationship a dedicated man had with a free-spirited rebel. I am thankful that this film exists.

    Phantom Thread gets a 10/10