Review: Phantom Thread

Phantom Thread (2017) - Paul Thomas Anderson

      Paul Thomas Anderson's abilities as a filmmaker to create a fully immersive world that is not only captivating but singularly specific, almost surprising, has never been called in question (well, I mean, I don't know, has it? I don't think so. I feel like I would heard about it if it had. Ugh, I've been just been so busy and out of the loop lately. Did you know I haven't even seen Stranger Things Season 2 yet? I need to get my shit together). Whether it's the world of porn, 1960s California stoner detectives, or turn-of-the-century oil-tycoonery, Anderson gets deep into the world he's presenting with deep, symbolic images, complicated characters who skirt around good and evil, and (at least for the last decade) an ominous and almost assaulting score (thanks to Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood) that makes Hans Zimmer sound like an idiot who fell asleep on his keyboard. So it's no surprise that he took all of those elements from his arsenal when making Phantom Thread, the story of Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis), an extremely famous dress designer in postwar London who falls in love with Alma (Vicky Krieps). What is surprising, however, is also how bizarre, how strangely dramatic yet funny and petulant the movie is. It's very grand and sweeping and at the same time very odd and quiet, like an absurdist British rom-com!

       This film's delve into the uncomfortable and fragile egos of damaged souls focuses on Daniel Day-Lewis' Reynolds Woodcock (great name) and his tumultuous relationship with waitress turned muse turned lover turned...well I don't want to give it away, but let's just those two are cray. Woodcock is clearly brilliant at what he does, he's fastidious in his work and in his every day life, presents himself impeccably and acts with a refined air of wealth and decorum. He's also a petulant, fussy, short-tempered child who throws tantrums when things don't go his way. At times it almost seemed as Anderson could have been poking fun at himself, because his own film-making styles of meticulously beautiful shots and painstaking visual detail seem to perfectly encapsulate how Woodcock wishes the world around him would adhere to. And most of his life does adhere to that, until he meets Alma.

        A self-proclaimed life long bachelor, it's clear from the first scene that Woodcock goes through women like goes through fancy french lace. In a particularly funny exchange early on with his sister Cyril (Leslie Manville), she asks him if he wants her to get rid of his current live-in girlfriend, to which Woodcock barely registers an answer, but clearly means yes. It's obviously the nine hundredth time they've had this conversation, and it won't even be the last in the movie. From there, what keeps the narrative momentum of the movie going is, "Well if he does this all the time, what makes Alma special? Why are we seeing this one, considering this man's life is so constantly the same?" And from there it's up to Vicky Krieps to help fill in the lines, and hoo boy, she fills them in. Alma is confusing and unpredictable, going from doting to malignant in the same shot. She has her own agency and ideas for how life should be lived, and that's exactly what infuriates Woodcock so much. She sees the genius and the good in him, but is constantly angry at his inability to change a single thing about himself to cater to her needs. He's often short and even cruel with her, but she finds...let's say interesting ways to help keep a strange balance in the relationship.

       But seriously you guys? This movie is kind of ridiculous and hilarious. Everyone here is either such a stunted child or controlling manipulator, it's almost like Paul Thomas Anderson is making a dramatic fancy-boy version of an episode of Arrested Development. Some of the plot points (which I can't get into too  much detail because it's too great to be spoiled) as the story progresses get downright goofy. Their choices are absolutely believable because of the caliber of acting and writing happening, but when you really remove yourself to think about it, it's insane. Especially for such a meticulous and well-behaved world they've created. Day-Lewis is basically Buster, his sister is Lucille, and he's dating some amalgamation of Rita and Gob. It's bonkers. (Miiiister Effff)
       The more I think of this movie the stranger and more curious it gets in my head. It's at times heart-breakingly sad, operatic, and bleak (like so many of his movies) but at the same time is imbued with a different, stranger, more child-like tone than most of his other movies (Punch-Drunk Loves come to mind as its closest comparison, in so much that they are about weirdos falling in love, but the comparisons basically stop there. Punch-Drunk Love is about lovely if slightly damaged people, while the lovers of Phantom Thread are all, at best, high-functioning sociopaths). It has gorgeous, flowing scenes that spill from one to the next with a cinematic beauty that is hardly rivaled in today's movies, and then got huge laughs when Daniel Day-Lewis told a doctor to fuck off about six times in a row. My showing got enormous laughs throughout (which truly makes me hope the movie is actually funny and not just that Hollywood movie goers are a bunch of self-referential, self-satisfied pop culture fart-sniffers--oh god).

       While mentioning the showing I saw, it was projected in 70mm, and it was fucking gorgeous (yes, I had to google research the difference between 70mm and 35mm to totally understand the difference, and basically after two hours of doing so I came to the conclusion: It looks better). Every shot had so much attention to detail, every dress and every stitch Woodcock working on so crisp and beautiful. And the sound editing was also so strong and clear, often used to punctuate a lot of the visual sight gags the movie creates (watch Alma eat soup with a metal spoon, and then close your eyes and just listen to it, both are fucking funny).
       Phantom Thread is a strange movie that subverts expectations and confounds while still giving us sad, complicated characters in an absolutely stunning tableau of gorgeously bedizened patricians in impeccable clothing and ornately designed flats. And it reminded me of Arrested Development. So basically it's a win-win for everyone.

Grade: 8 out of 10 Mushroom Omelettes