"Phantom Thread" looks like a movie of the past and a movie of the future, but it doesn't belong to the present era.
If it wasn't for three-time Best Actor Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis's retiring film, it's hard to imagine who would have such great courage to put US dollars in the hands of director Paul Thomas Anderson. Let him make such a masterpiece that is thousands of miles away from the real world, irrelevant to hot topics, and has no ambitions for various awards.
Anderson's films have never been sufficiently narrative to engage audiences, but Phantom Thread is so delicate and captivating that you can easily ignore all its logical flaws. This film is by no means a tool to deliberately show off Lewis' outstanding acting skills, but a medium for him to command the overall situation and conquer the audience, exuding lasting magic.
In the film, Lewis, like a statue, plays a deeply narcissistic costume designer from the 1950s, a man named Reynolds who has given new meaning to the word "eccentric". Rumor has it that the character is based on famous design titans Balenciaga and Charles James, but we're more interested in what kind of person he is, aside from his crazy way of working? The film puts Reynolds domineering in front of us in a number of shocking details: a mean, cruel, empty-hearted, irritating guy whose only attachment is his sister Cyril, a single woman who helps him with his designs Career, the two seem to be dependent on each other, but Cyril actually dominates everything in his life.
A strange and oppressive atmosphere pervaded quietly, reminiscent of Hitchcock's classic movie "Butterfly Dream": Reynolds is the man who is in a state of numbness, and Cyril is the one who always stands upright. The housekeeper behind the curtains. At this time, Alma, a shy and simple restaurant waitress, appeared in Reynolds' sight. She was like Joan Fontaine in "Butterfly Dream", who fell into a chaotic maze due to her instant infatuation.
After the delicate triangular relationship was established, "Phantom Thread" did not develop in the direction of the melodrama. The director made the causal relationship of this emotional storm show through non-linear editing - every subtle state change of the characters, All imply the occurrence of conflict and the escalation of conflict.
The film does not seem to have any effective plot, but the dramatic elements have already been densely integrated into every scene. This is similar to Darren Aronofsky's "Mother! "has a very similar story texture. Both discuss the domineering and selfishness of men, and the fatal damage they bring to the relationship between the sexes: the former is a writer whose emotions are out of control pushing his wife into the abyss of social crisis; the latter is obsession. A serious haute couture tailor who sees his beloved woman as a composite of flesh and tool—he measures her like a cold plastic mannequin, and the sound of her eating breakfast can break the peace of his day, This is a sadomasochism from patience, suspicion, anti-suspiciousness, self-doubt, to mutual hurt. Reynolds felt an intolerable challenge, Alma felt the suffocation of being imprisoned, and Cyril silently maintained his long-standing relationship with a smile. Vulnerable order.
What's interesting is that even though this long and horrific marriage involved feminist struggles and men's questioning about love and sex, the director didn't show any kind of sympathy for the characters or impose value judgments on them. No matter what crazy things they do, what terrible results they encounter, what way they choose to escape, you can find good reasons in them, and the blame can explain everything - you will never change your mind for Reynolds. Smile and let it go, because the warmth at this moment may be an illusion; you will not care for Alma's continuous pain, because from the moment she steps into the basement, the fantasy has been changed. Forcibly reversed into reality, self-awareness of cold and warm, has nothing to do with the whole world.
"Phantom Thread" has a very slow rhythm in the narrative, but the luxurious and refined visual tone is enough to keep the audience full of energy throughout the whole process - the carefully crafted interior landscape, costume design, makeup effect, in the backing of the retro photography style Underneath, a rare aesthetic carnival was almost thrown. Because of this, the film can still be remembered many years later.
Daniel Day-Lewis has something to be remembered for in this so-called "last screen gig" - not because he won another Best Actor Oscar nomination for the film, but a relative The disabled painter in My Left Foot, the domineering tycoon in There Will Be Blood, the world-shattering leader in Lincoln, and the tailor Reynolds in this film are the characters closest to him: a man with a passion for his career. Paranoid focus, paranoid fascination with women, and paranoid beliefs about life have no regrets for Lewis fans.
It is worth mentioning that the little-known Luxembourg actress Vicki Kripps played the heartbroken Alma in the film. The rich details of her performance and the precise rhythm control can completely match Lewis's style. Evenly matched, she is undoubtedly a legacy of this year's Oscar performance awards.
Originally published in "Litchi Sharp Review"
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