By Emilio Frenk.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Lesley Manville, Vicky Krieps, Richard Graham, Camilla Rutherford, Harriet Sansom Harris, Brian Gleeson, Julia Davis, Nicholas Mander and Phillips Franks.
Rating: Excellent.
Academy Award Writer/Director Nominee Paul Thomas Anderson joins forces again with Three Time Academy Award Winner Daniel Day-Lewis in his final performance with “Phantom Thread” and again Anderson created a masterpiece.
Set in London, England during the 1950´s, it centers in Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) a well known dressmaker who´s reputation is very high in the British Society.
One day he meets Alma (Vicky Krieps) a waitress who eventually will become his muse.
Both Reynolds and Alma`s lives will be changed forever and they will fall in love. Eventually Reynold`s will have an obsession towards his work and wants to control every single aspect of it that will lead him to a nervous breakdown, which can compromise his reputation if he takes the wrong decisions.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of my review. Paul Thomas Anderson created something unique like in most of his films and with “Phantom Thread” is not the exception.
Every film that he creates is a different experience and theme. Here he took us to the British Fashion world in a way that has never seen before and this is why it was very original.
One thing that has always impressed me about Thomas Anderson is the amount of research he does in every single one of his films that has done in his entire career and here is evident that he made a lot of it in the fashion world of London during the decade of the 1950´s.
His directing was sharp and I loved the fact that besides of telling the dressing/fashion world, but he told the movie from Reynolds Woodcock´s point of view. The visuals are impressive and I was surprised that Anderson shot this film by himself and didn´t collaborate with Robert Elswit, who has shot most of his films since 1996´s “Hard Eight”, which marked Paul Thomas Anderson´s feature film debut.
Anderson did a very good job in terms of camera work and shot a glamourous film from beginning to end.
Daniel Day-Lewis as usual gives a memorable performance and we will miss him since this is his final film after he announced his retirement in acting back in June of this year. His performance as Reynolds Woodcock is outstanding and brings to life a character with a lot of emptiness and with a need to be appreciated in a certain way.
I would not be surprised if he is nominated for an Academy Award for his final performance in this film. If he scores a fourth Academy Award he will be the actor with most statuettes in history.
The score by Jonny Greenwood, who has worked with Paul Thomas Anderson since “There Will Be Blood” did a marvelous score, which tells the world of not only one character but all of them that practically translates in three of them..
Another performance that blew me away was Vicky Krieps, who played Alma in this film. She played her character so convincingly and she doesn´t portrayed the naïve character that we are used to see in this type of films. She plays someone a woman with a lot of strength and character. Her arch is very interesting in this film and she plays who ends up being dominant.
You might think that “Phantom Thread” is only Daniel Day-Lewis´s film but it`s not the case. Every single character in this film plays a huge role and that`s one of the things that I loved about it.
The third act of the film is beautifully written and has one of the most surprising and unexpected endings.
I encourage you to watch this film in 70mm so you can appreciate the visuals and the texture of the film itself.
One thing is that “Phantom Thread” is a movie that I don´t think it´s for everyone and before you watch please be very open and prepared since the movie has a slow pace.
Every movie that Paul Thomas Anderson does it´s considered a blessing and with “Phantom Thread” is not the exception.
I highly recommend it for the direction and Day-Lewis`s final performance, which I hope you enjoy as much as I did.