BEFORE: Julia Davis carries over from "Fighting with My Family", and I know I'm creating a bit of thematic whiplash here, going from the world of wrestling to the world of 1950's high fashion. And tomorrow I'll be back on action films, it can't be helped. Today's film doesn't link to very much, now that Daniel Day-Lewis has retired for what, the third time? I don't know who's retired more times, him, or Joaquin Phoenix, or Hayao Miyasaki. (Streisand's probably got them all beat.).
But while I can't say whether this film has been on my watchlist the longest, I know that it's the one that's been on my DVR the longest, since December 2018. Yep, that's how hard it is to link to. So if there's a way to cross it off the list before May's over, I've got to take it. I can still get where I need to be on July 4 by going through this film.
Before I get to the film, let me get to the format stats for May. This has been the biggest month ever for me on the streaming platforms, I think this must be the first time that I've watched more films on Netflix, AmazonPrime, Disney Plus and Hulu (combined, of course) than I've watched from cable. This could be significant, but also it's taken me this long to change with the times. I can't tell yet if this will happen again going forward, but watching 2/3 of May's films online on various platforms seems sort of significant. Bear in mind, the studios I work for were shut down, so I didn't have access to screeners, and I've had to scramble a bit.
MAY 2020 -
4 Movies watched on cable (saved to DVD): The Constant Gardener, Call Me by Your Name, Fighting with My Family, Phantom Thread
5 Movies watched on cable (not saved): John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, The Dresser, The Chumscrubber, Chuck & Buck, Good Boys
12 watched on Netflix: Angel Has Fallen, The Duchess, Other People, Wine Country, The Willoughbys, The Angry Birds Movie 2, Tarzan 2: The Legend Begins, The Secret Life of Pets 2, Obvious Child, The Last Laugh, A Serious Man, The King
1 watched on Academy screeners: 45 Years
3 watched on iTunes: Code Name: The Cleaner, We Don't Belong Here, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
2 watched on Amazon Prime: The Aeronauts, Beautiful Boy
1 watched on Hulu: Booksmart
3 watched on Disney+: Frozen II, Aladdin, Tarzan & Jane
1 watched on a random site: Breakfast of Champions
32 TOTAL
THE PLOT: In 1950's London, Reynolds Woodcock is a renowned dressmaker whose fastidious life is disrupted by a young, strong-willed woman, Alma, who becomes his muse and lover.
AFTER: I haven't quite decided yet if this is truly the Year of the Re-schedule (or in some cases, the Re-re-re-re-schedule), or the Year of the Weird Movies. Maybe it's both, but by "weird", in this case, I don't mean films about aliens or zombies or mutant superheroes (even though all may show up before 2020 is done), I mean films that just leave me scratching my head, wondering, "What the heck was somebody thinking when they made this?" This has sort of ranged from the outlandishly bizarre ("Mortal Engines", "Pacific Rim: Uprising"), to the quietly personal but ultimately pointless ("Dreamland", "The Tree of Life"). If a movie is just plain stupid and silly ("Murder Mystery", "Cold Pursuit") I can almost forgive that, because if nothing else, it could be good for a few laughs. But then what am I supposed to make of a movie that comes off as really intelligent, but in the end, just goes absolutely nowhere? (Like, umm, OK, "The Aeronauts" is a good example.)
That's really where I thought this one was going for the first hour, at least. I've heard good things about this film, plus it got 6 Oscar nominations - but, on the other hand, only one win, for Best Costume Design. Yeah, so that's a mixed bag, and it's no help. It's about a fashion designer in the 1950's, and he's been successful, but also he's very eccentric, and he's been allowed to lead a sheltered life, with things exactly the way he likes them. He's not gay, only there are signs that he might be, from his diva-like personality to being hung up on his dead mother, to, well, honestly, the whole dressmaking thing. I hate to fall back on stereotypyes, but they do tend to make things easier. When words like "fussy" and "confirmed bachelor" are applied to a character, that's naturally where my mind goes, only there's no hard evidence to support this theory. Then again, it's the 1950's and people were better at hiding their homosexuality back then, because they had to be, so it's still possible. He could be lying to the people around him, or even to himself.
But let's work with what he have for now, dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock gets enamored with Alma, a waitress in a café, I guess because she remembers his entire order without writing it down, and those English people love their big, complicated breakfasts. Welsh rarebit with a poached egg and sausages, plus jam, cream, and butter. (Man, I miss breakfast. I'd love to just get back to a real NYC diner soon for a Western omelette, hash browns and toast with an extra side of sausage. I like to butterfly the sausage and put it on the buttered toast with some grape jelly...and keep the coffee coming.). Anyway, he asks her out to dinner after she serves him breakfast - for a second I thought his dinner invitation would involve her just serving him again in the same café, which sounds just like what this guy would want.
By the end of their first date, her clothes are off - but it's not what you might think, he's immediately designing a dress for her. (Again, not gay, but come ON!) She's apparently got the perfect figure for his dresses, meaning small breasts and a bit of a belly. (Hmmm....). Reynolds is clear that he's not the marrying kind (really?) but he is in the market for a live-in muse. Alma agrees to this situation and becomes sort of a live-in employee, muse and part-time lover - some reading between the lines is required here, because this is an arty movie, elegant and not blatant.
From there, this turns into a movie about two people (three, if you count Reynolds' sister, Cyril) who have to learn to live together, with all that entails. And living with someone full-time tends to be a constantly changing set of negotiations, everything from sleeping schedules and arrangements to sharing meals are propositions that are constantly up for revisions. As I think a lot of people found out during the Covid-19 lockdown, where everyone's regular work and school schedules got turned upside-down, and suddenly people had to spend much more time with their spouses and kids than they'd gotten accustomed to. I'm sure many relationships have been affected, some may even have been dissolved after realizing that people don't really LIKE the people they're in love with. More research may be required, though.
Here this phenomenon manifests itself in little things, like how much noise Alma makes when she eats breakfast, scratching the butter on to her toast, or clanking her knife against the plate. This is all very distracting to Reynolds, if his concentration is shattered during breakfast, he's no good for the rest of the day. There are simple solutions, of course, like Alma could learn to eat quieter, or they could eat breakfast at different times, or maybe Reynolds could learn to not be such a fussy diva. Just saying.
After a certain period of time, Alma realizes that he's just not that into her. (Again, not gay, he just apparently wants to keep her at arm's length. Right.) When she's grown tired of waiting, instead of doing the adult thing and moving out, which would probably make more sense, she enacts a plan to make Reynolds dependent on her. It shouldn't work, but it does (no spoilers here) and eventually they get married. Finally, the film got a little bit exciting here, which was a relief, because by this point I'd convinced myself that I had missed something. There's one final scene that really drives the point home, where he wordlessly tells her that he knows what she did, and then she (with words, unfortunately) tells him that she knows that he knows. Hey, not everyone can act like Daniel Day-Lewis, and speak volumes without saying anything. Finally, it's back to him, and he knows that she knows that he knows, and he doesn't care. That's more than a little messed up.
I still don't know what "Phantom Thread" means, so I'll have to look that up. It just reminds me of Penn & Teller's "Invisible Thread" routine, which I'm pretty sure has no bearing here. This is another film on that list of "1,001 Movies to See Before You Die", where my score is now 428 seen. I'm going to go on record as saying that May has been one hell of a shout-out to National Mental Health month, I've certainly seen my share of character with issues, addictions and hang-ups over the last 31 days. But then again, I could probably say that about any given month.
Also starring Daniel Day-Lewis (last seen in "Gandhi"), Vicky Krieps (last seen in "Hanna"), Lesley Manville (last seen in "Mr. Turner"), Camilla Rutherford (last seen in "The Fifth Estate"), Gina McKee (last seen in "Atonement"), George Glasgow, Brian Gleeson (last seen in "Logan Lucky"), Harriet Sansom Harris, Lujza Richter, Nicholas Mander, Philip Franks, Phyllis MacMahon (last seen in "Shaun of the Dead"), Silas Carson (last seen in "Dying of the Light"), Eric Sigmundsson, Richard Graham (last seen in "The World's End"), Martin Dew (last seen in "Bridge of Spies"), Ian Harrod, Jane Perry, Emma Clandon, Sarah Lamesch (last seen in "Mary Shelley"), Sue Clark, Joan Brown, Harriet Leitch, Dinah Nicholson, Julie Duck, Maryanne Frost, Elli Banks, Amy Cunningham, Amber Brabant, Geneva Corlett.
RATING: 5 out of 10 New Year's Eve party guests
No comments:
Post a Comment