Gonger Reviews: Phantom Thread
Phantom Thread (2017)
Starring: Vicky Krieps, Lesley Manville, and Daniel-Day Lewis.
Synopsis: Reynolds Woodcock is an artistic genius. Alma is his muse, his lover, but most of all, she is a dagger! Nothing stands against her and the House of Woodcock!
Acting: This is it folks! Danny-Day’s last flick and he goes out with a bang! To say he is the master is an understatement. The man is an anomaly! How does he come up with these characters? How are they so different? I’ve analyzed his method for years and I have only come up with more questions. He isn’t human, he’s more human than human! *gasp!* Replicant!
I loved Krieps portrayal of Alma, instead of the typical love/hate relationship that is normally seen in a romantic film of this nature. She is quite playful with the confrontation she faces, giving us an extremely dynamic and original character.
Then we get Manville coming at us in the sleeper role of a life time. She chews up up the scenery and spits it out in the most elegant of ways. Heck of an actor!
Give it to the cast, easily a 2/2
Costumes: We can’t talk about a flick about a dress maker without talking about the dresses! Now I’m no fashionista but I thought these dresses looked downright fantastic! And why not? I’d say Mark Bridges designed these dresses to practically be characters in their own right. Perhaps some hidden meaning behind each one? Probably not but they look totally fab, am I right girls? Boys? Anybody? Doesn’t matter! I’m always right ! 2/2
All right. Here is where things get a little complicated. I’ve never reviewed a PT Anderson flick before and for good reason; dude taught me everything I know. Not joking. Yeah I’ve read books about film, stole some film school classes, and worked on movie sets, but I come from the school of PT! And class is in session, here's what I learned:
Cinematography: Here we see Anderson taking the helm for the camera work in this flick and at first I was a little apprehensive at the thought of it. “Oh what? Your going to write, direct, and shoot the thing? You’re a mad man!” Turns out I was right for the wrong reasons. His experiments with the camera are raw and exciting! For example, he straps a camera to a car and just flies that mother down the English countryside. The method shouldn’t work but as the viewer you get the rush of travelling very fast which in turn draws you deeper into the film (I’m a bit of a speed demon myself so I can relate). Then there is this over saturation of light which again shouldn’t work but it adds this timeless quality to the picture. Its just jaw dropping how great this film looks, right down to the framing and how the camera moves. No cheap tricks! Innovative techniques and good old fashioned camera work. Beauty! 2/2
Writing: What on Earth made PT come up with the concept for this flick? It's so fresh and outside the box that you could say you can make a movie about anything... but will it be any good? Here's whats important; plot drives the story. The story isn’t anything complicated but the plot takes you through this maze of twists and turns. It's just honest home-cooked writing. It's risky, too, by taking what we think will happen and doing something unexpected. I don’t think audiences like that (just ask The Last Jedi over there). The point is this is what going to the movies should feel like! What new world do they got cooked up for me now? PT always taught me to keep 'em guessing and they’ll always come back for more. Then there's the dialogue - sharp like a knife that cuts through steel! I don’t know how he comes up with this stuff but its limited edition Star Trek swag! 2/2
Directing: It takes a village and Anderson knows what's up. This flick might be all PT’ed out but you can tell he is using the whole cast and crew to his advantage and there is this energy to it that seeps out of the screen and into your eyeballs! Its infectious! I’d really like to see how the guy works real time because this flick isn’t laboured at all. The lesson might just be to surround yourself with the best to be the best. 2/2
Bonus points go to the title 'Phantom Thread'. When I saw it I got goosebumps! Like the old R.L Stein books. I was on my phone looking it up while purchasing a whole box full of em’ at a garage sale. I sold them to this little girl not five minutes later for double what I paid! Heh, heh, sucker. 1/1
That makes it an 11/10. This is really no surprise. But wait! The soundtrack by Johnny Greenwood is just magical! I didn’t put it in the actual review because its too good and would have blown this whole review up discrediting me as a film reviewer forever...
Soundtrack: See above. 2/2
EAT THE SYSTEM!!! 13/10
Allan Stringer @Gonger_Reviews
Allan Stringer (if that's his real name) hails from the Mutara Nebula and has travelled through space and time to check out the only thing us pathetic humans have to offer: movies. Marvel at his intelligence!