Phantom Thread (2017) a retrospective
A love story from a master storyteller accompanied by the musical genius of Jonny Greenwood
From a quiet beginning and a stylised font announcing “Phantom Thread” we crash into discordant musical sounds before dissolving into a close-up of a young lady sitting comfortably in an armchair and in a somewhat darkened room full of bright colours. “Reynolds made my dreams come true” she smiles, and as the camera begins to slowly retreat backwards amid the crackle of an unseen fire warming the room “And I have given him what he desires most in return”. As the camera continues to slowly pan back from the young lady an unseen man asks what she has given Reynolds in return for her dreams to come true, “Every piece of me” she responds. Smiling and content, the still unseen man suggests that Reynolds is a difficult and demanding man to be with to which she answers “Yes” and after a passing beat “Maybe the most demanding man”, and here the softness of the beginning of the film merges beautifully with the opening strains of Jonny Greenwood’s piano led musical score as we cut to “Reynolds Woodcock” (Daniel Day Lewis) shaving and meticulously preparing for the day ahead in a quiet, measured and defined established daily routine one must assume he conducts every day.
From this early assumption we cut to the exterior of a vast, opulent terraced building. A Union Jack flag flies centrally in the screen as the sound of birds singing their morning songs fill the air as we cut back inside this sumptuous looking building and “Cyril Woodcock” (Lesley Manville) opening the blinds on central London and preparing a vast Victorian era house for the day ahead. To the rear of the building, a line of seamstresses wait to enter beneath the glow of a streetlamp and after entering they hurry and chatter their way up a glorious winding spiral staircase accompanied by the director’s camera and the majesty of Jonny Greenwood’s continuing musical score, passing Cyril as they go to the upper working levels of the house. A brief cut sees Reynolds now meticulously prepared for the day ahead as he leaves his apartment, bids three final seamstresses good morning as they reach the top of the stairs before descending out of shot. A final cut ends the beginning of the film with a gaggle of ladies preparing for their day ahead as a close-up shot demonstrates someone stitching a label into a largely unseen garment , namely “Woodcock — London”.
We cut to Reynolds working quietly over a breakfast of coffees and pastries as he sketches a design idea for a new dress. All is quiet, deliberately quiet, until “Johanna” (Camilla Rutherford) offers a pastry to Reynolds to which he declines without ever raising his eyes from his drawing with a terse “no more stodgy things”. Johanna, looking lost and crestfallen, responds “I didn’t know that” before “You may have told it to someone else”. Collecting the mail from an adjoining room, Cyril now enters the breakfast room and Reynolds, for the first time of many in the film, addresses his sister with the affectionate moniker of “My Old So and So” before an eerie silence descends once more on the room. As Cyril busies herself with the mail and Reynolds quietly pours himself more coffee, Johanna is clearly a lost and unwanted third wheel at breakfast this morning as she bitterly questions Reynolds “Where have you gone Reynolds?”. A quick cut to Cyril shows her displeasure at this albeit quiet outburst of a question before Johanna continues “There is nothing I can say to get your attention aimed back at me, is there?”. Reynolds cannot hide his displeasure at the question either as he announces “I cannot begin my day with a confrontation, please” before raising his eyes from his drawing and looking at Johanna for the first time “I’m delivering the dress today and I can’t take up time for confrontations. I simply don’t have time for confrontations”. The scene ends with Johanna staring at Reynolds as opposite her, Cyril looks on impassively.
Cutting to the outside of the building once more we see the grand arrival of “Countess Henrietta Harding” (Gina McKee) before a quick cut back inside the house sees Cyril meticulously preparing the house for her arrival and before greeting the Countess, she affixes a fake smile and direct to camera. Before ascending the spiral staircase the Countess looks up and catching Reynold’s eye at the top, smiles broadly. “I’m excited” she beams. “I am too” responds a warm and welcoming Reynolds before he paces up and down in a separate room as the Countess tries on her long awaited dress. As the Countess enters the room, Jonny Greenwood’s musical score becomes a seductive accompaniment to Cyril’s exclamation that the dress or ball gown is “exquisite” and as Reynolds fusses over the hem and perfects the dress, the Countess puts on her glasses for a clearer, excited look in a nearby mirror. Excitement fills the air as Reynolds finally exclaims to a beaming Countess “Let’s take it for a walk!”.
Exiting to an adjoining room, both Reynolds and the Countess are overjoyed and after thanking the hard work of the seamstresses for their creation and alone now, the Countess and Reynolds hold hands as she confides “It’s beautiful Reynolds. I feel like it will give me courage”. An immediate cut transports us to later in the evening and from a balcony position we see Cyril watching the arrival of the Countess in her new dress, nervously entering a high society gala before with a smile and a tap on the balcony rail, Cyril leaves. Immediately we cut to Reynolds on his nightly walk before entering a restaurant and joining his sister at a private and somewhat secluded table. With barely a greeting or confirmation for the success of the dress, Cyril asks “What do you want me to do with Johanna? and “She’s getting fat waiting around for you to fall in love with her again”. Reynolds is perturbed, lost in thought and barely acknowledges his sister’s idea of somewhat bribing Johanna with a dress to leave his life. Still looking downward and not at his sister, Reynolds claims he has a constant feeling of “butterflies” in his stomach and memories he cannot shake of their mother. She’s “reaching out” to them he claims, she’s near them, and he smells her scent in his dreams.
“It’s comforting to think the dead are watching over the living” he explains, before Cyril suggests he escape from the city and go to his country retreat and she’ll join him the following day.
“I like that idea very much” he replies with a thank you and, affectionately,
“My Old So and So”.
Thus is the opening 10 minutes of Phantom Thread and a film I was sure I’d already my penned my thoughts on in the past and if I have, well, they’re lost to the mists of time now. So here they are again. I’ve deliberately omitted the star of this incredible show, namely Vicky Krieps as the ever so beautiful “Alma Elson” and as you will discover mere minutes after continuing with the film from the point whereby I’ve ended my above dissection, Alma will soon become Reynolds latest living doll or muse for his creations and a love story quite unlike any other you’ve seen will begin to take shape. Whereas Reynolds is quiet, meticulous, lost in his own self absorption and over indulged by his familial sister, Alma is a free bird ready to take flight, but with dreams of her own to fulfil. “I never really liked myself” Alma admits in utter infatuation for the man sweeping her off her feet and one who readily admits “I feel as though I’ve been looking for you for a long time”, but whilst I have no wish to crush such a love story and one you truly won’t have seen before, perhaps Reynolds hasn’t been looking all that long considering his previous muse has been cast to the winds with an old dress!
Ah cynicism. What would we do without it? And what would Reynolds do without the familial power behind his throne and the latest love of his life and muse for his creations? I’ll conclude on a further cryptic note as I adore this quote from the movie:
“There is an air of quiet death in this house, and I do not like the way it smells”
and I’ll leave you to interpret this in any way you wish, but it helps if you watch the film.
I’ve written many thousands of glowing words in appreciation of the films directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and I thought I’d already added my phantom threads on this film, but clearly I hadn’t.
Now I have.
Whilst you’re here I may as well brag about the release of my two recently self-published books. Both are free to read if you subscribe to Amazon Kindle “Unlimited” or reasonably priced in both paperback and hardback. Go on, treat yourself or a loved one and help out an Indie Author! Buy the books if you’re financially able to. They also look far, far better in print!
We HAVE to keep the spirit of reading books alive and well.
Thanks.
"still life, with gooseberry" - link to Amazon
"Rasputin and Raspberry Jam" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.