Phantom Thread

[Drenk]

I had a feeling it would be shorter than usual. But I hope it will be at least 2 hours. Because I am greedy. Then: the running time fits the movie.

[wilberfan]

Wait.  What...?

Anderson and Day-Lewis were very secretive while shooting the film, and for months plot details were only rumors. Phantom Thread was thought just to be a working title. This summer, Day-Lewis boosted some of the rumors by saying that he was retiring from acting after this film to become a dressmaker, after falling in love with the craft while making this movie.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/daniel-day-lewis-phantom-thread-details

[wilberfan]

...but Anderson fans are as interested in narrative as they are Anderson’s visual signature, his sense of composition and movement within a frame. The biggest surprises in his films tend not to be turning points in the plot but in, say, the way he holds on a close-up of Joaquin Phoenix‘s rabid dog of a man in The Master or Mark Wahlberg‘s inept porn star in Boogie Nights. That can’t be ruined, and it’s what makes the wait for Phantom Thread‘s release on December 25th all the more unbearable.

http://collider.com/phantom-thread-synopsis/

[csage97]

...but Anderson fans are as interested in narrative as they are Anderson’s visual signature, his sense of composition and movement within a frame. The biggest surprises in his films tend not to be turning points in the plot but in, say, the way he holds on a close-up of Joaquin Phoenix‘s rabid dog of a man in The Master or Mark Wahlberg‘s inept porn star in Boogie Nights. That can’t be ruined, and it’s what makes the wait for Phantom Thread‘s release on December 25th all the more unbearable.

http://collider.com/phantom-thread-synopsis/

To me, this really is the crux of my enjoying the film. In other hands, I could see what the plot synopsis describes (quoted a few posts back) being really interesting and enjoyable, but from PTA's pen, dare I say it does sound boring .... I'm hoping I'm wrong about the outcome. But what I'm most looking forward to are the character drawings, the actors who bring them alive, PTA's cinematography, and his framing and camera movement choices that he uses to tell the story.

[Robyn]

this story, as the synopsis reads now, draws me in more then inherent vice, the master and even most of his other stuff. I like fashion and I like sex (duh), and I'm really interested in seeing this world through the eyes of PTA. one of the characters on the IMDB page is "Chelsea Arts club New years eve party guest". that's the movie scene i'm looking forward to most, even though I don't know anything about it. it sounds so promising, and when I imagine it it's beautiful. the short description of Alma (a young, strong-willed woman) is intriguing too, and I really want to know more about that character. it might be a chance to make an interesting and fascinating female character, which is something I miss sometimes in PTA films

when people compare it to fifty shades of gray, I honestly believe that it sounds like the best thing ever. sex is something he hasn't explored before (except for boogie nights of course, but that's not really about sex, not real sex anyway). punch-drunk love is a love story of course, but that film is so unsexual and pure and almost childish. now I want to see this film, and this love story, and how it explore their passions and longings, and see what they get turned on by, and how they fuck each other, and how that make them feel.

[Robyn]

you're grasping at straws.

I don't know how you came to the conclusion that he isn't passionate about it just because DDL had some hand in it. so PTA liked some of his ideas, and brought them into the film? doesn't mean anything.

shooting it himself must be something he just want to do. he may even, you know, feel passionately about it?

[Lottery]

My big worry is ever since someone here heard that DDL had a strong hand in the story, I can't help but have a hunch that PTA isn't so passionate (for lack of a better term) about this one.

Well, he's big on collaboration. The Master had a fair bit of input from PSH, and he's work-shopped ideas with cast and crew in the past. Regarding the DoP stuff, perhaps he feels he's at the height of his powers technically and has the confidence to streamline his process.

I personally find the setting and ideas pretty cool- A PTA film set in the UK focusing on 1950s dressmaker is totally bonkers. I can understand how some might think the plot might need more meat but we'll see how things unfold. In any case, present day PTA is about the character as we all know.

I mean I have no idea what the movie will be like but I can't imagine PTA making a movie that he's not totally into making- he's writing/directing/producing/effectively being DoP.

[Gold Trumpet]

Wait.  What...?

Anderson and Day-Lewis were very secretive while shooting the film, and for months plot details were only rumors. Phantom Thread was thought just to be a working title. This summer, Day-Lewis boosted some of the rumors by saying that he was retiring from acting after this film to become a dressmaker, after falling in love with the craft while making this movie.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/10/daniel-day-lewis-phantom-thread-details

Word of this has been out for a little while. Albeit in rumor form before.

Day-Lewis has been talking retirement for years. He falls in love with physical crafts (like being a cobbler) and while I'm sure he means retirement as he says it now, who knows if it holds. I will bet against it.

[budwillies]

Trailer is out!

[Drenk]

[budwillies]

I'm excited. The cinematography looks stunning.

[Drenk]

I am not watching the trailer. Is it good? Because that poster makes me think that PTA doesn't care about promoting this movie...

[Lottery]

It's certainly not Was There A Fight but I've watched it a few times and I quite like it. It's surprisingly restrained and refined and kinda tense. If it's as weird as some have said, they're really keeping it as a surprise. Very different to what we've seen before from PTA.
Gorgeous Greenwood music as expected.

[Lottery]

Huh, just noticed. R for language only. Very curious.

[wilberfan]

Only one viewing so far.  I'm not cringing or rolling my eyes or confused.  It does look gorgeous.  I like that the female lead isn't conventionally, model-stunningly gorgeous (at least by our modern standards).

[edit] 2nd Viewing.  Some mild goosebumps this time.  It certainly seems to be about the shifting nature of their relationship/personal dynamic.  (But, of course, the Inherent Vice trailer told us that film was a goofy, irreverent comedy, so...)