Phantom Thread - SPOILERS!

[wilder]

i don't believe he's a man who could win his fights alone (there isn't evidence of that).

This is a great point. Launching pad for a different conversation I want to think more about.

i know you know that by the end he willingly self-sacrifices in order to preserve an environment of love.

I know, but I'm thinking there's also an argument that Woodcock needs an audience, a target for his arrows, in order to feel satisfied by firing them. Like the old saying goes, if a tree falls in the forest with no one around to hear it, did it make a sound? Alma proves herself loyal in her submission, a willing punching bag for his outbursts. He could be going along with her plan in twisted desperation to preserve that.

Woodcock also loves to be infantilized, with Cyril constantly looking over his shoulder and replacing his (dead) mother's role. Alma's enthusiasm to take part in that odd dynamic certainly plays into it. Is the want to be mothered the same as the want to be loved?

[jenkins]

just warning you guys again about major spoilers, in fact i'll make the text white

following upon your last statement, and building from the conversation, how much of their love is for each other, and how much of their love is for themselves? does she not enjoy how great she looks in his dresses, which everyone would like to wear? she gets jealous asap. she fears losing him, but is it because she fears losing what he represents? i was hard on her first because he's easy to be hard on. in an overall sense i think most loves are impure. he seems to love himself way more than he loves her or anyone. the harder part with him is identifying how he lovers her for her.

[wilder]

^ Mic drop

[wilberfan]

Just so I understand clearly, I thought this thread was for spoilers and the other thread was not.  Does it not work that way?

[wilder]

It is, some people who haven't seen it are popping in and stealing glances because curiosity's a bitch. We're just being extra cautious.

[eward]

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/exclusive-daniel-day-lewis-giving-up-acting-phantom-thread?mbid=social_facebook

Daniel Day Lewis on Phantom Thread and his "retirement". Surprising tidbit: He has not seen the film and apparently has no plans to.

[Rooty Poots]

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/exclusive-daniel-day-lewis-giving-up-acting-phantom-thread?mbid=social_facebook

Daniel Day Lewis on Phantom Thread and his "retirement". Surprising tidbit: He has not seen the film and apparently has no plans to.

I do know that Paul and I laughed a lot before we made the movie. And then we stopped laughing because we were both overwhelmed by a sense of sadness. That took us by surprise: We didn’t realize what we had given birth to. It was hard to live with. And still is.

…and…

Paul and I spoke a lot about curses—the idea of a curse on a family, what that might be like. A kind of malady. And it’s not that I felt there was a curse attached to this film, other than the responsibility of a creative life, which is both a curse and a blessing. You can never separate them until the day you die. It’s the thing that feeds you and eats away at you; gives you life and is killing you at the same time.

Jesus Christ.

[jenkins]

Although there have been rumors that Day-Lewis is going to become a fashion designer, he laughed when I suggested that career. “Who knows?” he said mischievously. “I won’t know which way to go for a while. But I’m not going to stay idle. I don’t fear the stony silence.” He has always had a variety of passions: He once wrote a comedy script with Rebecca; he paints well; he makes furniture; and he is a fan of MotoGP, the competitive motorcycle tournament. But he also has a deep love of film, and it is hard to imagine that he will not continue to contribute to movies in some way.

[Drenk]

"Not wanting to see the film is connected to the decision I’ve made to stop working as an actor. But it’s not why the sadness came to stay. That happened during the telling of the story, and I don’t really know why.”

I should not hang in the Spoilers thread but...whaaaat? I don't know if he hates the movie or if it overwhelmed him. It was weird at the last Q&A the way he kept repeating how awful shooting the movie was.

[wilberfan]

I know you guys get this, but this is something I constantly have to explain to the great-unwashed about PTA's films:

Phantom Thread is one of the most beguiling portrayals of fashion in the history of film, but in the end, it’s not a film about fashion.

"But Boogie Nights is not about porn.  There Will Be Blood is not about the oil industry.  The Master is not about Scientology..."


Back to Phantom Thread for a second.  SPOILER

I was just meditating when the following thought wafted by:   The driving scenes in Phantom Thread had a very 40's/50's look about them.  There's one especially driving down a dark lane with the shrubbery on either side illuminated rather awkwardly (so we can see the car).  Very much reminded me of all of those rear-screen projections from the era of Rebecca, etc.    I can only hope it was a deliberate attempt to invoke that period of film making.   

And have we discussed Reynolds' aggressive style of driving yet?   I'm taking it as a 'release' for him.  A way to (unconsciously?) blow off the contained, controlled environment of the House of Woodcock.  Other thoughts?

[Vicko99]

I read on twitter that the ending is a direct homage to blood meridian . Can someone spoil it for me, I'm not watching this until march

[jenkins]

spoiler: it's not a direct homage to Blood Meridian.

[csage97]

I know you guys get this, but this is something I constantly have to explain to the great-unwashed about PTA's films:

Phantom Thread is one of the most beguiling portrayals of fashion in the history of film, but in the end, it’s not a film about fashion.

"But Boogie Nights is not about porn.  There Will Be Blood is not about the oil industry.  The Master is not about Scientology..."


Back to Phantom Thread for a second.  SPOILER

I was just meditating when the following thought wafted by:   The driving scenes in Phantom Thread had a very 40's/50's look about them.  There's one especially driving down a dark lane with the shrubbery on either side illuminated rather awkwardly (so we can see the car).  Very much reminded me of all of those rear-screen projections from the era of Rebecca, etc.    I can only hope it was a deliberate attempt to invoke that period of film making.   

And have we discussed Reynolds' aggressive style of driving yet?   I'm taking it as a 'release' for him.  A way to (unconsciously?) blow off the contained, controlled environment of the House of Woodcock.  Other thoughts?

I was thinking this same thing while I was watching the trailer. There's that quick shot in which DDL and Vickey Krieps are driving in a car. Totally Hitchcock vibes to it ... and the score over top is bliss.

[eward]

Some sadly lo-res snaps from the DGA screening:

[modage]

I read on twitter that the ending is a direct homage to blood meridian . Can someone spoil it for me, I'm not watching this until march

In regards to thematically similar films (and potential but unconfirmed influences):

936062289568059392[/tweet]]@NickNewman: They said “art house 50 Shades of Grey” because they haven’t seen La Belle Noiseuse, Buñuel’s Diary of a Chambermaid or The Heartbreak Kid.