One certainly won’t be bothered by a little less latex clothing (or no latex at all) if Daniel Day-Lewis is on screen. The trailer for his latest (and supposedly his last) film, “Phantom Thread” sees the enigmatic actor pairing once again with director Paul Thomas Anderson. The trailer for this period sartorial romance dropped just this week and as always with a PTA film, people are already talking Oscar, as much wondering what the movie is about.
What is known from the film’s tagline is that Phantom Thread is Set in the glamour of 1950s post-war London, renowned dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) are at the center of British fashion, dressing royalty, movie stars, heiresses, socialites, debutants and dames with the distinct style of The House of Woodcock. Women come and go through Woodcock’s life, providing the confirmed bachelor with inspiration and companionship, until he comes across a young, strong-willed woman, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who soon becomes a fixture in his life as his muse and lover. Once controlled and planned, he finds his carefully tailored life disrupted by love.
From the trailer it does seem we are in a sumptuous haute couture setting, with lots of lavish costumes, some heavy drama and the movie centering around another deeply complex character as realized by Lewis. The “My Left Foot,” “Lincoln,” and “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” star (this last film realizing a nearly fetishistic fashion use of a black derby hat) has collaborated already with Paul Thomas Anderson on “There Will be Blood,” and the two men do seem to make some startling films together.
That “The Phantom Thread” takes place in the world of fashion and is a period piece makes those of us who salivate over costume designs even more rabid to see this movie which comes out on Christmas Day.
