Phantom Thread
Short description
Set in 1950s London, Phantom Thread centres on Reynolds Woodcock, a celebrated couturier whose house dresses royalty, film stars and wealthy society women. A confirmed bachelor with a rigid, carefully ordered routine, he shares his work and his household with his sister Cyril, who manages both the business and his daily life. That order is disturbed when he meets Alma, a young woman who becomes first his muse and then his lover. Strong-willed and unwilling to remain merely an object of inspiration, she pushes against the controlled existence he has built around himself, and their relationship unsettles the habits of a man who has always dictated the terms of his own world.
Paul Thomas Anderson wrote, directed and produced the film, the tenth of fifteen features he has directed in chronological order, following Junun and preceding Anima. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Reynolds, with Vicky Krieps as Alma and Lesley Manville as Cyril; the cast also includes Camilla Rutherford, Gina McKee and Brian Gleeson, among fifty-nine credited performers, with 116 credited crew.
Released in December 2017, the film is a British, Chinese and American co-production made for about 35 million dollars, and it took roughly 48 million dollars worldwide, a modest return against its cost. Audiences rate it 7.4 out of 10 on IMDb from around 161,000 votes and 7.3 out of 10 on TMDB from some 3,900 votes, while critics were notably warmer, giving it 8.5 out of 10 across 360 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Some episodes of the film were shot in villages near the town of Whitby in North Yorkshire, on the east coast of England.
- The film is dedicated to Jonathan Demme. He was an American director, screenwriter, and producer, a good friend and mentor to Paul Thomas Anderson. He passed away from cancer on April 26, 2017, at the age of 73.
- Reynolds Woodcock was modeled after Basque fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (1895-1972).
- The screenplay was written by Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day-Lewis.
- Daniel Day-Lewis and Lesley Manville became friends six months before filming began, but often had to communicate only via text message, as he lived either in Ireland or New York, while she lived in London.
- The idea for the film came to director Paul Thomas Anderson while he was ill and his wife, Maya Rudolph, was caring for him. One day, she looked at him in such a way that he suddenly realized he hadn't noticed such love and tenderness in her gaze for a long time.
- The roles of employees at the Woodcock fashion house, as well as other minor roles, were played by real seamstresses and other professionals connected to the fashion world. Joan Brown and Sue Clark, for example, are genuine tailors. Amber Brabant, Geneva Corlett, and Cecil Van Dijk are costume designers, and Georgia Campbell is a textile artist.
- To prepare for the role, Daniel Day-Lewis reviewed chronicles of fashion shows from the 1940s and 1950s, studied the work of famous designers, consulted with specialists at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and also worked with Mark Happe from the New York City Ballet. He even learned to sew.
- Wicki Krieps met Daniel Day-Lewis only on the set. It is known that while working on a film, Day-Lewis always tries to stay in character even off-set, so Krieps was strictly instructed not to address him as anything other than 'Reynolds' until filming was completed. Even afterwards, during numerous interviews, the actress repeatedly referred to him as 'Reynolds' out of habit.
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