At the turn of 2018 and 2019, The Phantom Seamstress was released in Europe and North America. Although the film was not widely publicized before its release, it was still very popular with fans and won six Oscar nominations: original music, costume design, best actor, best picture, best director, and best supporting actress. To this day, the costume design and thrilling love in this movie still make the audience relish it. Among them, the costume design makes this film a must-see film for the majority of girls to improve their clothing and aesthetics.
The film tells the strange love story between the haute couture designer Reynolds and his muse Irma in London in the 1950s, in which the two grop each other, and finally Irma even wants to get love, and Reynolds is willing to be poisoned by each other in order to feel love. It is said that love is long-term endurance, but the film boldly shows the selfishness and possession in love, and more focusedly describes the love confrontation and game between Reynolds and Irma.
People in sadomasochism may feel the same way: the love between the two is like poison, but the male and female protagonists are willing to drink and quench their thirst. Love is trust and possession, so the male protagonist Reynolds will sew the secret in each neon coat, and the heroine will study "Mushroom Toxicology" to go up the mountain to pick mushrooms, cook mushrooms with dishes, and cook them for each other to eat.
In addition, there are a large number of fashion custom house scenes and a considerable scale of custom clothing in the film. In addition to the catwalk in the film and the costumes designed for the rich wives, the costumes worn by the male protagonist Reynolds, the female protagonist Irma, and the supporting actress Cyril in receiving guests, banquets, work, and life silently affect the audience's aesthetics and the credibility of the characters from the texture, cut, and collocation.
Today we will take an in-depth analysis of this film from the perspective of costume design and the love between Reynolds and Irma. See why The Phantom Seamstress has become the most exquisite and extravagant of all of director Paul Thomas Anderson's films.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the golden age of fashion history, a fashion carnival brewed by a needle and a thread</h1>
Before "The Phantom Sewer", director Paul Thomas Anderson had never dabbled in fashion films, but the film critics were particularly accurate and elegant to restore the London of the 1950s, whether from the mansion or the dignitaries, they were very mainstream and high-end, allowing the audience to truly appreciate the fashion culture of the 50s of the last century.
The film is the work of daniel day lewis, the "king of acting", in which Lewis plays a mid-century London fashion designer named Reynolds Woodcock. In order to play this role well, Lewis went to New York to study costume design for a year, which is why in the film, Lewis can use his textbook acting skills to print the image of the fashion designer of the 1950s in the hearts of the audience.
The film's costume director, Mark Bridges, is also very professional, and he has said that he is very interested in the costume design of the period drama. Before shooting the film, he had studied all the research done by director Anderson, so that the costumes were integrated into the film, so that the costumes also had the ability to tell stories.
Starting with the male protagonist Reynolds's studio "The House of Woodcock", costume director Briggis, director Anderson and actor Lewis have studied and discussed together.
In The House of Woodcock's house, the male protagonist lives and works in it. This house, which was both a show and a battlefield, gathered the upper-class celebrities of that era. In the society at that time, fashion designers could use their surname to name fashion house, which was the highest honor and dream. The House of Woodcock's design style uses rich colors, plenty of lace and heavy Parisian design style, which is a comfortable echo of the spring costume launch in the film.
The design of the male protagonist's Reynolds does not cater to customers, there is a print design, but it is all black print, not too flashy, but includes a wealth of materials and colors. To this day, this design principle is still used in haute couture clothing. In addition, the film also fully presents the structure, internal stitching, manual techniques, and material use of haute couture clothing, so that the audience has a certain understanding of Couture.
And every change in the costume of the heroine Irma also left a deep impression on the audience. The director seems to be telling us step by step that the change of costumes and the change of status are mutually influencing and complementary. The male protagonist Reynolds brings the heroine Irma into high society, and her costumes are constantly trying to adapt to the new environment.
The film culminates in the plot of designing the wedding dress of the royal family, when the male protagonist Reynolds eats a poisoned mushroom and falls in front of the freshly made wedding dress, marking the transformation of the relationship between the male protagonist Reynolds and the heroine Irma, and the sadistic love between Reynolds and Irma begins, shrouded in haute couture costumes that do not eat human fireworks, devouring the hearts of the two people.
Looking back at the real 1950s, many clothing styles are still worth learning from, and it is not an exaggeration to call it the "golden age of fashion". Light designers sprung up, and in 1947, Christine Dior founded The House of Dior in 1947 and began her career as a couture designer with the debut "New Look", under which women all had a relaxed mood and lively sexiness.
Coco Chanel, who focused on haute couture, officially returned in 1954. If Dior emphasizes femininity, chanel is about saving and reinvigorating women's fashion after world war I, and the Boxy Suit is designed with comfort and femininity.
Couture designers of the same period, as well as Cristobal Balenciaga (Balenciaga), Givenchy (Givenchy), etc., in that era, there was a number of dressing goddesses who let posterity imitate punching cards: Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, and the young Empress Elizabeth II...
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > how many games and barriers there are in paranoid love</h1>
In the first hundred minutes of "The Phantom Seamstress", a retro version of the domineering president drama is performed, and from the second half hour, the love between Reynolds and Irma begins to undergo strange mutations. Reynolds, though brilliant, is obsessed with work. In his eyes, work comes first, family comes second, and love comes last. During a fortuitous illness, Irma discovers the state that Reynolds likes: helplessness, dependence. In order to make Reynolds love herself more, she studied mushroom pathology and tried to poison the dish, making Reynolds sick after eating it.
Many viewers think that this feeling is a morbid destruction. But some viewers said that this expressed a kind of love redemption. In fact, in real life love, there is more or less control and attachment, there is no black and white theory, but the film shows this part of the emotion exaggerated and distorted. If we look closely at the details in the film, we will find that it is a dark but warm emotion.
Reynolds grew up and was protected by his sister Cyril, so that he was still sensitive and picky until middle age. Irma also went from surprise at first to disbelief at the back of this state. So, in order to break through this barrier, Irma created the state that made Reynolds like him - the sick Reynolds, helpless, confessed, dependent, and opened her heart to Irma.
And why did Reynolds prefer Irma when he fell ill? Stemming from his youth shadow. After the death of his mother, Reynolds's life was all about making clothes. And at his weakest, he hallucinated, and his beloved mother stood before his eyes. And the way Irma took good care of him also made him confirm his desire for the warmth of human affection. Because of Irma's appearance, he feels that Elma has broken the curse of making a wedding dress for his mother when he was 16 years old, and he believes in love again. So after recovering from his illness, he happily proposed to Irma.
After getting married, Reynolds regretted it. Because Irma was rude and rude, and because he realized that breaking the curse was largely his own psychological factor. He and Irma began a new round of quarrels, and even couldn't help but complain to his sister Cyril, wanting Irma to leave. After a game, the director guides the audience to find that Reynolds's repetition stems from his contradictions. From Reynolds's loss of the countess of his patron, and Cyril's mention of the concept of chic, it can be seen that Reynolds's naturally arrogant personality makes it impossible for him to establish a good relationship with others.
Irma used poisonous mushrooms to bring him down, not only to control him, but also to make him understand that the root of the pain lies in himself, giving him an outlet and a way to attach himself to others. During the second poisoning, Irma said, "I want you to lie quietly, helpless, vulnerable, unreserved, only I will help you, and then I want you to be strong again..."
In this game of love, although it looks morbid and deformed, both people are winners. Because in every "poisoning" and every act of quarrel, both sides have received unique love and redemption. In this process, Irma can better appreciate Reynolds's pickiness and persistence in clothing design and production. And Reynolds also tasted true love—loving each other even more after he knew the ugliness of his lover.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > heroism in love: recognize the truth and ultimately dance together</h1>
Roman Roland once wrote in michelangelo's biography: "There is only one kind of heroism in the world, that is, to love life after recognizing the truth of life." This sentence is also appropriate for the lovers Reynolds and Irma. As mentioned above, Reynolds tasted true love and liked each other even more after knowing Irma's "ugliness". Irma knows that Reynolds is lonely and stubborn, and she is willing to take care of, accompany and wait for him, and this love is romantic and moving.
In this complex world, there are many forms of love, and not everyone is matched with another person. Some people praise goodness, some people prefer evil, some love is deep, and some love is superficial. And Reynolds can make herself vulnerable, and Irma loves each other alone and is willing to be controlled by herself and take care of herself.
In the plot where the heroine Irma is poisoned, people can't help but see that love is selfish. Even if there will be many people arguing whether this is normal love, the director deliberately lets the audience see the subjectivity of love through this strange love. Irma made poisonous mushrooms for Reynolds and didn't want to kill Reynolds. Before cooking, she studied Mushroom Pathology carefully to find mushrooms that were not as toxic, in order to get Reynolds's love. After Reynolds knew the truth, he was willing to eat it, behind the poisonous mushroom, in order to feel the love with Irma.
In the film, the poisonous mushroom is just a catalyst, catalyzing the love between Reynolds and Irma. Love is a glass of wine, and anyone who drinks it must get drunk. The psychedelic nature of love makes people drink and quench their thirst, and makes people lose their minds. Love is trust, but also possession, is a kind of heroism, after recognizing that both sides are unbearable, still willing to dance with each other.