The story is set in 1950's London where a designer named Reynolds (Day-Lewis) works at one of the prominent fashion houses in the city. We can imagine him going head-to-head with Burberry and the like. He designs women's dresses and high fashion out of his impressive house alongside his business partner and sister, Cyril (Lesley Manville). It's a small operation. Reynolds designs, a team of women create the garments in the upstairs workshop, and the high society shoppers visit the home in private sessions to select looks for balls, galas, weddings, etc. The relationship between Cyril and Reynolds is immediately a curious one, and it's coupled with the man's obsession with his long-deceased mother who began him in the world of fashion.
There is a beautiful woman who stays with them, a woman who appears to be Reynold's girlfriend. When this ends in a mutual agreement between brother and sister, Reynolds takes a trip to the countryside to clear his mind and return to his creation. There he meets a timid waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps), who is rosy-cheeked and undeniably lovely. It's a quick infatuation in a memorable scene in which Reynolds orders a large breakfast. I can still remember his order, and I don't know why... The way the lines are delivered, or maybe it's because the food speaks to something much deeper. The two begin an affair, one that slowly began to baffle me as a viewer and made me wonder whether or not this man is capable of love at all. Maybe to him, Alma is simply a muse - a toy he can collect to get his fill.
The film takes a dreamlike approach to the material. We build up the repetition of Reynold's life and the habits he is accustomed to. Like a classic film like "Rebecca," this movie is about a naive woman who comes into a home and throws it off-kilter... Breakfast is to be served in absolute silence. Reynolds has a habit of wearing pink socks. He greets his clients at the top of the stairs with a kiss on each cheek. Anderson has a very clever way to tell the audience who this man is without really telling us anything. Through visuals and this ever-moving camera, we begin to know the man and realize that he is quite literally an enigma.
I loved this movie for its lush colors, all the more prevalent in the 70mm screening I saw at my local theater. I doubt a film could look as beautiful if filmed digitally, and the results here are spectacular. The green walls of the dining room, Cyril's piercing blue eyes... The colors of a pale pink dress... As much praise, if not more, must go to costume designer Mark Bridges (he won the Oscar for his work on "The Artist"). From scene to scene, there is not a repeated dress, and some of the designs we see are literally breathtaking. I imagine all the detail and craft that went into that particular pink dress with lace, built up by Reynold's in the film as a high-fashion collection of rare cloths, and then only seen in the film for maybe 20 seconds... There isn't an aspect of this film that is subpar. (High praise also to Johnny Greenwood, our composer, who creates piano compositions that you can't believe are original pieces written specifically for this film).
Our story takes quite a turn in the last half, twists that you might not anticipate from the mysterious trailer or plot summary. It involves Alma as a cook, Reynolds as a man of habit, betrayal, and passion. I can imagine many audience members being put off by such a turn, and I promise that many will find the last 10 to 15 minutes of the film preposterous. I admit that even I was at a loss as the film's credits began to scroll, and then I thought on Reynolds and his mother... In this character, Daniel Day-Lewis plays a man obsessed with a powerful woman who guided his hand, and then in death left him feeling incomplete as to how to live on. Women (besides his sister) seem to be pawns in a game that he does not fully understand. What actions Alma takes - and when he discovers the secret, seems to answer that deeper mystery the entire film seems to revolve around. And maybe it all concludes on little more than some sort of erotic act of sadism, but in the end, that's the only logical conclusion I could find. If you find the ending upsetting, think on it a bit. For every flaw you may find in this marvelous picture, I promise I can find 3 more aspects that will make you say "wow."
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