Paul Thomas Anderson Writer/Director
For his first feature to be filmed outside of the United States, Academy Award®-nominated writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson turns to the world of dressmaking in postwar London, reteaming with his There Will Be Blood star Daniel Day-Lewis for a tumultuous and elegant gothic romance that is unlike anything in the filmmaker's wildly eclectic canon. Focusing on fictional couturier Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis), Phantom Thread unfurls as a love story between a master creator and his muse, whom the confirmed bachelor discovers during a weekend getaway in the English countryside. Co-starring Vicky Krieps as Alma and Lesley Manville, playing Woodcock's formidable sister Cyril, Anderson's eighth feature is awash in complex entanglements, meticulous detail and opulent atmosphere and decor.
Anderson, whose most recent work includes music videos for HAIM and Radiohead as well as the 2015 music documentary Junun, had little interest in dressmaking or fashion history — until he began thinking about clothing after finishing production on his 2014 feature Inherent Vice. Some months later, as he was heading out to an event with frequent collaborator and Junun subject Jonny Greenwood, Anderson received a compliment from the musician on the cut of his suit. "He said something sarcastic to the effect of, Look at you, Beau Brummell," says Anderson. "I had to look the name up. I wanted to know more."
As his interest in fashion grew, Anderson discovered the life and work of Spanish couturier Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895-1972), whose collections were internationally renowned for their iconic lacework, innovative cutting and shapely elegance. Immersing himself in Mary Blume's biography, The Master of Us All: Balenciaga, His Workrooms, His World, the writer-director became fascinated with the designer's monastic life and all-consuming approach to dressmaking, which dovetailed with Hollywood's Golden Age and the New Look in Paris, centering on Christian Dior and his reinvention of the female silhouette.
With his handsome, angular features, Balenciaga also reminded Anderson of his There Will Be Blood star Daniel Day-Lewis, with whom he was eager to reunite for another project. "Daniel is so handsome, but we made a film together in which he was rather ugly in terms of character and setting," says Anderson. "I started thinking how I could make him more handsome, seeing how fashionable he was in his everyday life, and knowing well his love for clothing and grooming and making things with his hands." As a major Hollywood star who also happens to be trained shoemaker, Day-Lewis perfectly encapsulated the writer-director's burgeoning interest in Balenciaga.
Anderson was also enamored with midcentury glamour and the gothic romance — specifically Hitchcock's Rebecca. He had already been thinking about a triangular dynamic for his next feature, comprising a man, a woman and his sister. "I was looking for the perfect venue for a story like this," says Anderson. "I wanted a setting that was high-class with characters immersed in finery — a world that could accommodate a gothic romance."
With Day-Lewis intrigued about the project, Anderson and his star became devoted students of haute couture, learning everything they could about Balenciaga and his contemporaries, including British-born designer Charles James, who became a master cutter after relocating to Chicago at the age of 19, and Dior, who revolutionized female dressing around midcentury. They studied the artistic temperament of contemporary figures like Alexander McQueen, who early in his career wove defiant and lascivious messages into the suits and dresses he made for prominent clients including Prince Charles.
"After the war, there were two parallel worlds of couture, one in Paris, which was the dominant world — the New Look — but there were plenty of other designers forging their way in London," says Day-Lewis "It felt right somehow that our work should reflect the history of England and the fabrics that came from the British Isles, which are extraordinary. The tailors and dressmakers are still making these garments, and they are beautiful. Every season when the fabrics arrive, they look at the fabrics, feel them, smell them, and make designs from them. There was something fascinating to us about the idea of England emerging from the war years, amid austerity."
Narrowing their focus, the duo studied classic English tailoring, in particular the London couture houses that employed lesser-known craftsmen like Digby Morton, Peter Russell, Hardy Amies, John Cavenagh and Michael Donéllan in the years following World War II. While Paris was the epicenter of haute couture at midcentury, London was its more understated cousin, emphasizing the Savile Row tradition of bespoke tailoring. In contrast to the big houses like Dior, which employed hundreds of workers, the London houses were small, family-owned enterprises frequently run by male and female sibling duos. Creators like Amies and Morton started as apprentices and rose through the ranks to become head designers who at the height of their power dressed royals, aristocrats, socialites and luminaries of stage and screen. "In the world I was learning about, a lot of the head designers had sisters who ran the business," says Anderson. "This includes Amies in the earlier decades of the last century and Valentino and Versace in the present day."
For a native Californian whose work has become synonymous with the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, Anderson was also keen on making a movie set in London — his first ever production outside of America. Day-Lewis for his part was eager to play another Englishman, having built his career in classic British works like My Beautiful Launderette (1986) and My Left Foot (1989), for which he won his first Oscar playing the writer and artist Christy Brown. For the last few years, Day-Lewis has played American characters, including the rapacious oilman Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood and the 16th President of the United States in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, for which the actor won two more Oscars.
During their extended stay in London, in which they frequently exchanged volumes on fashion and art in between visits to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where they studied vintage gowns by the likes of Balenciaga and Charles James, Anderson and Day-Lewis came to conceive the fictional couturier known as Reynolds Woodcock.
Official Trailer: Phantom Thread
Official Trailer: Phantom Thread
Jonny Greenwood’s Golden Globe–Nominated Score to Paul Thomas Anderson’s "Phantom Thread” Available for Purchase on Nonesuch
One of the best pictures of the year
A masterpiece
Phantom Thread is absolutely intoxicating
Paul Thomas Anderson Writer/Director
Clip: "My Own Taste"
Daniel Day-Lewis as Reynolds Woodcock
Vicky Krieps as Alma Elson
How Phantom Thread Became the Year’s Best Dressed Movie
Lesley Manville as Cyril Woodcock
Wildly inventive and perversely funny
Pure delicious pleasure
Daniel Day-Lewis is a master of his craft
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps) embrace after the party
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps) enjoy a meal overlooking the water
Alma (Vicky Krieps) prepares to model a black dress with amber accents and pearls
Vicky Krieps as Alma Elson
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) works on the sleeves of his latest dress
The best film of the year
Manville is a force of nature
Phantom Thread is absolutely intoxicating
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps) walk down a staircase
Newcomer Vicky Krieps on starring opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in 'Phantom Thread'
Alma (Vicky Krieps) embraces Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis)
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) opens the car door for Alma (Vicky Krieps)
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps) hold hands on the hillside
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) tailors Alma’s (Vicky Krieps) white dress
Alma (Vicky Krieps) models a sage green dress
Alma (Vicky Krieps) models a red dress with white lace
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis), Alma (Vicky Krieps) and Cyril (Lesley Manville) share a meal together
A wedding dress is examined
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Alma (Vicky Krieps) share a moment
Alma (Vicky Krieps) visits Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his workshop
A model walks down the runway in a red dress
Alma (Vicky Krieps) models a black and bronze dress
A model walks down the runway in a black dress with blue accents
Alma (Vicky Krieps) pours tea while Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) sketches
Alma (Vicky Krieps) models for a photoshoot
Clip: "Confirmed Bachelor"
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) peers through an eye hole
Cyril (Lesley Manville) peers across the room
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) examines his work
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) sizes the dress
Mark Bridges Costume Designer
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) carefully prepares fabric
Costume Featurette
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) lays out the fabric for a new dress
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) seeks inspiration in the mountains
Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) in his studio