Blu-ray Review Phantom Thread Blu-ray Review - Recommended (1 Viewer)

[Kevin EK]

Kevin EK

Phantom Thread Blu-ray Review - Recommended

Phantom Thread stitches some fine performances into the fabric on Blu-ray .



[review]

 

[Mark VH]

Nice review for the best film of 2017. Have the Blu on my shelf and am now just trying to carve out some time to watch.

 

[Ushabye]

I agree with everything in this review, except your take on THE MASTER, which I think still stands as Anderson's greatest picture to date. Having projected both films multiple times in 70mm helped colour my opinion. I haven't seen either on Bluray yet. I wonder if one plays better than the other on the smaller screen?

 

[filmnoirguy]

Nice review for the best film of 2017. Have the Blu on my shelf and am now just trying to carve out some time to watch.

Good to know someone else thinks it's the best picture of 2017. I plan to buy the Blu-ray myself. Cheers~~

 

[Mark VH]

Good to know someone else thinks it's the best picture of 2017. I plan to buy the Blu-ray myself. Cheers~~

Nothing I saw from the last year comes close, really.

 

[Bryan^H]

My UHD copy arrives tomorrow. I can't wait to see it.

 

[The Drifter]

Saw The Phantom Thread on Blu earlier this year. Huge fan of PTA's films, but wasn't sure I would like this due to the subject matter about a dressmaker in 1950's UK. However, at it's core - this was a very well-done & disturbing film about a truly sick & emotionally dependent relationship.

Spoiler: SPOILER

My impression here was that the DDL character was literally being poisoned by his new wife, in order for her to exhibit some kind of control over him - i.e., after his getting sick she would then nurse him back to health. And, then the process would start again. Making this even more twisted, he actually seemed to be aware of what was happening here - and let it continue.

 

[Mark VH]

Saw The Phantom Thread on Blu earlier this year. Huge fan of PTA's films, but wasn't sure I would like this due to the subject matter about a dressmaker in 1950's UK. However, at it's core - this was a very well-done & disturbing film about a truly sick & emotionally dependent relationship.

Spoiler: SPOILER

My impression here was that the DDL character was literally being poisoned by his new wife, in order for her to exhibit some kind of control over him - i.e., after his getting sick she would then nurse him back to health. And, then the process would start again. Making this even more twisted, he actually seemed to be aware of what was happening here - and let it continue.

Alternate take: It's a romantic comedy that says, at the end of the day, that all relationships are on some level sick and twisted and being in one means being able to accept the quirks, tics and foibles of someone who at heart is a completely different person from you.

Spoiler: SPOILER

In this case, DDL's "quirk" is that he has serious, bizarre mommy issues (this is clear in the first five minutes of the movie) and needs his lover to effectively become his mommy. It's his "love language." At first Alma fails to understand the depth of his psychosis and tries to love him on her terms - cooking him a nice dinner, which would delight most other men, when this is clearly the last thing on earth he wants - but eventually she realizes how to love him by poisoning him so she can nurse him back to health as his mother would (note that after she does this the first time is when he asks her to marry him). At this point their relationship reaches a happy, mutual understanding.

Gosh, I just adore this movie.

 

[Kevin EK]

I have to agree with both of you. I hadn't made all the connections that Mark did, but they are totally valid.

Spoiler

Reynolds is completely aware of what Alma is doing to/for him. He wants her to do it. In fact, he loves her for doing it.
We may look it this as completely twisted - I mean, she's POISONING HIM!!!! - but as my friend repeated to me recently, "Hey, that's their game. It works for them."
My ultimate reaction was to throw up my hands - I figured these people deserve each other for better or worse. At least Cyril doesn't have to deal with him on her own, right?

 

[lark144]

I must say that I saw this film the day it opened in 70mm, and loved it, but if I had seen those two descriptions above that are not hidden by the spoiler icon, I probably wouldn't have seen it at all. While, yes, in a very vague and general way the two gentlemen above are certainly correct, that's really not what Phantom Thread is about at all, at least from my perspective. It's just an amazing wonderful film on every level, and everyone should see it, and I think the less one knows, the better their experience of the film will be, because at least for me, it took me to places I had no expectations of going. Every time I see it, it's a completely different experience and seems like a completely different film. There's so much in it, and so many reasons to go.

 

[Keith Cobby]

I must say that I saw this film the day it opened in 70mm, and loved it, but if I had seen those two descriptions above that are not hidden by the spoiler icon, I probably wouldn't have seen it at all. While, yes, in a very vague and general way the two gentlemen above are certainly correct, that's really not what Phantom Thread is about at all, at least from my perspective. It's just an amazing wonderful film on every level, and everyone should see it, and I think the less one knows, the better their experience of the film will be, because at least for me, it took me to places I had no expectations of going. Every time I see it, it's a completely different experience and seems like a completely different film. There's so much in it, and so many reasons to go.

Thanks for your comments. I had been undecided about this film but will now get the 4k disc.

 

[lark144]

Thanks for your comments. I had been undecided about this film but will now get the 4k disc.

I hope you'll like it. Though I have the 4k, I don't have a set-up yet, so I watched it in Blu, which is lovely. Seeing the thing in 70mm was really awesome, as this is a stunningly lit film, and watching the light interact with the grain was kind of a religious experience for me. The story is told through the way he uses light, so the grain is really very important to the themes and story of the film at large. The light changes, or is directed in a different way, and as a viewer you realize something about the characters and the situation they are in they haven't figured out yet.

 

[bujaki]

It's a masterful film. The lead performances are etched in my mind. BTW, this is also a comedy of manners.

 

[Worth]

The film had a handful of 70mm prints, but it was shot in 35.

 

[Mark VH]

I have to agree with both of you. I hadn't made all the connections that Mark did, but they are totally valid.

Spoiler

Reynolds is completely aware of what Alma is doing to/for him. He wants her to do it. In fact, he loves her for doing it.
We may look it this as completely twisted - I mean, she's POISONING HIM!!!! - but as my friend repeated to me recently, "Hey, that's their game. It works for them."
My ultimate reaction was to throw up my hands - I figured these people deserve each other for better or worse. At least Cyril doesn't have to deal with him on her own, right?

It’s one of the most sneaky profound (and hilarious) movies about marriage I’ve ever seen and I love it so much for that. I honestly think marriage counselors would do well to show it to (open-minded) couples.

Spoiler

“Are you an agent sent here to ruin my evening and possibly my entire life?” doubles as being both riotously funny and also maybe the most honest line about marriage I’ve ever heard in a movie.

 

[Mark VH]

It's a masterful film. The lead performances are etched in my mind. BTW, this is also a comedy of manners.

Yes! Honestly it gets funnier every time I see it, and I laughed really hard the first time.