"The Phantom Sewer": Be a prisoner for two hours
Author: Liu Zhengyi, Critic of Shadow Eater
First of all, the author believes that the nature of the film has been misled by publicity to a certain extent. At first glance from the trailer and publicity, "The Phantom of the Seamstress" looks like another tender story of the upper class in the West, and another story about the solipsism feeling out of the grip of culture. This is indeed the case. The film can Summarized as a love story between an old man and a maid, it sounds very clichéd. However, this film is a fascinating filming of clichéd story frames. In terms of film art, rhythm, concept, and acting, the film will never disappoint. After all, it is another collaboration between Paul Thomas Anderson and Daniel Day Lewis following the epic film "The Blood Is Coming". So, don't miss this possibly the best film of the end of 2017 because of the clichés on the outside.
There is always a cynical villain in Paul Thomas Anderson's (PTA) movie roles, such as the oil tycoon in "Blood is Coming", the playboy in "Boogie Nights", and the anti-social personality in "The Master." Those with social disabilities in "Private Love Disorder", etc. So from the beginning of the film, I was looking forward to the PTA-style rebellious characters and some signs of breaking the genre of the Western bourgeoisie in the film. Sure enough, Anderson didn't let me down. After the first 30 minutes, the film finally entered the topic.
This time, PTA wrote an atypical social role as usual. The Woodcock couturier, starred by Daniel Day Lewis, is a passive, closed, and extremely self-conscious workaholic. He even looks like a king in a fashionable castle. The story isolates it from outside interference. What we know is the image of Woodcock's top clothing designer who is praised by the media and respected by relatives, friends and servants.
Interestingly, the inspiration for the script comes from when PTA was taken care of by his wife when he was ill at home, he suddenly thought of an extreme love relationship that could be based on a mental illness similar to Mengchosen. Therefore, most of the film content this time gave up the way PTA excels in the development of the relationship between the role and the environment, and put the relationship in the character psychology, and transferred the relationship between the role and the social confrontation to the emotional battle between Woodcock and Alma. , Choice, fascination and possession in love work.
The dynamic relationship of character emotions and harmful masculinity are the focus of many articles analyzing films. These are very dramatic and social analysis angles. But for me, what impressed me was the suffocation that the film brought to people. The New York Times commented on the film as "Claustrophobic Elegance", pointing out that the film has the elegant nature of claustrophobic fear. But how is this psychological symptom used to describe the sealed space reflected in the film? First of all, it is worth acknowledging that elegance itself is scary.
In the context of the film, the British fashion industry in the 1950s developed very well. The transformation of women's status after the war and art cultures such as rock and Hollywood promoted the trend of luxury and elegance. The rise of the noble style made the clothes of that era elegant and aggressive.
In the story of the film, the clothing element transcends the elegance of art and material and becomes a kind of hegemony of qualifications. For example, because Alma and Woodcock couldn't stand the ugliness of the wearer, they rushed into Mrs. Rose's room and took off the green evening gown they designed for her. Woodcock's clothing represents a kind of aptitude, self-confident, noble, elegant and charming authentication identity. When Mrs. Rose did not show the ability to control, the false mask would be withdrawn at any time. This right of owner’s recall, men’s desire to control and suppress women’s beauty, and the masculine dominance that invades Mrs. Rose’s private space represent that the works designed and produced by Woodcock are private and affirmed by cultural leaders. , Hegemony wrapped up by elegance. Of course, being enveloped by hegemony can be disturbing.
Moreover, the expensive and arrogant manners and manners and manners of the upper class have also pushed the sense of elegance to the peak. Just like when Alma was tired of Woodcock's fancy English aristocratic manners and cold command attitude, finally couldn't bear to twist his face and say "I'm sick of your game!" and the opposite Woodcock responded indifferently, "What game What precisely is the nature of my game?" This invisible noble wording consciousness is unconscious, irreversible, and driving people crazy. The elegance that permeated the words was as invisible and intangible as Woodcock's affectionate and stubborn name strip sewed on the inner wall of the fabric, but it was always there, making Alma jealous and uneasy. This kind of class pressure restrains the audience from breathing, and it is undoubtedly claustrophobic and frightening.
From the perspective of film art, the claustrophobia presented by the film is not only produced by elegance, but also by audiovisual aspects. Close-ups, faces, props, etc. are used extensively in the film. It not only observes the facial changes of the actors very closely, but also shields off things outside the painting. In film art, the use of the frame is followed by the imagination of things outside the frame. Long close-up shots prevent the viewer’s freedom of perception in other spaces, and some close-up shots that exceed the length of the audience’s expectations imprison the audience in a very small frame. Instinctively, the audience will feel uneasy, and this feeling is in line with the style of the film. This kind of mutual control, imprisoned for love, and even selfish love at the expense of poisoning, is not the bondage itself. Regardless of the expression of possessiveness or the use of close-up shots, the essence is the framework of claustrophobic fear.
The aural style is the same. Whether it is the silence of the breakfast scene or the silence in the close-up, the film has always been silent. This silence is like violence, pressing the audience into the water and disconnecting the audience from the outside world. It makes people feel suffocated and scared. Not only they want to escape but can’t escape, but they are drawn closer and closer by the close-up shots, making people desperate and helpless. , Claustrophobic. At the end of the film, the confrontation scene at the dining table replaced silence with music. There were few close-ups of dialogue and silence, and the stare outside the painting pushed the atmosphere to a climax. Then when Woodcock broke the silence and said the most memorable line in the film, everything was finally released from the claustrophobia. It can be said that the director's use of indoor space distance and sound is undoubtedly a master.
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