I’m no expert on the movie industry, but I can’t imagine it would have been easy to get the green light to fund a film about the life of a dress maker in 1950s London (although a dressmaker to royalty and the civilian elite; this character is said to be based on a composite of a couple of dressmakers from that era), most impressively played by Daniel Day-Lewis (in his self-declared last film role). He plays a distinctly unpleasant, neurotic, narcissistic and pompous man, who likes to control everyone and everything in his orbit, although that is tough to do with his tough-minded sister (a great performance by Lesley Manville), who runs the business. But his budding relationship with his newest muse, a much younger waitress (a terrific Vicky Krieps) he meets in a restaurant one day, changes his (and her) life in ways he couldn’t have imagined. Although gorgeous to look at, this film is really all about the acting, and watching how Day-Lewis and Krieps’ relationship evolves over time, sometimes in disturbing ways, is what may keep you glued to the screen. I didn’t expect to appreciate the film as much as I did.
