Phantom Thomas Anderson or Phantom Thread Trailer Drops

Here’s our first look at Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film Phantom Thread, and really nothing that I write from here on will be that surprising. The film looks fantastic. Daniel Day Lewis is going to win another Academy Award. It’s not really clear exactly what the film could have in store for us…etc…etc.

PTA is certainly not a director that I can really pin down, in regards to what I will be getting into when I first watch one of his films. For example, I drove a day and a half to go see The Master in 70mm, only to then get a film that while shot in 65mm, isn’t utilizing the full 2:20:1 aspect ratio that it could have. Of course, the film still looked gorgeous projected in 70mm, but it wasn’t what I expected. Even with Inherent Vice, a film I felt I was prepared for, since I had read Thomas Pynchon’s original novel, didn’t work for me on a first viewing (and was the film that has put a stop to me watching screeners). So, I see this trailer, I am hooked because it is selling an intriguing looking film, made by a master director, but I really don’t know what I’ll be getting when I stroll into the theatre.

The thing that sticks out to me the most from the trailer, is the look of the film. This is one of only two films of PTA’s that Robert Elswit is not the director of photography on. Phantom Thread has PTA himself stepping behind the camera for the first time, and the other film is The Master, which Mihai Mălaimare Jr. worked on. Now, I’m not meaning to start any conspiracy theories, or put down Mălaimare Jr.’s work, but Phantom Thread and The Master look very similar visually, and this has me thinking that maybe Phantom Thread isn’t the first time that PTA has stepped behind the camera to shoot a film. Looking at Mălaimare Jr.’s filmography, he did some good work with Francis Ford Coppola, but The Master is clearly a major stand out in regards to quality when looking at his entire body of work. So, maybe Mălaimare Jr. was credited, but PTA was pulling a Spielberg on Poltergeist kind of thing? Who knows, and I likely never find out, so I’ll just leave this thought here.

Phantom Thread is out Christmas Day in limited release stateside, and likely going wide in early 2018.