There is so much I would
like to write about “The Dressmaker” movie, but I’m limiting myself to four
topics and trying to avoid spoilers. I hope, in time, “The Dressmaker” becomes
an iconic movie because it deserves to be remembered for its,
♥ gothic-like tragic plot,
♥ the
great cast of actresses and actors who played some odd characters,
♥ the
fabulous 1950’s costumes,
♥ and the appealing
cinematography.
The Story Rundown,
according to the book…
“The Dressmaker” movie was based on a novel of the same name which was written by Rosalie Ham and first published in 2000. It has been a long wait for the book to transfer to the big screen but I’m glad the story made it.
The Paperback Blurb from
Amazon.com goes like this,
“A darkly satirical novel
of love, revenge, and 1950s haute couture—soon to be a major motion picture
starring Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth
After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child. She plans only to check on her ailing mother and leave. But Tilly decides to stay, and though she is still an outcast, her lush, exquisite dresses prove irresistible to the prim women of Dungatar. Through her fashion business, her friendship with Sergeant Farrat—the town’s only policeman, who harbors an unusual passion for fabrics—and a budding romance with Teddy, the local football star whose family is almost as reviled as hers, she finds a measure of grudging acceptance. But as her dresses begin to arouse competition and envy in town, causing old resentments to surface, it becomes clear that Tilly’s mind is set on a darker design: exacting revenge on those who wronged her, in the most spectacular fashion.”
After twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child. She plans only to check on her ailing mother and leave. But Tilly decides to stay, and though she is still an outcast, her lush, exquisite dresses prove irresistible to the prim women of Dungatar. Through her fashion business, her friendship with Sergeant Farrat—the town’s only policeman, who harbors an unusual passion for fabrics—and a budding romance with Teddy, the local football star whose family is almost as reviled as hers, she finds a measure of grudging acceptance. But as her dresses begin to arouse competition and envy in town, causing old resentments to surface, it becomes clear that Tilly’s mind is set on a darker design: exacting revenge on those who wronged her, in the most spectacular fashion.”
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The first topic I would
like to make some comments about is how the hero and heroine of the movie are treated as outcasts
in the small community of Dungatar.
The Outcasts
Teddy (played by Liam
Hemsworth) lives with his family in a ramshackle humpy on the outskirts of the
town of Dungatar. The humpy looks like an accumulation of bits and pieces (junk?) they’ve salvaged from all over the countryside.
His family is poor and his siblings seem a little bit wild or strange. His bedroom is a small caravan.
Teddy
doesn’t seem to have any worldly wealth and perhaps reflects that post-war era
when people were short of material possessions.
Tilly’s mother lives in an
unkempt timber house on the hill that overlooks Dungatar. I think she is
shunned by the townspeople for being an unwed mother and is also condemned for
the mysterious murder of a young boy (for which she had nothing to do with).
Tilly (played by Kate
Winslet) returns home from Europe to discover her mum, Molly (played by Judy
Davis, I thought she was terrific) has gone mad and is rotting away along with
her house.
Tilly and Molly’s worldly possessions seem to consist of the
neglected house, the clothes on their back and a Singer sewing machine.
Small Town Politics
As a young girl of ten
years, Tilly was bullied out of Dungatar by the townspeople. The forceful
separation from her mother, led to Molly’s decline in health and well-being.
Tilly eventually prospered and learnt couturier skills in London, Paris and
Milan.
Tilly returns to Dungatar
to reconcile with Molly and also to shed light on the confusion from her past.
Tilly has no memory of her childhood crime of murdering a young boy in the
school playground.
She hopes Molly can tell her the facts about the mysterious
murder. Molly, at this point in the
story is a mad woman and can’t help anyone, not even herself.
Tilly must find the
answers to the questions for herself.
She does so, using her dress-making
skills to uncover the nasty truths that have long been covered up by the
townspeople. A layer in the story is told by visual cues—the changing clothes
the characters wear. (Tilly offers them gorgeous, tailor-made vintage fashion.
Can they resist the stylish clothes? If they take the clothes they’ll have to
answer Tilly’s questions about the past?)
I must admit to not
following this part of the story very well. A lot of movies follow the hero’s
journey with the hero defeating the dragons, fighting the enemies, or saving
the damsel-in-distress.
I wasn’t sure what the
story was telling me about Tilly’s search for the truth in Dungatar. It was a
dark quest which eventually made sense when the townspeople’s bad deeds caught
them up and Dungatar imploded.
I’ve thought about this
part of the story a lot. Tried to find a way to relate to it. The best I’ve
come up with, goes like this. Person by person, Tilly uncovers the connections
between her forced departure from Dungatar, her mother’s demise, the murder,
the secrets and corruptions the characters are hiding. As if each character has
a circle of influence which intersects and affects another character’s life in
the small town. Seems like Tilly undertook a sort of relationship mapping which
is made of character’s overlapping circles of influence upon each other.
In this story, good
triumphs over bad in its own unique way.
The Romance
Teddy and Tilly’s romance was
honest and enjoyable.
They were two outcasts who
were mutually attracted to each other.
There were no power plays or agendas.
Seemed like an innocent and fresh sort of romance.
Both characters were equally
lacking in material possessions as well. Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth lit up
the screen as the romantic couple.
The Revenge
Revenge is back in fashion,
but Tilly isn’t responsible for the demise of all of the characters in the
story.
The people of Dungatar become a house of cards and many collapse from
their own follies and weaknesses.
The final scene in the
movie is Tilly’s act of revenge. Not the type of behaviour that’s acceptable in
real life, but as an ending to a story and powerful, emotional and visual
effects, it was WOW.
During filming, there was an usual visitor to the set of Dungatar--Elvis the Emu.
Thanks for reading, and for the rest of this week, I will be writing more vintage posts over at
https://plus.google.com/+AshlynBradyauthor/posts
Cheers,
Ashlyn
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More posts about ‘The Dressmaker’ movie
Revenge is Back in Fashion
From what I’ve read on the web,
the movie is about comedy and romance.
Small-town secrets and odd characters.
Vintage, haute couture fashion from the 1950’s,
and revenge schemes...
During the last 12 months, my 2 write-ups about the movie have become popular posts. So I thought I’d search the web for some snippets of news about “The Dressmaker”...
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More posts about Home Sewn Garments
This week I’m returning to vintage themes with a link about home sewn beachwear.
During the Industrial Revolution of the 19th Century, ready-made clothes start appearing on the racks of department stores. However, working class women continued making clothes for their families, because it was a cheaper than buying them...
The Spring Horse Racing Carnival is underway in Australia. For the second year in a row, the winner in the fashion competition at the Melbourne Cup horse race was a homemade dress sewn by a mother for her daughter...
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