With 'Phantom Thread ' Director Paul Thomas Anderson Offers Audiences An Intimate Film : NPR
Reynolds Woodcock
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with director Paul Thomas Anderson about his new film  Phantom Thread. The film is about a fastidious British dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock  played by Daniel Day Lewis  whose life becomes upended when he finds a new muse  who begins to challenge him.
This is a movie season where films compete to be bigger  louder and flashier. Right now you can choose to spend a couple of hours in a dark theater with jedis  monsters or singing circus impresarios. In the middle of all this comes a quiet  intimate movie. It's called "Phantom Thread " and it's about  a British dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock played by Daniel Day-Lewis .
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: (As Reynolds Woodcock) Chic - oh  don't you start using that filthy  little word  chic. Whoever invented that ought to be spanked in public. I don't even know what that word means.
SHAPIRO:  He  runs a fashion house with  his  sister  Cyril  played by Lesley Manville. Woodcock's fastidious life is upended when a woman named Alma becomes  his  muse and begins to challenge  him . She is played by the actress Vicky Krieps of Luxembourg.
SHAPIRO: Tell us about the main character played by Daniel Day-Lewis.  Reynolds Woodcock  is a man in a world of women  and  he  is a very particular person.
ANDERSON:  He  is.  He 's a very demanding  very particular person. There's a lot of rules. There's a lot of superstitions  which implies something peculiar about a character. And that's  him . There's no changing  him .  He 's very clear about what  he  will do and will not do.
DAY-LEWIS: (As Reynolds Woodcock) As I think you know  Alma  I prefer my asparagus with oil and salt. Knowing this  you have prepared the asparagus with butter. Right now I'm just admiring my own gallantry for eating it the way you've prepared it.
ANDERSON: Well  you know  it's funny. If I showed you the screenplay  you are exactly right. It would look very  very thin  you know  to say   Reynolds  looks at Alma; Alma looks at  Reynolds ; cut to the next scene  you know? But hopefully the accumulation of events leads you to understand just what that might mean and just the weight that those looks might carry.
SHAPIRO: Reynolds Woodcock sews things into linings of clothing that presumably no one will ever see. Where did that idea come from - photographs or messages?
ANDERSON: Well  the path is usually you kind of put a best-of up on the wall. But then you have to look at it from a different angle. Well  what is  Reynolds Woodcock ? Who is  he ?  He 's English. And so we - the designs started becoming English. So building it up from what Reynolds would be interested in  you realize just how deeply English he is and that all the influence in his life is that. You know  what are the fabrics that he gravitates towards? And so that becomes a three-way collaboration between Daniel and Mark and myself. And to be honest  I have the least patience of the three of us.
DAY-LEWIS: (As Reynolds Woodcock) What happened to make you behave like this? Is it because you think I don't need you?
DAY-LEWIS: (As Reynolds Woodcock) I don't.
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with director Paul Thomas Anderson about his new film  Phantom Thread. The film is about a fastidious British dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock  played by Daniel Day Lewis  whose life becomes upended when he finds a new muse  who begins to challenge him.
This is a movie season where films compete to be bigger  louder and flashier. Right now you can choose to spend a couple of hours in a dark theater with jedis  monsters or singing circus impresarios. In the middle of all this comes a quiet  intimate movie. It's called "Phantom Thread " and it's about  a British dressmaker named Reynolds Woodcock played by Daniel Day-Lewis .
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: (As  [TGT]  Chic - oh  don't you start using that filthy  little word  chic. Whoever invented that ought to be spanked in public. I don't even know what that word means.
SHAPIRO:  He  runs a fashion house with  his  sister  Cyril  played by Lesley Manville. Woodcock's fastidious life is upended when a woman named Alma becomes  his  muse and begins to challenge  him . She is played by the actress Vicky Krieps of Luxembourg.
SHAPIRO: Tell us about the main character played by Daniel Day-Lewis.   [TGT] is a man in a world of women  and   [TGT]   is a very particular person.
ANDERSON:   [TGT]   is.   [TGT]  's a very demanding  very particular person. There's a lot of rules. There's a lot of superstitions  which implies something peculiar about a character. And that's   [TGT]  . There's no changing   [TGT]  .   [TGT]  's very clear about what   [TGT]   will do and will not do.
DAY-LEWIS:  [TGT]  As I think you know  Alma  I prefer my asparagus with oil and salt. Knowing this  you have prepared the asparagus with butter. Right now I'm just admiring my own gallantry for eating it the way you've prepared it.
ANDERSON: Well  you know  it's funny. If I showed you the screenplay  you are exactly right. It would look very  very thin  you know  to say   Reynolds  looks at Alma; Alma looks at  Reynolds ; cut to the next scene  you know? But hopefully the accumulation of events leads you to understand just what that might mean and just the weight that those looks might carry.
SHAPIRO:  [TGT]  sews things into linings of clothing that presumably no one will ever see. Where did that idea come from - photographs or messages?
ANDERSON: Well  the path is usually you kind of put a best-of up on the wall. But then you have to look at it from a different angle. Well  what is   [TGT]  ? Who is   [TGT]  ?   [TGT]  's English. And so we - the designs started becoming English. So building it up from what Reynolds would be interested in  you realize just how deeply English he is and that all the influence in his life is that. You know  what are the fabrics that he gravitates towards? And so that becomes a three-way collaboration between Daniel and Mark and myself. And to be honest  I have the least patience of the three of us.
DAY-LEWIS: (As  [TGT] ) What happened to make you behave like this? Is it because you think I don't need you?
DAY-LEWIS: (As Reynolds Woodcock) I don't.