“The Dressmaker,” starring Kate Winslet, is intense. At first sight, the film seems like a by-the-numbers drama, but this seemingly orthodox shell contains the darkest of dark comedies.
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse has essentially made two movies in one. In the first, Tilly Dunnage (Winslet) returns to her childhood home to reconnect with her seemingly crazy mother (Judy Davis) and to remember whether she murdered a boy as a child. In the process, she falls for a local hunk played by Liam Hemsworth.
Just when you think the credits are going to roll on that first movie, it transforms into the second film – a revenge thriller. What was a witty, if sadistic, farce takes a left turn into pure, violent catharsis.
The film is quirky to say the least – think an Australian version of a classic Coen Brothers film. Indeed, every actor is deliberately hamming it up like they would in “Fargo” or “The Big Lebowski.” As a result, as in those films, serious plot twists like murder and rape come as a shock. Moorhouse knows what she’s doing, though, and the story comes to a series of satisfying climaxes.
Winslet and Davis, an Academy Award winner and a nominee respectively, carry the movie well. Winslet imbues Tilly with all the qualities of a perfect femme fatale. Meanwhile, Davis hits just the right amount of insanity – loony to an amusing degree, but not to the point where it becomes distracting.
The eccentric townspeople of Dungatar, the setting of “The Dressmaker,” add quite a bit to the movie’s charm. Hugo Weaving (“The Matrix”, The Lord of the Rings trilogy), stands out as the town’s cross-dressing police sergeant. Sarah Snook also gives a memorable performance as a gawky-shopkeeper-turned-beauty.
As the titular dressmaker, Tilly outfits the town with haute couture, leading to one of the film’s other strengths – costume design. The fashion of 1950s-era Paris or Milan being paraded across the Australian Outback creates a contrast that is just fun to look at.
“The Dressmaker” certainly isn’t for everyone. Its humor explores some surprisingly dark areas that you wouldn’t expect given the movie’s title and relatively lighthearted trailer. This might explain the mixed reviews it has received from audiences thus far. Viewers expecting a strange, dark thriller, however, will not be disappointed.
THE DRESSMAKER
RATING: R
GENRE: Drama, comedy
DIRECTED BY: Jocelyn Moorhouse
WRITTEN BY: Jocelyn Moorhouse, P.J. Hogan
RUNTIME: 1 hr. 58 min.
ROTTEN TOMATOES TOMATOMETER: 53%
