THE DRESSMAKER: Blu-ray (Apollo/Film Art/Screen Australia, 2015) AmazonStudios, Universal Home Video

It has been an incredibly long while since any movie has impressed me as much as director, Jocelyn Moorhouse’s The Dressmaker (2015). But if ever a tale could simultaneously illustrate that hell, indeed, hath no fury like a woman scored, while making the art of revenge (bitter)sweet, Moorhouse, her ensemble, and star, Kate Winslet as the story’s trojan horse, have given it pause herein, as well as modicum of richly satisfying reflection, to create a spellbinding terror of the macabre and mesmeric.  In Winslet, Moorhouse has managed to bottle the essence, as well as the true mettle of their alter ego, Tilly Dunnage, so dreadfully aggrieved in youth, her over-the-top desecration of the tiny outback shadowbox she once thought of as home is almost as gratifying as witnessing the initially hard-won folly of this mangled homecoming. This is repeatedly thwarted by the addlepated sect of Dungatar, who relish in perpetuating Tilly’s emotional torment.  It may sound as though I am painting a portrait of The Dressmaker as a darkly wicked liberation of the female spirit. Perhaps so. Yet, Tilly’s exorcism, as she wields her newfound autonomy with needle and thread, knowing precisely when and where to cut, stitch and sew back together the tattered remnants from these cruelties, is ingeniously twisted. Yes, friends, Tilly’s chickens have come home to roost, pick apart and lay waste to Dungatar’s self-anointed residents.

After an absence of twenty-years, Tilly marks her debut in the dusty Aussie backwater of Dungatar in a pair of stunningly self-designed creations, the first as ripe as the rage against those who dismantled her childhood, the second, as black as her heart; each, to tempt the muscled mates of a local rugby match into wild distractions never to materialize into anything more than a mirage of her fatal beauty. Save one devilishly handsome, Teddy McSwiney (Liam Hemsworth), who is amused, though otherwise unimpressed, the others fall victim to her penetrating, if glacial ‘come hither’ stare. Till’s mum, Molly (Judy Davis) is a tortured recluse and eccentric, dwelling in a dilapidated, hill-top hovel overlooking this modest town. The local busybodies are aghast over Tilly’s return. And Molly – at first – is as none too keen to have her daughter home again. After all, rumor has it, Tilly murdered fellow school chum, Stewart Pettyman (Rory Potter) when she was just a tot, breaking his neck with a brick. The truth, alas, has been eclipsed by the inuendoes, propagated by vindictive schoolmarm, Beulah Harridiene (Kerry Fox). Ever since, Stewart’s father, Evan (Shane Bourne) – a notorious philanderer, to have had his way with Molly – among many others – has been plying is fragile wife, Marigold (Alison Whyte) with an anesthetizing tonic, to further allow him his proclivities for more supple female flesh while also to insidiously rape Marigold in her catatonic state.

Now Tilly, who in the interim has apprenticed with some of the greatest fashionistas of her day, begins to ply her craft to the snooty sect, bartering her prowess as a seamstress/designer for clues to help her piece together the past she has tried so very hard to shut out for so long. Her first such transformation is performed on Muriel Pratt (Rebecca Gibney) the frumpish daughter of General Store owner, Alvin (Shane Jacobson) whom Tilly remakes into a stunning peacock, easily to catch the eye of town prig, William Beaumont (James McKay), whose own mum (Caroline Goodall) fancies herself as Dungatar’s leading maven. Of the sycophants who thereafter come to make their own fashion demands on the girl they not-so-secretly despise, only Sergeant Farrat (Hugo Weaving) the local constabulary responsible for sending Tilly away those many years before at the behest of Evan, and, a closeted crossdresser in love with Tilly’s creations, is remorseful and sincere toward her now. Farrat shares his files on the ancient murder investigation. Tilly realizes Beulah lied in her official statement, never to actually have witnessed the crime. Teddy provides the last piece of the puzzle, reminding Tilly how Stewart always delighted in torturing her by plowing head-first into her stomach, to send her to the ground writhing in pain. Via this recollection, Tilly remembers Stewart threatening to murder her mother and come after her. On the day in question, Stewart charged a terrified Tilly, who moved out of Stewart’s way at the last possible moment. Instead, Stewart dove head-strong into the brick wall behind her and snapped his own neck. Barney (Gyton Grantley), Teddy’s younger, mentally-challenged brother witnessed the whole thing.

Exonerated of the murder, Tilly now discovers Evan Pettyman is also her father. Recognizing Teddy’s genuine love, Tilly succumbs to his charms. The two share a passionate night in Teddy’s trailer. But this ends when Tilly suggests she is forever cursed and Teddy, to prove otherwise, dives into a nearby grain silo – a testament to his manly prowess as he had earlier done with his mates into an empty silo, populated by rats. Tragically, this time he miscalculates. The silo is filled with grain. Teddy sinks below its soft surface and is asphyxiated. Teddy’s overwrought mother, Mae (Genevieve Lemon), bearing no ill will, allows Tilly to help her prepare Teddy’s body for burial before packing up what remains of her family, leaving Dungatar for good. As the town gossips gather to condemn Tilly yet again, Molly confronts everyone, suggesting Teddy died proving his love was stronger than their hate. Not long thereafter, Molly suffers a stroke, dying inside corrupt chemist, Percival Almanac (Barry Otto) office. Previously, Molly plied Almanac’s wife, Irma (Julia Blake) with hashish brownies to dull her arthritic pain. Now, Tilly and Farrat hold a wake as Beulah snoops around the house. Drunk and disgruntled, Tilly tosses her Victrola out the window, inadvertently smashing Beulah in the face.  The next day, Farrat sends Beulah, badly bruised and bandaged, to a sanatorium in Melbourne. Almanac, a hunchbacked cripple, drowns in the pond behind his house. Determined the evil wrought against Tilly should not be stirred again, Farrat confesses about the hashish, exposing his own transvestitism. He is promptly arrested.

Tilly exposes the truth of her parentage to Marigold. That evening, Marigold confronts her husband with his unholy womanizing. When Evan threatens to have Marigold committed, she instead slashes into his Achilles tendons with a knife, leaving him to bleed out on her kitchen floor. Meanwhile, the ladies’ auxiliary learns Tilly, after refusing to design the costumes for their production of Macbeth, has instead created stunningly handsome ensembles for rival community playhouse thespians auditioning for the same grand prize with the Mikado. As Evan and Marigold’s loss to Macbeth spells an end to any hope the ladies might have had of winning the prize, the defeated company return to Dungatar, only to discover it a smoldering ruin, engulfed by a fire initially set by Tilly to burn down her ancestral home. Already aboard a train bound for Melbourne, the smoldering wreckage is witnessed by the conductor who points it out to Tilly, suggesting the town has overdone ‘burning their rubbish’. “You didn’t see the rubbish,” Tilly replies coolly as what little remains of Dungatar disappears from view.

The Dressmaker is inspired by Rosalie Ham’s novel of the same name. Jocelyn Moorhouse, who adapted the novel for the screen (with an assist from P.J. Hogan) and directed the picture, has created a perversely satisfying revenge/comedy. Neither the plot, nor our heroine is unreservedly affable. And yet, there is great sincerity in Moorhouse’s ruthlessly swift condemnation of human cruelty, pitted against Tilly’s veritable force of nature – a zeitgeist that only cruelty itself is capable of unleashing to feed upon itself. The darkly peppered humor, to manifest in expertly-timed pithy retorts, counterbalances the picture’s shock value. Kate Winslet offers Tilly neither a soft-centered core of remorse, nor an austere and soulless glut of avenging triumph. Her victory at the end, the utter decimation of all who brutally deprived her of as much in her youth, is hollow at best and, to some extent, meaningless. Only briefly does Winslet allow us to see Tilly’s less demonstrative side, her genuine affection for Teddy, maliciously derailed by fate, and later, in the semi-wounded glance afforded Farrat as he is proudly carted off to prison, shielding Tilly’s from her more recent sins.

While the fleeting romance between Teddy and Tilly unravels into disturbing, yet affecting sadness, the multilayered exploration of Tilly’s troubled relationship with Molly proves the most enduring and fascinating linchpin in Moorhouse’s storytelling. Judy Davis’ turn as the filthy harridan, refusing to be entirely reformed by her daughter’s return, yet as dedicated to expose the evil perpetuated upon Tilly by these odious town folk engages us in a complex mother/daughter study as varied in their victimhood, as gratifying as each morphs into her own version of the vixen, and, lastly, to be exhumed from the ashes – even of death - as avenging vipers. Davis and Winslet delivered Oscar nominations here. The Dressmaker is, if nothing else, a very unpleasant tale, made riveting and palpable by Moorhouse’s wild-card authorship of Ham’s novel and her delicate direction.  While most movies lingering on the creative palette do so by plying our visual tastebuds with plaudits about the ultimate altruism of the human spirit when put to the test, The Dressmaker instead encourages support for a woman who, having exposed the folly and foibles of those who wronged her, cannot rest until she has thoroughly given as wretchedly awful as she has received…and then, some. A very clever revisionist/feminist take on the classic Shakespearean tragedy, unequivocally to prove the needle is mightier than the sword.

The Dressmaker arrives on Blu-ray via Amazon Studios, which may account for its limited distribution and recognition. Indeed, mentioning The Dressmaker to a host of friends at a dinner party, I was startled to discover not one of them had heard of it. This 1080p transfer has its issues, though, and on the whole, it offers a pleasing presentation in its native 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Colors are generally vibrant, capturing the richness in Donald McAlpine’s cinematography, and, with accurately produced flesh tones besides. Reds are blood red, and the withered straw-like dust of Dungatar’s sparse foliage is given a golden patina. Contrast is excellent. But shadow delineation is problematic, especially during Tilly’s initial nighttime arrival in Dungatar. Here, the image is too dark, obscuring all fine detail. It also contains some mild banding. Throughout, there is minor – but still distracting – edge enhancement. At this stage in video mastering, especially from a contemporary source, this should not be! The 5.1 DTS is exquisite, offering crisp and refined dialogue and excellent exposure of David Hirschfelder’s subtle score. Extras are colossally disappointing. Barely 4-mins. on the making of the movie, and another almost 4-mins. devoted to creating the costumes. There is a stills gallery, comprised of 40 photos, taken during production and for publicity. Curiously, NO theatrical trailer is included. Bottom line: Kate Winslet and director, Jocelyn Moorhouse ensure that The Dressmaker is sinisterly satisfying. While the Blu-ray could have been a smidgen better, the movie is perfection and comes very highly recommended!

FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)

5

VIDEO/AUDIO

4

EXTRAS

1