I am often lured to films based entirely on the cast. With Kate Winslet and Judy Davis in lead roles I had to see “The Dressmaker”. It was easier said than done. The film was only playing on one screen within 30 miles of me. I rushed out to see it along with two other sole patrons before it left town. Thank goodness I did.
The setting is extremely rural Australia in a tiny town with an eccentric mix of residents. Tilley Dunnage, played by the wonderful Kate Winslet returns to her roots after being “sent away” to a boarding school due to the death of a young bully when she was ten. She has travelled and worked successfully in the fashion world of the day but comes home to make peace with her past. Her mother, Molly Dunnage (Judy Davis) is the crazy woman on the hill who is rarely seen among the citizenry. Davis is fantastic as the loony, sharp tongued old lady with a seamstress past. I did not recognize Davis at first due to the incredible make up job to render her hideous. Over her career Davis has wowed audiences in such films as Woody Allen’s “Husbands and Wives”, “My Brilliant Career” and her incredible portrayal in the mini series “Life With Judy Garland:Me and my Shadows”. At first she does not even recognize her long lost daughter but comes around in good time and is central to the shake up of the sleepy and weird town.
Winslet is in great form as the sexy outsider who wows the Plain Jane ladies with high fashion garments that are strangely hysterical against the backdrop of a dusty, dump of a habitat.
This is not your usual movie fare. Think Australian humor and zaniness ala “Muriel’s Wedding” and “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”. I thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue, the performances and the wild fashion creations. Of particular note is Hugo Weaving who plays the cross dressing local constable Sergeant Farrat. While he allowed Tilly to be “sent away” years before, he is drawn to her designs. He starred as Tick in Priscilla” way back in 1994 and is a delight in this film. Liam Hemsworth, Chris’s younger brother with the same good genes plays the local footballer and love interest of Tilly.
Based on the novel of the same name by Rosalie Ham, I found this film to be quite enjoyable throughout. Ham was joined in writing the screenplay by Director Jocelyn Moorhouse and her husband director and writer P.J. Hogan.
If you have a chance to see it, please do. We need to support this kind of creative, outside the box work or it may disappear forever. Kudos to Winslet and Davis for signing on to this film.
