Paul Thomas Anderson on Lesley Manville's performance in PHANTOM THREAD

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During a post-screening PHANTOM THREAD Q&A at the AFI Conservatory, Oscar-nominated writer/director/producer Paul Thomas Anderson talked to AFI Conservatory Fellows about how impressed he was by actress Lesley Manville's performance in the film. "She could do no wrong. You can ask her to do anything and she could do it."
PHANTOM THREAD is nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Anderson is nominated for Best Director and Manville is nominated for a Best Supporting Actress.
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[@gainal9080]

Cyril is such an iconic character.

[@michael65]

Really?? In what way is she iconic? And be sure to look up the definition first.

[@gainal9080]

@@michael65 In every way.

[@velvetalex4766]

Are you kidding? Look up this scene. Where Cyril says “Don't pick a fight with me, you certainly won't come out alive. I'll go right through you and it'll be you who ends up on the floor.” It’s iconic in every way as is her entire role. Little one.

[@ieatcushion]

@@velvetalex4766 What does iconic mean?

[@medenilam]

My favorite performance of 2017! Just marvelous

[@LauraNatera]

She's my favourite character!

[@oldchicken2]

As opposed to supposedly strong female characters like Wonder Woman or Rey in Star Wars, Cyril is actually allowed to be vulnerable. And this makes her so much stronger in the end.

[@HeelPower200]

Running on Empty She is a truly powerful woman. Because she is actually real ,and is powerful in her own womanly way. She isnt a fictitious power fantasy.

[@yasirzainal1]

U r totally on the money as PT Anderson said! When I watch characters like Wonder Woman and other female characters created MAINLY to represent the cliched feminism view of a strong woman usually I end up despise them and afraid that I’m unconsciously a misogynist! But then I really love characters like Cyril that are strong n imbedded in reality.

[@carolinew.155]

I know this comment is five years old but what a dumb fucking misogynist comment. Do you think it's appropriate to compare Daniel Day Lewis's character in this movie to Captain America? No? Then why would you compare a woman in a drama to a more archetypal hero in a comic book/fantasy movie?
Don't kid yourself into thinking you give a damn about women if you only care about seeing them in "vulnerable states." Sick weirdo

[@carolinew.155]

@@yasirzainal1Those are comic book movies. It's not that deep. Do you compare DDL to Superman and talk about how much less faceted Superman is? Imbecile

[@carolinew.155]

@@HeelPower200 Those are comic book movies it's not that deep, incel

[@sheggy5442]

Cyril, Cyril, Cyril!! ✊🏻

[@AirlinerGold]

where is the full talk??? I wanna see the whole interview

[@joegamble328]

Classy woman

[@derekp7864]

Interesting that PTA shot more of this scene where Reynolds retaliates by pouring tea over Cyril and it descends into a food fight.

[@Ruby_Nash]

Staring into the lens was also done in Age of innocence by Winona Ryder. Another masterful movie.

[@roychefets6961]

She was better than fabulous.

[@timwright4263]

The Coen's were once my heroes. That isn't the case now.

[@ruly8153]

Wtf why?
Theyre better

[@timwright4263]

@@ruly8153 Hit and miss. Intolerable Cruelty - miss. Burn After Reading - miss. These movies were truly awful. Paul Thomas Anderson has yet to make one bad movie.

[@nicanornunez9787]

@@timwright4263 even if take their better movies, they don't stand a chance against PTA. Maybe big Lebowski vs inherent vice for the big public, but in my personal taste, I love inherent vice.

[@Garrett1240]

@@timwright4263 PTA first then Coen Bros

[@timwright4263]

@@Garrett1240 I saw Licorice Pizza at the cinema recently. Oh dear. It's the only time I have ever been disappointed by a PTA movie. I hated the cameos, I hated the repetition.

[@PenaltyKillah]

Without Cyril, where would Reynolds’ exes go to ;)

[@velvetalex4766]

Leslie Manville was the film.

[@bobbfredd]

:)

[@kcwhalley]

PTA might have stolen the eye trick from Demme, but let's not forget the true master of the technique--Stanley Kubrick, who has arguably had as big an influence on Anderson as Demme.

[@FirstPlace97]

Eye trick?

[@kcwhalley]

FP The use of subjective camera, having actors look directly into the lens, for various effects or intentions.

[@FirstPlace97]

Idk if Kubrick is the best at this. He is my favorite director, and surely better than Demme.

[@kcwhalley]

Correction to what I said earlier--subjective camera is the method of placing the audience in the perspective of a certain character and it is heightened by having other characters address the camera directly. Demme does this in Silence of the Lambs (as does Hitchcock in many of his movies, Delmer Daves in Dark Passenger).
By "eye trick," I meant any time a character looks into the camera lens for an additional purpose to shifting the perspective of the audience to a particular character's point of view.
In this particular instance, Cyril looks into the camera, but she doesn't address any particular character. We, the audience, are not placed into any character's perspective. Rather, Cyril communicates directly with the audience. One can ruminate on the various effects of this technique--perhaps it signals to the audience that she holds the power in the household, as PTA suggests.
Whether Kubrick is the master of this technique is another matter. There is a fine line between subjective camera and the "eye trick". Perhaps it does not exist and I'm making up shit. Who's to say?

[@FirstPlace97]

Bergman

[@gerardoramoncesarreynaldo9469]

She's the scary crime-family matriarch in "Let Him Go."