The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 3, 2017

While westerns were surprisingly active during the 2016 film year, welcoming the releases of “The Magnificent Seven” and “In a Valley of Violence,” “The Dressmaker” proves itself to be a superior genre effort without even encountering a single cowboy. It’s a clever picture (an adaptation of a Rosalie Ham novel) that imagines small town hostilities as western entanglements, with Kate Winslet starring as most unusual gunslinger, wielding thread and fabric instead of cold steel. While “The Dressmaker” contains a restless, borderline crazed Australian energy, director Jocelyn Moorhouse manages the insanity with skill, conjuring a beguiling mystery with rich characterization, dark humor, and a cheeky love for Leone-esque theatrics while sorting through domestic problems. It’s a strange film, but memorably so.

Returning to the remote town of Dungatar in the Australian outback, Tilly (Kate Winset) is coming home after a long break from local hysteria, believing herself to be the murderer of a local boy when she was a child. Confronting a past she’s lost touch with, Tilly reunites with her frail but irritable mother, Molly (Judy Davis), setting up shop in her house, using European dressmaking training to capture the imagination of Dungatar’s neglected residents. Carrying a horrible reputation for troublemaking, while believing herself to be cursed, Tilly hopes to make sense of her stained childhood, interacting with those who failed and condemned her long ago. Finding solace with Teddy (Liam Hemsworth) and his romantic intentions, Tilly begins to relax and appreciate her appeal, but the town won’t stand for it, repeatedly looking for ways to chase her away once again.

“The Dressmaker” marks Moorhouse’s return to filmmaking after a long break, with her last feature, “A Thousand Acres,” released in 1997. Her absence has been felt, with the “Proof” and “How to Make an American Quilt” helmer capturing behavioral nuances in her early work, getting strong performances from her actors. Thankfully, Moorhouse’s absence has inspired the brave madness of “The Dressmaker,” urging the director to break out of industry stasis and dive into this bizarre blend of family psychodrama, murder mystery, and revenge saga, pitting Tilly against a community that once conspired to send her away for a crime she’s not sure she committed. Moorhouse navigates turns of plot by massaging a western atmosphere into the picture, subtlety introducing Tilly as a visiting black hat trying to shed her toxic reputation, marching through a dusty town populated with the judgmental, the sick, and the mad.

“The Dressmaker” is a John Ford take on Australian psychology and physical wear and tear, greeting the likes of an elderly doctor who can barely see the world in front of him due to his hunched back, a young ugly duckling (Sarah Snook) who desires to be a swan, and the local schoolteacher (Kerry Fox) who played a critical role in Tilly’s exile. Adding to the whirlwind of anxiety is Sergeant Farrat (a blissfully playful Hugo Weaving), a cop who tries to remain true to the law, but can barely contain his desire for female clothing, responding orgasmically to Tilly’s creations and shipments of supplies.

Fashion plays a key role in “The Dressmaker,” watching Tilly use her designs to inspire a riot in town, allowing dowdy women a chance to feel glamorous and liberated, almost controlling community opinion through the razor sharpness of her style, which delivers a level of sexuality previously unthinkable to the locals. To combat her influence, Tilly’s enemies bring in a rival to fight fire with fire, escalating tensions as sides are drawn, adding dimension to twisted relationships. Winslet fits in perfectly here, juggling lusty mischievousness (disrupting a rugby match with her displays of skin) with deep-seated fear, portraying Tilly as a woman petrified of her own past, retracing childhood steps to stimulate answers to longstanding questions. Winslet is surrounded by an ace supporting cast, but Davis is especially unhinged as Molly, slicing through scenes with her incredible timing and inspired take on elderly volatility.

The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (2.40:1 aspect ratio) presentation is appealing, arriving loaded with detail, which is helpful when taking in the feature's numerous design achievements. Textures are available on facial particulars (wrinkles and dirt being a particular highlight), set decoration, and costuming, which retains a high touchability factor when faced with such extraordinary style. Colors are equally vibrant, celebrating high fashion yellows, reds, and silver, while dustier community hues are equally communicative. Skintones are spot-on. Delineation is acceptable, though a few scenes threaten solidification. Some mild banding and pockets of noise are detected.

The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA sound mix carries the mood of "The Dressmaker" without distortion, leading with crisp, clean dialogue exchanges that manage accents comfortably and deal with emotional surges, never hitting uncomfortable highs. Scoring maintains support, with sharp instrumentation and position. Soundtrack cuts carry with more authority, offering some low-end response to keep the beat. Surrounds have some encouraging activity, with music pushing out and interesting separation during crowd scenes, isolating distinct voices. Atmospherics are amplified to sell town activity and the remote location, remaining evocative throughout the listening experience.

The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "The Story of 'The Dressmaker'" (3:39, HD) is a brief featurette that attempts to explain a largely unexplainable picture to the mass audience, with director Jocelyn Moorhouse taking command of narrative description, exploring the appeal of the material. She's joined by actors Kate Winslet, Liam Hemsworth, and Judy Davis and producer Sue Maslin, who also share their thoughts and feelings on character motivation and plot specifics. While not an expansive look at the creation of "The Dressmaker," bits of BTS footage helps to digest the salesmanship happening here.

• "Designing 'The Dressmaker'" (3:33, HD) returns to the cast and crew, now joined by costume designers Marion Boyce and Margot Wilson, who secured the picture's vibrant and expressive style. Talk of color and cut dominate, with Wilson working closely with Winslet to create a language of fabric for her character, while the rest of the cast enjoyed their own haute couture awakening.

• Photo Gallery collects 40 pictures from the production, mixing BTS snaps with publicity shots.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included.

The Dressmaker Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If "The Dressmaker" commits any sins, it would be excessive length. Moorhouse maintains tight editing throughout, but second half of the film requires intricate braiding of motivations, which slows place. It's far from a deal-breaker, with the movie finding its way to a fabulously cinematic conclusion that satisfies initial interest in Tilly's fate. It would take something spectacularly awful to derail "The Dressmaker," which offers such colorful characters and vicious attitudes. It's a gem with a distinct visual and atmospheric presence, with Moorhouse reclaiming her career in a major way.