Dressmaker (The)
- Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse
- Writer: Rosalie Ham; P.J. Hogan
- Producer: Daryl Dellora; Karl Engeler
CGiii Comment
With a cast like this...what's not to like...?
Deliciously camp, decidedly bitchy and raucously funny...that is, depending on your sense-of-humour.
To be fair, Judy Davis steals the show with venom and malice. Kate is a vision of loveliness...with a sting in her tail. And, dear, dear Hugo...in the closet, in the middle of nowhere and loneliness...
It's deranged, it's bizarre...it has moments of bright sparkling sunshine blocked intermittenly by the darkest of clouds. Small town secrets and small town tragedies...revenge and fashion...what's there not to like?
Some critics have panned it...undeservedly so. If Wes Anderson's name had been attached to this...they would all be howling: What a marvel. Those blinkered dullards!
This is a ravenously fine film...played to perfection, directed with precision. Our only quibble...Hugo could have been used more.
It's been nearly 20 years since her last film...Jocelyn Moorhouse really should make more fims, more often...!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Based on Rosalie Ham's best selling novel, The Dressmaker is the story of femme fatale Tilly Dunnage who returns to her small home town in the country to right the wrongs of the past. A stylish drama with comic undertones about love, revenge and haute couture.
Cast & Characters
Kate Winslet as Myrtle 'Tilly' Dunnage;
Liam Hemsworth as Teddy McSwiney;
Sarah Snook as Gertrude 'Trudy' Pratt;
Hugo Weaving as Sergeant Farrat;
Caroline Goodall as Elsbeth;
Judy Davis as Molly Dunnage;
Kerry Fox as Beulah Harridiene;
Rebecca Gibney as Muriel Pratt;
Shane Jacobson as Alvin Pratt;
Hayley Magnus as Prudence;
Julia Blake as Irma Almanac;
James Mackay as William Beaumont;
Sacha Horler as Una Pleasance;
Barry Otto as Percival Almanac;
Gyton Grantley as Barney McSwiney