Feb 5, 2018

Daniel Day-Lewis is regarded 

as one of Hollywood’s most 
versatile and skilled character 
actors. In the wake of his 
recent announcement that he 
is retiring from acting, the 
State Theater commemorated 
his 
legacy 
by 
screening 
a 

series of his most celebrated 
performances. The series began 
with “My Left Foot” (1989) 
— the movie that earned Day-
Lewis his first Oscar for his 

incredibly challenging role of 
Christy Brown, an artist with 
cerebral palsy. In an almost 
complete 
role 
reversal, 
the 

following film “The Last of the 
Mohicans” 
(1992) 
spotlights 

Day-Lewis as a hunky, tanned 
leading man, the adopted son 
of the Mohican tribe who 
fights in the French and Indian 
War, with a luxurious mass 
of hair and a deeply V-necked 
blouse. In the third film, “In 
the Name of the Father” (1993), 
Day-Lewis again proves his 
talent and intrigue as an actor, 
depicting the emotional turmoil 
of the wrongly convicted Gerry 
Conlon in the aftermath of the 
IRA terrorist attack in 1974 
London.

These 
first 
three 
films 

are all solid and interesting 
performances by Day-Lewis, 
ones that put him on the map as 
a skilled and promising actor. 
But it’s not until “Gangs of New 
York” (2002) that Day-Lewis 
embodies 
the 
performative 

streak that becomes his legacy. 
In 
Scorsese’s 
chaotic 
and 

enduring portrayal of urban 
criminality 
and 
immigrant 

factionism, 
Day-Lewis 
plays 

the brutal but charismatic war 

chief of Old New York, hovering 
between flamboyant charm and 
deranged bloodlust. Next in the 
film series was the critically 
acclaimed 
Spielberg 
film 

“Lincoln” (2012), where Day-
Lewis becomes unrecognizable 

as the titular 16th president, 
wholly 
embodying 
Lincoln’s 

voice, 
mannerisms 
and 

magnetic presence. The series 
rounded out with Paul Thomas 
Anderson’s 
“There 
Will 
Be 

Blood” 
(2007), 
where 
Day-

Lewis plays a more subdued but 
power-hungry oil magnate in 
the black gold frenzy of the late 
19th and early 20th centuries. 
Arguably his most compelling 
performance, 
Day-Lewis’s 

seedy lust for wealth and his 
indifference to being soaked in 
oil is absolutely mesmerizing.

Day-Lewis’s acting career is a 

collection of unbelievably taxing 
and 
impressive 
roles, 
each 

demanding a deeply complex 
and fully imagined person. He 
is one of Hollywood’s greatest, 
proving time and time again his 
ability to completely embody his 
role, including his immersive 
method 
acting 
preparation 

(he hunted game to prep for 
“Mohicans” 
and 
shadowed 

a butcher for “Gangs of New 
York”). With heavy hearts, the 
film community says goodbye to 
this master of the silver screen; 
Day-Lewis officially announced 
his retirement from acting, 
with his newest film “Phantom 
Thread” as his swan song.

In “Phantom Thread,” Day-

Lewis undertakes the most 
challenging and most subdued 
role of his career. He plays 
Reynolds Woodcock, a polished, 
elegant designer of women’s 
couture. He is a narcissistic 
genius, wholly consumed with 
himself and his own brilliance, 
whose designs are worthy of 
the praise. The opening scene 
of the film is one of the most 
captivating 
and 
gorgeously 

done sequences in cinema — 
we see Woodcock meticulously 
grooming himself in a series 
of simple frames that together 
introduce his detail-oriented 
personality, his refinement and 
his quiet magnetism.

The stormy dynamic between 

Woodcock and Alma (Vicky 

Krieps, 
“The 
Colony”), 
a 

waitress he quickly becomes 
infatuated with, is the binding 
thread of the film. She becomes 
his muse, living in his house 
and modeling for his designs 
— in many scenes she is like a 
porcelain mannequin, draped 
in luxurious fabric, more of a 
doll than a person. But Krieps 
does a brilliant job of shading 
Alma with layers of nuance, 
showing both her eagerness for 
the trappings of Woodcock’s 
world and her trepidation at the 
uselessness of it all.

“Phantom Thread” is a dark, 

moving drama peppered with 
moments 
of 
subtle 
hilarity 

that 
ring 
true 
to 
director 

Paul 
Thomas 
Anderson’s 

unorthodox sense of humor. 
Stitching the film together is 
a spectacular score by Johnny 
Greenwood (“There Will Be 
Blood”), of Radiohead fame. 
His composition is sharp and 

quivering, 
needle-like 
and 

sweepingly elegant, like the 
fabric of Woodcock’s gowns. 
It’s enough to make Alexandre 
Desplat shake in his boots. 
The costume design is also 
incredible, with each scene 
featuring a collection of artfully 
tailored couture gowns.

“Phantom Thread” is a quietly 

haunting film and a homage 
to the radiance of Daniel Day-
Lewis. It is an elegant sendoff 
to a man who has made his 
irrevocable 
mark 
on 
the 

industry and his audiences.

The Zell Visiting Writers 

Series 
brings 
writers 
from 

across the country and world to 
Ann Arbor to engage with the 
community 
through 
various 

events, 
including 
a 
public 

reading, a Q&A session and 
workshops. MFA students are 
able to work directly with visiting 
writers through direct forums 
and feedback from writers about 
student work. The Q&A sessions 
are also open to undergrad 
students. It’s a great way to share 
a space with the visiting writers 
and be surrounded by people who 
are incredibly passionate about 
their work. During these visits, 
writers share their personal 
experiences behind their writing 
and encourage young writers by 
sharing their backgrounds.

The Zell Visiting Writers 

Series will kick off their first 
visit of the semester with visiting 
writers Jane Hirshfield and 
Brit Bennett. Hirshfield has 
written eight books of poetry, 
earning immense praise and 
numerous 
awards. 
Among 

these awards, she has received 
the 
Guggenheim 
Foundation 

fellowship, 
Rockefeller 

Foundation fellowship, Academy 
of American Poets Fellowship 
and 
National 
Endowment 

for the Arts fellowship. Brit 

Bennett returns to Ann Arbor 
after receiving her MFA at the 
University to share her work, 
which has been featured in 
publications such as The New 
Yorker and The New York Times 
Magazine. During her time in 
Ann Arbor, she received the 
2014 Hurston/Wright Award for 
College Writers and a Hopwood 
Award in Graduate Short Fiction.

“The real purpose of the 

visiting writers series is to bring 
the 
world 
of 
contemporary 

literature to Ann Arbor, serve 
the local community and also to 
serve the MFA students,” said 
Maya West, Assistant Director 
of 
the 
Helen 
Zell 
Writers’ 

Program, in an interview with 
The Daily. “Many undergraduate 
Michigan students have a frame 
of reference for sports or politics 
or different kinds of celebrities. 
For contemporary literature, it’s 
a little more obscure. I would 
love to figure out a way to explain 
that.”

Many 
University 
students, 

particularly 
undergraduates, 

do 
not 
necessarily 
expose 

themselves to any form of 
contemporary literature beyond 
what is offered in the classroom. 
The Zell Visiting Writers Series 
allows students to spend time 
hearing from writers who are 
thriving and engaged with the 
impact of their literature. The 
series aims to bridge the gap 
between learning from classical 

texts 
studied 
in 
class 
and 

understanding the influence of 
contemporary literature today.

“I didn’t realize until I got to 

the university that the literary 
world is a living, breathing 
organism — not something that is 
sort of on a slab for us to dissect 

and study. It is something for us 

to talk to and engage with,” West 
said. “That can revolutionize our 
understanding and experience of 
all literature.”

In 
academic 
settings, 

students might feel like the tasks 
of essay writing and reading 
required texts forces them to 
pick apart literature in search of 
its meaning. West suggests that 
we engage with texts on a new 
level in efforts to understand 
how literature transforms, as 
well as understand how it is 
living among our current society. 
How does the literature of 
contemporary writers speak to 
the pressing issues and concerns 
of our world today?

“It is significant that young 

people who aren’t really involved 
with contemporary literature 
don’t realize that literature is 
a thriving, living community,” 
West said. “It’s not just dead 
people. It’s not just writing 
essays 
about 
names 
you’ve 

vaguely heard of.”

“I’ve succeeded at everything 

except my life.” Somehow, this 
statement rings true for the man 
who coined it, Serge Gainsbourg. 
Provocative, clever, intriguing 
and singular are just some of 
the words that can attempt 
to explain one of the most 
popular and influential singer-
songwriters to ever live. They 
can also be used to describe his 
1971 album Histoire de Melody 
Nelson, a perfect introduction to 
his rich discography.

Gainsbourg 
was 
born 

in 1928 in Paris to Jewish-
Ukranian parents, spending his 
adolescence under the shadow 
of 
Nazi-occupied 
France. 

Blending a series of genres from 
the traditional French chanson 
to the (at the time) increasingly 
popular rock and funk, he 
created a style of music that 
was unprecedented and unique 
— accompanied by lyrics that 
were clever, dark and sensual. 
He eventually grew into one of 
the biggest celebrities on the 
French and world stage, having 
highly publicized relationships 

with Jane Birkin and Brigitte 
Bardot, fathering actor and 
musician Charlotte Gainsbourg 
with the former.

Running at just less than 

half an hour, Histoire de Melody 
Nelson 
is 
a 
self-contained 

concept 
album 
in 
which 

Gainsbourg narrates the story 
of a middle-aged man who 
accidentally collides his car 
with the bicycle of the teenage 
Melody Nelson (“Princess of 
shadows, 
cursed 
archangel, 

Modern Amazon”) as well as 
that of the ensuing romance. 
The lyrics and subject matter 
are 
typical 
Gainsbourg: 

seductive yet repellent, rich 
with 
description 
and 
filled 

with worldplay. Gainsbourg’s 
voice, barely above a whisper 
at certain points, simply glides 
over the instrumentals. They 
resemble spoken word narration 
more often than actual singing, 
and you can practically envision 
Gainsbourg 
sitting 
in 
front 

of you with his trademark 
disheveled look and a cigarette 
in his hand. He is joined by Jane 
Birkin for “Melody,” “Ballade 
de Melody Nelson” and “Cargo 
Culte,” who similarly pops in 
and out, barely above a whisper.

Despite the lyrics playing 

a large part, the album is still 
a rewarding listen for non-
French 
speakers. 
Composer 

Jean-Claude Vannier provides 
a set of lush, operatic orchestral 
arrangements. 
“L’hôtel 

particulier” features the best 
example, as most of it simply 
features 
Gainsbourg 
slowly 

describing 
a 
mysterious 

mansion (with “long endless 
passages, 
spiral 
stairways 

decorated 
with 
Baroque 

bronzes, golden angels”) with 
the backing of a bass guitar and 
slightly syncopated guitar line. 
However, at the end of each verse, 
strings suddenly appear and 
beautifully accent Gainsbourg’s 
final description. The last third 
of the song features only the 
strings, beckoning the listener 
to fill in what transpires after 
Gainsbourg finishes his tale.

Histoire de Melody Nelson has 

had an immeasurable impact 
on both French pop music, as 
well as genres such as trip-hop, 
even showing up as a sample 
in a De La Soul song. It as an 
album as complex and filled 
with contradictions as the man 
himself, and a must-listen for 
any fan of pop music. 

Serge Gainsbourg and the 
art of French folk music

WORLD MUSIC COLUMN

Zell Visiting Writers at U

BAILEY KADIAN

Daily Arts Writer

“Phantom 
Thread”

Focus Features

State Theater

SAYAN GHOSH

Daily World Music Columnist

FILM REVIEW

Read more online at 

michigandaily.com

‘Phantom Thread’ is final 
bow for Daniel Day-Lewis

FOCUS FEATURES

SYDNEY COHEN

Daily Arts Writer

In ‘Phantom 

Thread,’ 

Day-Lewis 

undertakes the 

most challenging 

and most 

subdued role of 

his career

Day-Lewis’s 

acting career 

is a collection 

of unbelievably 

taxing and 

impressive 

roles, each 

demanding 

a deeply 

complex and 

fully imagined 

person

FILM SPOTLIGHT

6A— Monday, January 22, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

