'The Dressmaker' Fun but Uneven

As you watch “The Dressmaker,” a film adaption of Rosalie Ham’s best-selling novel of the same name, forget any notion of Kate Winslet in yet another period piece. If you do find flustered ladies fanning themselves in tight corsets, they’ll be curiously set against a background of sepia flashbacks, sultry Western melodies, and grotesque, bloody deaths.

Set in the fictional town of Dungatar in 1951, the story follows the return of protagonist Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage to her hometown in the Australian outback after years of living overseas as a haute couture dressmaker. When we first meet the enigmatic Tilly (Kate Winslet), she emerges from her bus into the somber town to a Western theme, immediately setting the tone of the revenge story. Dressed in couture, lips perfectly lined in crimson, white-gloved hands fingering a cigarette, she is every inch the femme fatale, but one armed with a sewing machine instead of gun and holster. Ultimately, the elements encapsulated in this scene—Kate Winslet, the mystery, and the costumes—make the film compelling.

Tilly’s abrupt homecoming after 25 years instantly fuels the petty gossip that keeps her neighbors thriving in their dismal town, which cinematographer Donald McAlpine has effectively depicted with eerie desert-colored tones. We do not have long to admire the barren expanses of land, as Winslet’s Tilly is quick to steal each of the scenes with the confidence and defiant acts that provoke the horror of her scandalized neighbors. Equally as scene-stealing as the character herself are her extravagant, vibrantly-colored outfits, all of which conjure the spirit of early Hollywood sirens like Lana Turner.

We are drawn to why Tilly was removed from her town—her supposed murder of a young boy called Stewart Pettyman when they were children. Tilly enlists the help of her ostracized mother, “Mad” Molly (Judy Davis); the hilarious cross-dressing Sergeant Farrat (Hugo Weaving); and the virile force of a love interest, Teddy (Liam Hemsworth) to help her uncover the true cause of the boy’s death and remove the curse she believes haunts her. At every moment she is parried by clichés of small towns—the jealous small-town girl, the lascivious town councilor, and the wealthy snob. The colorful cast and their interactions with Tilly adds a much-needed humor to the occasionally dark film.

Indeed director and screenwriter Jocelyn Moorhouse (best known for directing and writing “Proof,” starring Russell Crowe) does a fantastic job of mingling comedy amidst the tragedy. There are many instances of witty dialogue, particularly between Tilly and the ailing Molly, whose long relationship is beset with many comical moments. The local snob Elsbeth (Caroline Goodall) and her attempts to prevent her son’s marriage to the grocer’s daughter are another point of hilarity and work perfectly to offset the strange macabre that permeates the rest of the film. If we can compare these comedic moments to Jane Austen, we can easily draw parallels to the revenge and tragedy found in Jacobean literature, as suggested by direct allusions to Macbeth. This balance of comedy and tragedy adds to the film a complexity that is both enjoyable and at times unexpectedly moving.

Where the movie falls remarkably short is in its attempt to cover too much ground with its multitude of subplots. The film also seems to contradict itself, splitting into two opposing parts because of thematic confusion. The first half of the film consistently propagates forgiveness over revenge, as seen when Tilly agrees to make over the women of the town with her avant-garde design. The revenge that has been perpetually insinuated by the Western music and by Tilly’s rebellious return after banishment doesn’t quite match with the scenes of tension being resolved.

Only upon Teddy’s death does the film returns to its original argument in favor of vengeance, with Tilly once again marginalized by the people she was beginning to win over. At this point, we encounter a more vulnerable, grief-stricken woman whom Winslet plays with a sensitivity and pathos reminiscent of her other celebrated roles, like Ophelia in “Hamlet.” Equally as touching is Davis’s Molly, who finally steps up to her role of mother to her abandoned daughter. While the excess of subplots and confused theme can feel overwhelming, the stellar acting of the leading characters make this movie striking and thoroughly entertaining.