MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS is an adaptation of a classic British novel about a working-class woman who is so enamored with her employers couture dresses that she travels to Paris, at significant expense, to purchase a Dio dress for herself.
Lesley Manville, who made such a mark on us through her work in another fashion-themed movie, PHANTOM THREAD, is the ideal choice to play Mrs. Harris in the movie directed by Anthony Fabian. We talked to the pair, and to co-star Lucas Bravo, about their view of the movie's themes and Mrs. Harris's experience.
The appeal of fashion in MRS. HARRIS is rooted in an appreciation for beauty that had been difficult to express during a very difficult decade.
"That Christian Dior movement of the 1950s was… coming out of a post-war time where nobody had fabrics or they're in short supply," Manville says, "and having clothes for the pure beauty of them was — it didn't happen, because there was a war happening. And Christian Dior bursts out of the war in the '50s with this wonderful new set of designs. She appreciates the beauty of them, purely and simply. And [she] also feels that she's a working woman [and] she's as entitled to something as beautiful as that."
Watch our video interview with Lesley Manville, Lucas Bravo and director Anthony Fabian:
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS opens on July 15.
All images courtesy of Focus Features.