Taylor Swift is Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. No big shocker there. Who else could it be?
There’s been quite a bit of buzz about how Swift will be directing her first feature-length film. Maybe in 2025? Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto has called her an “excellent director” and hinted that he might participate.
“Deadpool 3” director Shawn Levy also recently banged the drums for Swift, comparing her to none other than Steven Spielberg.
This push is to turn Swift into a legitimate filmmaker. She had originally announced her Searchlight-produced directorial debut with an original script, written by her, last December. How serious is this? Very serious. It’s happening.
The praise from the industry seems … genuine. Swift’s directed 18 music videos. Whether that’ll translate into a successful filmmaking career is a whole other story.
The part that worries me most is that she wrote the screenplay for this mysterious Searchlight project. It’s also a bad sign that she doesn’t seem to fully grasp what Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Phantom Thread” was actually about …
Swift was interviewed by Time and mentioned being inspired to write her song “Mastermind” after watching “Phantom Thread” …
She tells me she wrote that song after watching the Paul Thomas Anderson film Phantom Thread, which—spoiler—culminates in the reveal of a vast, layered manipulation. "Remember that last scene?" she says. "I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have a lyric about being calculated?" She pauses. "It's something that's been thrown at me like a dagger, but now I take it as a compliment.
Isn’t this a grave misreading of the film? In the final moments of “Phanton Thread”, Woodcock willingly submits to being poisoned. Swift seems to be believe that he didn’t see it coming.
“Phantom Thread” was all about Woodcock and Alma finding a dynamic that makes them click, they end up making the most out of unusual compromises. It’s a love story that isn’t really focused on lust, but rather about the primal and motherly affection men still crave in their adult years.
Good luck with that directing career, Ms. Swift.