You can spend all the time you like working through lists of the greatest movies ever made. You can, and should, check out the worthwhile filmographies of people like Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Danny Boyle, Lynne Ramsay, and many others. You can even spend as much of your free time as possible exploring your favourite genres and sub-genres, whether they are rom-coms, serial killer movies, or low-budget zombie flicks. It's also important to make time for films like Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris though, another film based on the novel by Paul Gallico. This won't necessarily be named as anyone's favourite film from the year it was released, and it didn't seem to gain any momentum throughout the awards season, but it is a genuine delight from start to finish. I was grinning a LOT, there were times when I laughed aloud, and some moments had me turning my face away slightly so that my partner didn't see the tears creeping out of the corners of my eyes. There are many films vying for your time, and many that will have made a bigger impact on the cinematic landscape, but I doubt there are too many from the recent release schedule that will warm your cockles like this one.
Lesley Manville plays Ada Harris, a cleaning lady in the 1950s who eventually finds out that her husband has been officially declared to have been killed during his military service. Having fallen in love with a Christian Dior dress that she sees in the home of one of her regular clients, Mrs. Harris becomes determined to head over to Paris and treat herself to one. She needs £500. Yes, that should do it. As the title suggests, Mrs. Harris makes her trip, but not without a few setbacks on the way, but she then has to figure out how to deal with the snobbery of those who believe a Dior dress should remain exclusive to the rich (although, as the film notes on a number of occasions, the rich often appear rich while deciding on what bills they can keep defering until a later date). Claudine Colbert (Isabelle Huppert) is one person working at Dior who believes in that principle of exclusivity, but Mrs. Harris finds herself some useful allies in the shame of the Marquid de Chassange (Lambert Wilson), an accountant named André Fauvel (Lucas Bravo), and a lovely model named Natasha (Alba Baptista). And there's also her own forceful and winning personality to help her achieve her goal, which becomes something that a lot of people around her end up rooting for.
With four people working to adapt this from page to screen, including director Anthony Fabian, this could have easily ended up as either a bit of a mess or something a bit too episodic and disjointed to be truly effective. Although I am not familiar with anything else from Fabian, I would say that I've had mixed reactions to other films featuring writing from Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson, or Olivia Hetreed. Thankfully, everyone seems to be pulling in the right direction here, almost as if the onscreen struggle to push Mrs. Harris to victory was replicated by those behind the camera (and I mean that compliment for everyone, but must also mention the wonderful, and arguably more vital than ever, costume design by Jenny Beavan).
While Fabian and co. do great work, the cast really do everything they can to put the icing on the cake. Those already mentioned are varying degrees of wonderful, whether being cast as a temporary villain (Huppert) or a welcome helping hand (Bravo), or even someone who seems very pleasant and well-meaning, but ends up causing a great deal of hurt with one ill-considered "compliment" (Wilson). There are also great turns from the cast members who stay in old Blighty while Mrs. Harris flies over to France. Ellen Thomas plays a very good friend, Jason Isaacs is a twinkle-eyed rogue who might be missing a beautiful chance at happiness right under his nose, and both Anna Chancellor and Rose Williams are clients who are both quite horrifying and selfish in different ways. And as for Manville, I truly believe that this is the kind of performance that should have been showered with all kinds of praise and accolades. Equally believable while making herself small or allowing herself to blossom into a new full bloom, her acting here is a masterclass in how you deliver an unforgettable movie character without relying on a bag-full of tricks and quirks. Manville carries herself throughout every scene with a likeability and an honesty, seemingly playing a character that she cares for as much as she wants us to.
Although I was a bit wary as soon as the film started, I soon warmed to it, and I started to fall in love with it very quickly, mainly thanks to Manville's performance. I think it only has one main flaw, and that is the predictability. Even the seemingly unpredictable moments eventually wind around and head back to intersect where you think things were heading, but that just adds to the warmth and comfort of the whole thing.
Everyone should watch this, especially while the world around us feels so stressful and dangerous, to put it mildly. This is a real balm for your soul, it's a cinematic delight, and it should be available to everyone on prescription. If you have any sense of decency and fairness, if you have ever worked hard for something that others have had gifted to them, and if you believe in good things happening to good people, there's a little bit of Mrs. Harris in you already. That's a good thing, and it also means that you should reward yourself with a viewing of this film.
10/10
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