MovieChat Forums > The Dressmaker (2015) Discussion > Are we supposed to have... myopia?

Are we supposed to have... myopia?

posted 9 years ago by ines_silva
20 replies | jump to latest

I usually don't care about age differences between characters and stuff like that, i actually think those can be quite interesting.

But here, they are deliberately trying to make us believe that Tilly is about the same age as Teddy and Gertrude... Whaaaaaaaaatt? The difference in this one was just too obvious for me, it ended up being a distraction everytime Tilly was with one of those two on screen. Maybe I'm being over-scrupulous about this, but it was not something i noticed in the beginning and then got over immediately, it did keep popping into my mind during the whole film!

Anyway, great piece of art :)

[–] Dungatar 9 years ago

This story is weird because in the book Tilly is supposed to be around 35 years old, she was around 10 years old when she left Dungatar, She is back after 25 years from Paris as a dressmaker so even Gertrude and Teddy have the same age or maybe a bit younger. They should have been cast two actors around 30-35 age in those roles.

[–] Plodwyn 9 years ago

Me too!
I absolutely loved the film... but found that odd. I will say that Hemsworth looked a couple of years older b/c of the beard, and Winslet still looks young & great! But the fact I /knew/ there's 15yrs between them, I found it weird that they were cast as the same age, I couldn't suspend my disbelief for just that point.

[–] lstormfeather 8 years ago

don't forget this town had a one room schoolhouse where there could have easily been 10 years difference in the classmates ages.

[–] callambuj 9 years ago

i am sure you dont find distraction while Jlaw and Bradley cooper are kissing btw they also have 15 years of age gap, Kate and Liam looked absolutely fine, most of the people who arent aware of their age they didnt even notice, this bother you a lot bc here actress is elder than actor. change your mind. peace

[–] ines_silva 9 years ago

I am not really aware of their real age difference, but it was quite obvious to me that it was big. Jlaw and cooper i didnt even notice. I doesn't really matter if they are both 15 years appart, what matters is if we can notice it.

[–] MynameisJanetSnakehole 9 years ago

You didn't notice an age difference between JLaw (25) and Bradley (41)?

'Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect'-Mark Twain

[–] ines_silva 9 years ago

And it has definitely nothing to do with gender, this is not a feminism issue. My mind is just fine the way it is.

[–] callambuj 9 years ago

thats what i m saying you did notice bc you wanted to.. i saw this in theater with plenty of people they hardly even noticed and specially those who had no idea about Liam s age.

[–] ines_silva 9 years ago

Well maybe i was biased then, no way to know it really xD

[–] shmourtney 9 years ago

I'm mixed...I knew Liam was in his 20s but I didn't know Kate or Sarah's ages. Liam and Sarah appeared of an age while Kate seemed much older... it was pretty explicit that Tilly is 35, Kate doesn't look much older than that, but Liam and Sarah (even when she was "ugly") both look and act younger than 35 (Trudy's extreme shyness then brazen flaunting of her figure was immature, like a high school girl blossoming. Her late blooming read as early 20s rather than mid 30s, Liam' s character's drinking with friends and jumping into rat silos was very immature as well). I think Kate was cast fine and all the actors were great, but her childhood playmates should have seemed older.

[–] ines_silva 9 years ago

You make a great point, i did not think about it that way. Kate does look in her 30's, the others are the ones who look younger.

[–] Plodwyn 9 years ago

These characters were supposed to have gone to school together, around the same school year. But Cooper and Lawrence haven't played characters that are explicitly supposed to be the same age!
It didn't bother me about the age difference, just that the actors were playing characters supposedly /the same age/!
Btw, I love Winslet and I really liked the film!

[–] jmgnish 8 years ago

I don't think anyone is concerned with moral issue or traditional style, but like the original post said, the story line includes the relatively specific ages of its characters and they are supposed to be ages which are not necessarily believable to the audience which is given a visual that for a decent number is conflicting to the fantasy and journey of the film to which they had been willing to embark on in pleasurable disengagement from reality and suspension of their awareness of the present.

Any obvious betrayal of or inability to achieve this due to the efficient, complex and evolved, intelligent human awareness which by nature considers all things with question. We fact check even subconsciously. An oddity in the big picture is almost impossible to ignore easily and can be the small puncture in the tire we had trusted to get us to the destination. The thing that changes a movie from a jewel to a rhinestone can differ from person to person but whatever it takes to be caught out, exposed or even doubted as to its integrity and adherence to that experience can be disappointing, especially when the film is otherwise fantastic.

[–] ScrystaLz 9 years ago

yes the age difference between them is quite significant in real-life, but they both look about the same age in the movie so I hardly noticed, to me Kate & Liam made a very cute couple in the movie.

[–] ciffou 9 years ago

You're not alone.
I don't know if in the book TIlly is younger, but for the film and for the purpose of using great Kate, they should have chosen someone other than Hemsworth. He's been in a well-known YA franchise and she has been the evil grown up in the other YA franchise they wanted to happen. Such a weird casting choice.
Overall, the movie is entertaining but sometimes it's just too campy and it feels like some actors are in a farce and some aren't.

[–] Dungatar 9 years ago

In the book Tilly is about 35 years old so the casting of Liam Hemsworth is weird.

[–] ScrystaLz 9 years ago

well IMO they both looked about the same age in the film and they had great chemistry together, and that's all that matters to me when I watch the movie.

[–] morgothbauglir 9 years ago

My guess: They had Chris Hemsworth (32) in mind originally but then couldn't afford him anymore and had therefore to settle for his younger, less talented brother..;)

But I agree, the choice was slightly irritating. I managed to ignore it after an initial confusion, but it was still a rather weird choice..

[–] ScrystaLz 9 years ago

Chris certainly would've looked more the part as he is older...but judging from what Jocelyn Moorhouse said in some of her interviews, it seems to me like she always had Liam on her mind for the role from the start, so I'm not sure if she ever considered Chris (or anyone else) for the role. I remember in 1 particular interview with her, she said that she immediately thought of Liam in the role from the very beginning.

It is kinda odd to get a much younger actor to play a character that is suppose to be much older than himself, but I think Liam pulled it off, and as I said before, I think he looked about the same age as Kate in the movie, and they had great chemistry, so their age difference don't bother me.

[–] mindy-484-175009 9 years ago

i've only watched the preview and was immead distracted. they don't look even near the same age and in reality are 15 years apart.