This essay incorporates spoilers for “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.”
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” a latest film based on the 1958 book of the identical name by Paul Gallico (together with her last name Britishly cut right down to “Mrs. ‘Arris”), follows an English cleansing lady’s quest to purchase a high fashion gown within the Nineteen Fifties. Along the way in which, the film explores the pitfalls of materialism through characters who long for the elegance and glamor of designers just like the renowned Christian Dior.
Mrs. Harris, played with elegance and charm by Lesley Manville, is a cleansing lady for wealthy families. Her quest begins when she discovers a lilac-colored strapless gown sitting on a chair while cleansing one among her employers’ homes. While the girl of the home holds the dress as much as herself and gazes at her reflection in her mirror, she tells Mrs. Harris she got the dress due to the fabulous way it makes her feel.
‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ explores the pitfalls of materialism through characters who long for the elegance and glamor of designers like Christian Dior.
Nevertheless, the matron never wears it. She puts the dress away within the closet, hiding it and its big price tag from her husband and from the world. So focused on her feelings and internal dilemmas, she never shares her dress with anyone. She puts her sparkling dress under a bushel.
Inspired by her encounter with the dress, Mrs. Harris flies to Paris. Though she is a busy employee and a penny pincher, she couldn’t pay for the airfare and the dress she would subsequently buy all on her own. Brand names have high price tags. Mrs. Harris receives significant help from her departed husband’s pension, the kindness of others and sheer good luck, including a reward for returning to the police a tremendous piece of bijou she found on the road.
But she does make it to Paris and attends Dior’s fashion show. Dior’s brand name was only 10 years old on the time the film was set, but his designs and perfumes were already popular and celebrated throughout Europe. He was awarded entrance into the French Legion of Honor for his contributions to the textile industry and fashion craftsmanship.
Mrs. Harris falls for a scarlet Dior dress named Temptation that one other aristocratic wife purchases out of spite after seeing Mrs. Harris’s interest in it. Avarice would have been an equally good name for the dress. Mrs. Harris as an alternative purchases an emerald green gown, nevertheless it needs every week of alterations before she will take it home to England.
Mrs. Harris knows the worth of a dress and he or she uses the garment to assist others, even when people don’t deserve it.
Within the high fashion workshop she takes the dress to (an ’atelier), Mrs. Harris publicizes she feels as if she has entered heaven. Sunlight and anonymous staff wearing white fill a series of rooms; it takes them a whole lot of hours of expert labor to make a single dress. For Mrs. Harris, entering this sort of heaven doesn’t mean leaving the workforce though. She soon finds herself sewing to assist pay for unexpected expenses for her dress.
Mrs. Harris knows the worth of a dress and he or she uses the garment to assist others, even when people don’t deserve it. After her adventure in Paris, she returns to England and goes back to work. Soon after arriving home, one other of her employers, an aspiring movie star, involves her complaining she has nothing to wear for a career-deciding event. The cleanest dress the starlet has is wrinkled, with a big stain on the front. Against her higher judgment, Mrs. Harris lends her the brand latest Dior. She doesn’t put her sparkling dress under a bushel, selecting as an alternative to share its light.
At a lavish dinner that evening, the starlet accidently burns the skirt by an open fireplace. The subsequent day, Mrs. Harris finds the damaged Dior specified by the actress’ empty flat. Mrs. Harris gives the burned dress a burial at sea.
Mrs. Harris’ dream of Dior is then unexpectedly resurrected. The ‘atelier, after reading in regards to the starlet’s disaster in a newspaper gossip column, is moved by Mrs. Harris’ compassion for others in need. Her good deeds, like a town on a hill, can’t be hidden. He sends her the scarlett dress, Temptation, that had been Mrs. Harris’ first selection at the style show. (It turned out that the spiteful aristocratic woman couldn’t pay for it.)
Unlike the aristocratic wife or the careless starlet, Mrs. Harris doesn’t spend time admiring herself within the mirror. She gains satisfaction from her Dior gown by seeing the starlet wear it, and by the look on her friends’ faces after they see Mrs. Harris in her latest dress. Her joy inherently involves others, and depends on their happiness too. The fantastic thing about the dress is barely a small a part of her happiness, and in this manner Mrs. Harris models enjoy a luxury good.
The film doesn’t condemn Mrs. Harris’ quest for a sparkling red high fashion gown that, on the local dance within the film’s conclusion, stands out like a fantastic sanctuary lamp amidst dozens of dim votive candles. The film as an alternative condemns people who find themselves selfishly hiding objects for themselves, or carelessly hurting others’ feelings, not to say mocking their belongings. The film rewards those that are hard-working and generous.
Ultimately, “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” doesn’t suggest that viewers have to imitate her and begin saving for a Dior dress. Mrs. Harris is barely in a position to achieve her goal through others’ generosity and an ideal deal of luck. The actual goal is using goods to uplift and appreciate people, actions which, just like the joy she present in the workshop of Dior’s ‘atelier, bring Mrs. Harris somewhat closer to heaven.