Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a Post-War Cinderella Story Brimming With Optimism
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris stars Lesley Manville, Jason Isaacs, Lucas Bravo, Alba Baptista, Lambert Wilson, Isabelle Huppert, and Ellen Thomas.
Adapted from Paul Gallico’s 1959 novel Mrs. ‘arris Goes to Paris, Focus Features’ Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a perfect slice of escapism. Lesley Manville stars as the titular Ada Harris, a war widow who dreams of buying a Christian Dior dress. Her effortless charm and infectious optimism is sure to win over the hearts of the audience within a handful of minutes.
Set in London in 1957, the film opens with Ada’s daily routine as a housekeeper for a handful of stereotypical Londonites; a burgeoning starlet who leans on Ada like a mother figure, a wealthy lady whose wealth is there in appearances and nothing else, and a businessman who has a never-ending cycle of “nieces” that he entertains. She takes their subtle slights without a fight, until one day she sets her sights on a stunning haute couture dress that Lady Dant (Anna Chancellor) has brought home instead of paying her the wages owed to her. The shimmering gown sparks something within Mrs. Harris that she can’t quite shake, and led by a series of signs she believes are from her late husband, she makes a plan to take a flight of fancy to Paris to buy the gown of her dreams.
In order to save up money for her grand venture into escapism, Mrs. Harris starts taking on odd jobs, mending hems and cleaning more houses, and she even has a stroke of good luck with the neighbourhood lottery. Even after losing all of that money on a bad bet at the dog races, Ada’s good luck keeps delivering: the RAF finally pays out her war widow’s pension, she’s rewarded for returning a lost piece of jewelry, and Archie (Jason Isaacs) slyly won her money at the dog races. Never once does Archie or her friend Vi (Ellen Thomas) shoot down her dreams, even when they seem ridiculous or ill-conceived.
Her arrival in Paris is met with equal amounts of good luck and situational misfortune. A trio of kind locals keeps her company at the train station while she spends the night sleeping on a bench, and in the morning one of them accompanies her into the city, guiding her straight to the exquisite Christian Dior store that is only slightly marred by the mountains of trash that has filled the street during a strike. She bypasses the red carpet and line of waiting upper-class patrons as she chases after a young model, Natasha (Alba Baptista), who dropped her purse, and she walks right into trouble.
Naturally, Claudine Colbert (Isabelle Huppert), has little interest in assisting an older woman from London who has cleaned houses to afford a Christian Dior gown. And after a brief to-do, Ada catches the eye of a Marquis (Lambert Wilson) who asks her to be his plus one at the fashion show that is about to take place. The Marquis isn’t the only person Ada impresses with her tenacity and drive; the workers behind the scenes are thrilled to see someone like them trying to purchase a designer dress. Claudine consistently proves to be an antagonist to Ada’s fairytale, but the eventual resolution is a highly satisfying one, giving Claudine a clear reason for her resistance to change and a chance to find common ground with Ada.
When Ada learns she can’t just buy the dress and leave—that the dress will be custom made for her—she is met with more good luck and the kindness of strangers, as the accountant André (Lucas Bravo) offers to let her stay at his apartment for the duration of her stay. While Ada fails to have a Parisian romance, Natasha and André have a sweet little subplot that sees their more studious and book-loving personalities give flight to a marriage or the minds, that, while not a spectacular romance, is still quite fun to watch blossom.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a post-war Cinderella story, with a mature heroine who uses grit and tenacity instead of fairy godmothers to achieve her dreams and find romance along the way. Ada gets her Cinderella moment when she arrives at the Legion dance and Archie is there to be the Prince Charming that sweeps her off her feet.
Jason Isaacs has always been dreamy, even when he’s played the rapscallion Captain Hook or the devious Lucius Malfoy, but he has reached new levels of dreamy in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Perhaps it’s the charming appeal of him being the dapper fellow at the local pub, or his genuine and sweet interest in Ada, but everything about the film’s final scene at the Legion dance is swoon-worthy. In an era of cinema where romance is hard to find, and earnest romance for leads over fifty is even more scarce, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a dream come true.
The film’s director, Anthony Fabian, has a keen eye for what audiences want to see in a film like Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, delivering beautiful and grand scenery, while never straying far from the intimacy of the story. Coupled with Felix Wiedemann’s cinematography and the stunning costuming by Jenny Beavan, and the heartwarming composition from Rael Jones, the film is a feast more sumptuous than the finest Parisian desserts. The world is an increasingly dark and pessimistic world and Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is the sweetest 2-hour diversion to remind you that there is still hope and good in the world.
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is about far more than just an haute couture dress, it is about looking for the signs that are all around us, guiding us towards the glimmers of hope that nudge us in the right directions. The world needs more feel-good tales that are filled to the brim with optimism and a smattering of romance.
Final Verdict: A+
