Saturday, C4, 9:15pm
Anthony Fabian’s Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is a sartorial fantasy wrapped in mid-century charm, carried aloft by the radiant Lesley Manville as the titular Mrs. Ada Harris. The 2022 film, adapted from Paul Gallico’s 1958 novel, tells the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who becomes enamored with a Dior dress and sets out on a whimsical, unlikely quest to acquire one for herself. The film unfolds with a gentle grace, balancing realism with fable, bolstered by warm performances and lush costume design that earned it a deserved Oscar nomination. At its heart, it's a tale of aspiration and quiet rebellion—of a working-class woman navigating the rigid structures of both society and fashion to carve out a moment of beauty for herself.
Integral to that dreamy tone is the film’s original score by Rael Jones, whose orchestral compositions lend a balletic quality to Ada’s journey. Jones, known for his work on My Cousin Rachel and The Salisbury Poisonings, blends sweeping strings and lilting piano motifs to evoke both the drabness of post-war London and the opulence of Parisian couture. The music waltzes through scenes like a well-fitted gown, echoing the film’s themes of hope, transformation, and self-worth. Particularly striking is how the score subtly shifts between Ada’s two worlds—practicality in England and possibility in France—mirroring her own emotional metamorphosis.
What elevates the soundtrack beyond period pastiche is its emotional intelligence. Rather than leaning too heavily on nostalgia, Jones crafts a sonic landscape that feels timeless, emphasizing Ada’s interiority more than any specific era. And while the film includes period-appropriate jazz and classical cues to ground us in the 1950s, it’s the original compositions that linger, enhancing the fairytale logic of Ada’s dream. In a year flush with maximalist scores and needle-drop soundtracks, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris stood out for its restraint, its grace, and its belief in beauty as a form of quiet resistance.