The Dressmaker By Rosalie Ham

The Dressmaker, originally written by Rosalie Ham and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, is a comedy-drama that follows the story of Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, who returns to her hometown Dungatar to see her unstable mother who has become an alcoholic. It is later revealed that Tilly has not only returned to see her mother, but for deeply personal reasons also.
This film will be analysed using Psychological Criticism and a Reader-Response Criticism. The Psychological Criticism explores the psychology of the director and the characters in the film, whereas the Reader-Response Criticism analyses the viewer’s interpretation of the film that is influenced by their personal experiences.
Psychological Criticism
What psychological conflicts influence the

I expected the film to be quite dull due to the unexciting setting, but I was proven wrong by the characters and events that took place during it. I find that the town I live in bares similarities to Dungatar in The Dressmaker as they are both small communities where everyone knows everything about each other. I normally do not watch movies in my spare time because they either don’t captivate me or it’s a matter of me judging a film by its synopsis and losing all interest in it. I cannot identify any other personal experiences of mine that may have impacted my interpretation of the film in any way.
How do you, as the viewer, respond to the film? Can you relate to it on a personal level?
I was very captivated by the film as its storyline was not very predictable, although I expected it to be boring. Personally, I cannot relate very strongly to the characters’ personalities, but I can relate to minor personality traits and some of the decisions they make. I could compare the personalities of the characters to some people in my personal life. Overall, I ended up liking the film and its characters a lot as they were unique and exciting compared to the dry setting, which I felt made the setting itself more