You know you're watching Paul Thomas Anderson if...
We meet characters out of time and an America in transition.
PTA often sets his films during periods of upheaval,
and gives us characters who are alienated by these transitional periods,
people who feel like they’re left behind during formative moments in American culture.
In "Boogie Nights," the 80’s usher in the home video camera,
so Jack Horner’s “professional quality” porn becomes obsolete.
"Goodbye, 1979.
Hello, 1980."
"Inherent Vice"’s Doc Sportello is still a hippie in the 70’s, when it’s no longer
fashionable to be one --
"Everything's gone from 'groovy' and 'where you at, man,'
suggesting a high level of fear and discomfort with the way things are headed."
"The Master’"s Freddie Quell is a WWII vet who feels like his country has moved on without
him.
Anderson’s films show us growing pains -- both communal and personal --
to reveal deeper insights about how our culture has been formed.
It's a sneaky period piece.
Many of Anderson’s films are period films, but we don't notice this too much.
They aren't what we tend to think of when we think of "period piece."
He chooses very specific slices of time and space --
ones that haven't actually been extensively visited or dramatized on screen.
But maybe the biggest reason his films don’t feel typically “period” is the music --
his later films like "The Master," "There Will Be Blood," "Inherent Vice" and "Phantom
Thread"
feature avant-garde tracks by Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood,
So the music gives the vision a modern or out-of-time feel.
We get expressive, syncopated scores
that give us a window into the the inner turmoil Anderson’s characters are feeling.
Greenwood’s jumpy, syncopated score for "The Master" feels out of joint with the images
--
so this music makes us feel tense and uneasy -- it’s telling us something is deeply wrong
with Freddie.
In "Punch-Drunk Love," Jon Brion’s score mixed with songs taken from Altman’s "Popeye,"
create a charming but nervous mood that captures how this is different from your average love
story.
"Until the day I die / I won't know why / I knew he needed me."
It looks at the impact of religion.
Anderson is a humanist -- his focus isn’t what any religion preaches, but how belief
influences his characters.
Freddie joins The Cause, an analog for Scientology.
And he finds meaning in his life, even though the religion behind The Cause is clearly a
hoax.
"You've also said that these methods -- Cause methods -- can cure leukemia, according to
your book."
"Some forms of leukemia.
And being able to access past lives,
we are able to treat illnesses that may have started back thousands or even trillions of
years."
In "The Master" or "There Will Be Blood," Anderson shows the dark sides of religions,
too, and services our skepticism.
The preacher in "There Will Be Blood" strikes us an over-the-top performer,
but he’s the one who forces Daniel to reckon with his dark past.
"Say it.
Say it."
"I've abandoned my child."
"Say it louder!
Say it louder!"
"I've abandoned my child!"
Anderson seems to be saying that belief, whether based in fact or fiction,
can help people transcend a more basic existence.
"Man is not an animal.
We are not a part of the animal kingdom."
And even if the rituals may be artificial or phony, truth can still emerge.
There's a dynamic camera.
PTA likes to have his camera moving in most of his shots.
We can see his flair for showy camera movements especially in his earlier films.
Take the iconic opening of "Boogie Nights."
And this quick dolly-in from "Magnolia."
It's full of frantic energy that draws attention to itself.
In his later work we get a more deliberate, subtle moving camera.
So compare that shot from "Magnolia" to this dolly-in from 2014’s "Inherent Vice."
It’s much slower and contemplative --
and PTA now seems focused more on composition and movement within the frame.
And of course, Anderson is known for his visual prowess.
His movies look like oil paintings.
PTA is known for his exhaustive knowledge of the technical side of cinematography.
A running theme in Anderson's stories is that
human connection is the one thing that helps us rise to a higher level of existence.
Fame or financial success are unfulfilling distractions.
Anderson rejects the rugged individualism that’s celebrated in many classic American
films.
In "There Will Be Blood," we see what happens when individualism goes unchecked.
Daniel’s greed and obsession prevent him from caring for his adopted son.
In the end, PTA’s films champion compassion and human bonds.
His films often give us a surrogate family.
Anderson’s ensemble casts show the dynamics of surrogate families in all their love and
weirdness.
Makeshift families give the characters purpose and belonging.
By the end of the movie they tend to fracture or deteriorate,
but PTA tells us that there has been value in that connection.
And in a lot of the goal seems to be accepting ourselves.
Anderson’s characters often lie about who they are, especially to themselves.
In "Magnolia," Frank TJ Mackey tries to forget a painful past by lying about his father’s
death
and about going to college at Berkeley.
"See I have some trouble locating your score records at UCLA and Berkeley.
And your name changed.
Why would you lie, Frank?"
In "The Master," Lancaster asks a series of rapid fire questions,
and Freddie lies at first, but the truth pours out of him uncontrollably.
"Where's your father?"
"Dead."
"How did he die?"
"Drunk."
"Where's your mother?...Where's your mother?"
"Loony bin."
Anderson digs into the lies we tell ourselves to cope with the pain of reality.
In the end, his films argue that, before we can do anything else worthwhile,
we have to face the truth and accept ourselves for who we really are.
"I have a love in my life.
It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine.
I would say "That's that," Mattress Man."
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