Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, One Battle After Another is a movie movie. It is a cornucopia for film goers. Rich with character, incidents, conflicts, themes, history and messages. It clocks in at two hours and fifty minutes and there’s not a yawn in it. There’s not a wasted second. It’s a nearly three hour film that’s tight and compact. It’s a wonder.
Anderson is a master of telling multi-layered stories somehow presenting complexity as compelling cinema as he’s done here and with films such as Magnolia, Licorice Pizza and Boogie Nights.
One Battle is the story of an ex-revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) who has to rescue his daughter (Chase Infiniti in her film debut) from a corrupt military officer (Sean Penn). That’s your over simplified plot summary. There is so much else going on. Relationships, plots, betrayals, deception and a fair bit of comedy along with something of a history lesson. No, One Battle is not based on a true story (its origins are Thomas Pynchon’s novel, Vineland) but it gives you a sense of the spirit of the Sixties among those who, like the Weather Underground, believed in using violence as a response to a regressive and repressive U.S.government.
Among Anderson’s gifts is an ability to draw pitch perfect performances from his cast (see Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread). DiCaprio has completed the transformation from pretty boy star to veteran and oh-so reliable actor who can carry a film on his back. He has to do a lot of heavy lifting here and is fully up to the task. Ms. Infiniti is a revelation and surely a future star. Prior to this picture her credits consisted of eight credits for a TV show and one music video. She’s got screen presence and is achingly pretty. But Sean Penn steals every scene he’s in. His portrayal veers wonderfully from amazingly realistic to over-the-top spoof but he handles it brilliantly. Benicio del Toro, Regina Hall and Teyana Taylor are the other leads. Wikipedia tells me that Ms. Taylor is an “American singer, songwriter, actress, model, dancer, choreographer, and music video director.” She seems like someone I should have heard of by now but I’ll not soon forget her performance in One Battle as the uber dedicated and sexualized revolutionary.
Like most Anderson films, this is a master class in pacing and editing. Anderson knows when to hold a shot an extra beat and when to cut. His also adept framing shots, he’s not a master like John Ford but he’s far better than most. He brought all his skills to making One Battle.
This is also a film that will resonate with people because of their current political climate (a sorry climate, indeed). There are detention centers for immigrants, military intervention in American cities and a shadowy racist right wing group that seeks what they consider racial purity and an end to immigration (at least from non-whites). I suspect that the MAGA crowd will object to the film. Hell, I’d be disappointed if they didn’t.
One Battle is the first really good new film I’ve seen this year and I hope it’s the start of a trend. That said, it’ll be hard to top.
1 comment:
Yes, to every word!
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