Recently I was able to see the new film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, called One Battle After Another. It very much delivered in terms of form, but I didn’t see the things in this movie that many critics and audience members seem to be praising it for. The cinematography holds purpose and delivers on its spectacle, which is the bare minimum expectation in a movie like this one. And besides his personal politics, Jonny Greenwood gave us a masterful film score which gives much more life to the motion, and emotion of the film. It’s possibly the funniest movie I’ve seen all year, yet there’s some itch that I have with it that doesn’t seem to be touched upon by the majority of the movie-viewing public.
Anderson depicts a story of two fathers, one biological, and one who’s a parental figure. They’re on opposing sides of the political spectrum, and they both search for the daughter of the woman they loved. One searches due to love, and the other because of the “mistakes” of his past. These motivations lead us into a constant chase, involving the United States military, after the person they both believe is their daughter. We are also allowed the daughter’s perspective, as she is slowly trained to become a revolutionary by her mother’s former allies and friends. Through this training, she learns of her heritage, and of the life her guardian swore to protect her from. Over the latter half of the film, she is put in situations that mold her into a revolutionary fighter, something which Bob (the father played by Leonardo DiCaprio) wanted to protect her from.
A time skip after the first third of the film shows us how Bob’s political ideals have changed over the years, with him distracting himself from his previous life with drugs and alcohol. He listens to Steely Dan (which isn’t a bad band), and uses ableist slurs against people who give him trouble. To me, this may be a partial viewpoint into PTA’s mind and how he views himself. Bob has lost his principles, or maybe he never had them to begin with.
PTA believes he’s not what he used to be, and that the struggles of his daily life has weakened his mind politically. The conclusion to this movie almost seems like an admission of sorts. It shows Bob enjoying life while taking selfies after the climatic chase of the movie, and his acceptance of his daughter’s desire to be a revolutionary. In my view, PTA is entrusting the next generation of filmmakers, or people in general, to be able to act out the political change they want to see… something that he seems unable to do.
While the actual political text of the movie feels weak, the movie still holds a great promise. The actual images that we see hold power, but the inability of PTA and Bob to “be what they used to be” can hold this film back at times. Comedy in this picture can almost seem like a crutch at certain moments, filling in empty space for what could be a more politically minded movie. Anderson is aware of this though, and with the hopeful ending set to Tom Petty’s American Girl, gives us an opportunity to fix the issues that we see with our world. This opportunity is one that only presents itself after we’ve left the theater though.
