Paul Thomas Anderson: An Auteur

Today let's explore about Paul Thomas Anderson and his stylized work. To analyze some of his signature films from 3 different decades, it will give a better impression of his body of work. Boogie Nights (1997) was the first PTA film I had seen, I was probably around 16 or 17. My parents love his work, among similar auteurs. The film has served as a jumping platform for my senior thesis. The opening sequence is about a 4 minute one shot establishing the era, a popular club, and the characters. It can be generally said about There Will Be Blood (2007) and Inherent Vice (2014). However, I feel that as his career goes on, the opening sequence becomes more vague. This can be said about how he handles entire films these days, but more on that later.

Boogie Nights is all about the conversations and interactions characters have with one another. From the strange, stream-of-consciousness characters of William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and John C Reilly, to the confused-that-they're-there characters of Mark Wahlberg and Heather Graham, there is a lot to offer in terms of interpersonal relationships. Random conversations that seemingly have no point often populate Anderson's films. Yet these conversations, (especially upon a second watch) are revealed to be rather important. I mean, the build up to William H. Macy's (Little Bill) double murder-suicide of his wife's lover and her was genius. There were signs that she was cheating thrown about every time they time-jumped, but Little Bill can be initially written off as a side character that doesn't matter, so why would these sequences go anywhere? Except they did. And frankly, it was hilarious where they went. It was a comical finale to his story when he killed himself. William H. Macy is an excellent actor with a career that shows his range, but Anderson directs his actors in a way where some scenes come off very flat. Flat, in a way that actually enhances the scene. In this example, Little Bill's deadpan expression as he performed his final act, made the scene hilarious. And this small instance is very telling to Anderson's larger voice in his movies. (The same can be said about the coke scene at the drug dealer's house, also hilarious.)

The conversations in There Will Be Blood are admittedly more obviously pertinent to the story. The relationships between characters are intense and strained at best. But the conversations are also long and grueling exposés of information, really. Most conversations are there to show the viewer how big Daniel Plainview's dick is. But really, Anderson does great character studies. There Will Be Blood was a fantastic extended character study of Daniel Plainview, all primarily told through negotiations.

As a closer, Inherent Vice was the most convoluted Anderson film I have seen. Anderson expresses his tendency to make stories convoluted, as seen in Boogie Nights, The Master, or Magnolia, but I left Inherent Vice truly confused. I was not able to grasp anything from that film. And that's what made it so great. Anderson fully fed into his more vague tendencies and I believe it paid off. It requires a second watch for sure, but the conversations and relationships maintained through humor still speak true to Anderson's voice.