paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” Strikes a Nerve – and the Box Office
By Julia Evans,World-Today-News.com - November 27, 2023
Paul Thomas Anderson has long been a darling of the critical establishment, a filmmaker’s filmmaker. But with one Battle After Another, he’s achieved something new: a widespread connection with audiences, evidenced by it’s record-breaking opening weekend. the film isn’t just good – it’s resonating, tapping into the anxieties and desires for change that define the current American landscape.
Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s sprawling novel Vineland, One Battle After Another is a complex and unflinching look at the long shadow cast by past political struggles. The narrative centers on Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), former revolutionaries haunted by their choices, as their teenage daughter, Willa (chase Infiniti), finds herself targeted by a hazardous adversary: Col. Steven Lockjaw (sean penn), a white supremacist desperate to bury his history. When perfidia disappears,a disillusioned Bob,aided by fellow veterans of the fight,Sensei Sergio (Benicio Del Toro) and Deandra (Regina Hall),embarks on a desperate rescue mission.
The film’s opening sequence – a daring liberation of Mexican immigrants from a detention center orchestrated by the group known as the French 75 – has already sparked considerable discussion. It’s impossible to ignore the parallels with contemporary debates surrounding ICE and the increasingly unfriendly rhetoric directed towards immigrants, a continuation of policies with deep historical roots.
Though, One Battle After Another isn’t a simple endorsement of political violence. Anderson masterfully avoids glorification, rather portraying such actions as temporary, ultimately self-defeating measures. The film argues that drawing lines in the sand inevitably leads to casualties on all sides, creating new victims within the vrey systems it seeks to dismantle.A particularly poignant example is the accidental killing of an elderly Black security guard during a robbery,an act that profoundly impacts Perfidia,shattering her resolve despite her unwavering commitment to dismantling systemic inequality. The French 75, despite their noble intentions, discover that true liberation cannot be achieved through force.
The film’s philosophical core is beautifully articulated in a conversation between Sensei Sergio and Bob: “You know what freedom is? No fear.” Sergio’s addition – “Just like Tom fuckin’ Cruise” – injects a dose of levity, but the underlying message is profound. Freedom, as presented by Anderson, isn’t simply about physical liberation; it’s a state of mind, a rejection of the fear that often intensifies with age and experience.
One Battle After Another isn’t an easy watch. It’s challenging,demanding,and deeply unsettling.But it’s precisely this willingness to confront uncomfortable truths that makes it such a powerful and timely film, and explains why it’s connecting with audiences on a level rarely seen in Anderson’s celebrated career.
Keywords: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another, Leonardo DiCaprio, teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti, film review, movie review, political thriller, Thomas Pynchon, Vineland, box office, ICE, immigration, political violence.
