For at least the past decade and a half, each of Paul Thomas AnderÂsonÂ’s movies has arrived in theÂaters as a major cinÂeÂmatÂic event. By pure chance, I got an espeÂcialÂly powÂerÂful taste of this a few years ago in Los AngeÂles when, after a revival screenÂing of The ShinÂing, we in the audiÂence were told to stay right there in our seats for the rest of the night’s surÂprise douÂble-feaÂture, the secÂond half being AnderÂsonÂ’s as yet unreÂleased and almost comÂpleteÂly unseen The MasÂter — proÂjectÂed in 70-milÂlimeÂter. NeedÂless to say, nobody left, so palÂpaÂble was the desire to expeÂriÂence the next phase of the cinÂeÂmatÂic vision of the auteur who has, to that point, givÂen us Hard Eight, BooÂgie Nights, MagÂnoÂlia, Punch-Drunk Love, and There Will Be Blood.
So what makes AnderÂsonÂ’s cinÂeÂmatÂic vision so comÂpelling? Video essayÂist Cameron Beyl, creÂator of The DirecÂtors Series (whose exploÂrations of StanÂley Kubrick, David FinchÂer, and the Coen brothÂers we’ve preÂviÂousÂly feaÂtured here on Open CulÂture), attempts an answer in this analyÂsis of AnderÂsonÂ’s films, each of whose chapÂters reflect a chapÂter of the auteur’s jourÂney to his curÂrent promiÂnence. The first of them finds him, at sevÂenÂteen after a childÂhood in the San FerÂnanÂdo ValÂley, shootÂing a porn-star mockÂuÂmenÂtary called The Dirk DigÂgler StoÂry, eleÂments of which would latÂer shape his 1997 porn-indusÂtry epic BooÂgie Nights. HavÂing ditched film school after just two days, the slightÂly oldÂer AnderÂson set out to make CigÂaÂrettes & CofÂfee, a short tale of low life told in high style that would expand into his first feaÂture, the misÂtreatÂed but redisÂcovÂered Hard Eight.
Beyl’s minisÂeries of video essays, which runs nearÂly three hours in total, conÂtinÂues from AnderÂsonÂ’s earÂly SunÂdance sucÂcess (a sucÂcess that did much to raise the proÂfile of the fesÂtiÂval itself) to his much largÂer-budÂget “CalÂiÂforÂnia chronÂiÂcles” BooÂgie Nights and MagÂnoÂlia, his “conÂcept comeÂdies” Punch-Drunk Love and varÂiÂous othÂer shorts made at the time, his “porÂtraits of powÂer” There Will Be Blood and The MasÂter, and his ascent to “highÂer states” in the Thomas PynÂchon adapÂtaÂtion InherÂent Vice and the docÂuÂmenÂtary JunÂjun.
Beyl describes AnderÂson as undeÂniÂably “born to be a filmÂmakÂer,” and so it stands to reaÂson that, though his favorite themes includÂing famÂiÂly, powÂer, and sexÂuÂal dysÂfuncÂtion remain conÂstant, each new phase of the direcÂtor’s life results in a new phase in his filmÂmakÂing — or indeed, the othÂer way around. And so everyÂone who takes film seriÂousÂly eagerÂly awaits his next chapÂter.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
The HidÂden Secrets in “DayÂdreamÂing,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s New RadioÂhead Music Video
Two Short Films on CofÂfee and CigÂaÂrettes from Jim JarÂmusch & Paul Thomas AnderÂson
DisÂcovÂer the Life & Work of StanÂley Kubrick in a SweepÂing Three-Hour Video Essay
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities and culÂture. He’s at work on a book about Los AngeÂles, A Los AngeÂles Primer, the video series The City in CinÂeÂma, the crowdÂfundÂed jourÂnalÂism project Where Is the City of the Future?, and the Los AngeÂles Review of Books’ Korea Blog. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.