YouthQuake magazine: FRONT PAGE | MUSIC | FILM | AUTHORS | ACTORS | MODELS | ABOUT Paul
Thomas Anderson: an introduction By
Jason Henderson The
work of director Paul Thomas Anderson is truly distinct. It captures
human nature in its purist form and shows the audience what drives
people to do what they do. Using reoccurring themes of redemption
and forgiveness, the stories he tells can be identified with on the
most basic level. At times the situations become disturbing and difficult
to follow, but using human characteristics as the root of his storytelling
has led Anderson to become one of the most sought-after directors
in the film industry today. While keeping the consideration of his
audience and his actors on the top of his list, this brilliant young
director has the proven talent that has surpassed what many established
in the industry could only hope for. * * * Paul
Thomas Anderson was born Jan. 1, 1970, in the San Fernando Valley
of Los Angeles. His father, Ernie Anderson, was a well-known voiceover
actor and had a television show in the Cleveland, Ohio, area during
the early 1960s. Playing the character of Ghoulardi, he hosted B-movies
and horror flicks on public television, and eventually became a local
star. After the show was cancelled, he moved his family to the West
Coast, where Paul was born into a family of two brothers and four
sisters. School
had always been an area in which Anderson lacked ambition, and by
the sixth grade, he was expelled from school due to bad grades and
constant troublemaking. When he was a teenager, he attended a college
prep school and afterward was enrolled in Emerson College and majored
in English. Again, his schooling didn’t last long, and he quit after
his freshman year. Deciding that he would pursue film school, he was
accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. However, student
life lasted two days. “I never liked the idea of film school. It’s
a waste of time and money,” Anderson said. “I felt elitist in college
because people were just learning about movies that I had seen when
I was 12 years old.” Feeling that he was out of place, he decided
that working in the business was the next logical step. * * * Anderson
became a production assistant on various television movies, videos
and game shows. During his stint as a PA, Anderson was beginning to
develop a short script, “Cigarettes and Coffee,” with all the necessary
film equipment borrowed from friends. “I’d worked as a PA for a long
time, so I had a lot of access to people and camera packages, and
I had some money and my girlfriend’s credit cards. When I came up
with the short, ‘Cigarettes and Coffee,’ essentially it was kind of
an all or nothing situation.” His confidence in the short proved to
be correct, and it was submitted and screened at the 1993 Sundance
Film Festival. Praised by audiences, Anderson was invited into the
Sundance Filmmaker’s Lab as a result. In addition to his short, he
had written a feature-length version of the same story, which would
become the starting point of his career as a director. When he was
just 24, he had a deal to direct his first feature-length picture. “Hard
Eight,” as it would come to be titled, was released almost two years
later after distribution problems and disagreements with the studio.
The film showed a maturity that took critics by surprise, considering
Anderson’s youth and lack of experience. The story revolves around
Sydney, a man who takes a young apprentice under his wing. Even though
we are not sure why he has done so, by the end there is such a buildup
that the payoff seems to make complete sense. The
film received mixed reviews, with many critics saying there is an
anticlimax and that the film falls short. Those who praised the picture
included Roger Ebert, who explained why many considered it a slow
movie: “By this point in the film, its writer-director, Paul Thomas
Anderson, has us so hooked that we’re watching for the sheer pleasure
of the dialogue and the acting. Anderson has a good ear. Movies like
‘Hard Eight’ remind me of what original, compelling characters the
movies can sometimes give us. Like David Mamet’s ‘House of Games’
or Mike Figgis’ ‘Leaving Las Vegas,’ or the documentary ‘Crumb,’ they
pay attention to the people who inhabit city nights according to their
own rules, who have learned from experience and don’t like to make
the same mistake twice. At one point, when Clementine (the female
lead) asks him a question, Sydney says, ‘You shouldn’t ask a question
like that unless you know the answer.’ It's not so much what he says
as how he says it.” Anderson
had already begun to establish his signature style. Concentrating
on dialogue over action, the scenes were able to capture how real
people speak to each other without losing the original intention of
the scene. The cast included Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow,
both of whom were also working on other roles at the time. After a
bitter two-year struggle over the release of the film, it finally
hit theatres at the beginning of 1997. That same year would see another
release from Anderson. * * * Complimenting
his feature debut was the highly controversial and critically acclaimed
epic “Boogie Nights.” The film follows an extended family of filmmakers
who struggle to redefine and revolutionize the adult entertainment
industry. Led by an idealistic producer (Burt Reynolds) who dreams
of elevating his craft to an art form, this film takes a behind-the-scenes
journey into the turbulent lives of those who rise and fall in such
a misunderstood world. Anderson had written and shot a half-hour version
of the film on home video when he was 17 and was privileged enough
to return to it 10 years later to complete a feature-length version.
The story, which spans from 1977 until 1983, was originally three
hours but was trimmed down to 2:40 for its release near the end of
1997. Instead
of using sex to exploit the film, “Boogie Nights” turns that microcosm
of American life into a fascinating story that reflects the highs
and lows of the swinging ’70s and burnt-out ’80s. When approached
in this manner, the participants become more humanized in an industry
that rarely sees any respect or dignity. “There are a lot of similarities
between gangster movies and this movie,” Anderson said. “In pictures
like ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Goodfellas,’ the protagonists are murderers,
but we love them and somehow associate with them because they are
presented as human beings. It’s the same scenario here. These people
make pornography, which is a very weird and nasty business, but there’s
still something very human and likeable about them.” The
response to Anderson’s sophomore effort was sensational. Critics called
him the next Martin Scorsese, using camera
moves and dramatic effects with characters that were able to bring
the entire story together in one piece. Anderson’s intention for the
movie was to focus on the moral and social structure of a group of
pornographers. In keeping with the structure of “Hard Eight,” Anderson
makes the primary focus the actors themselves, driving the story through
dialogue rather than plot. A movie about pornography that only has
two sex scenes translates into what Anderson was aiming for during
production: “I can see something in pornography that can be incredibly
funny, either in a campy way or an honest and dark way. But then it
can become sad and depressing. I love it and support it as much as
it saddens and disgusts me. Despite its licentious topic, the film
concentrates its nudity into only a few sequences.” Since
Anderson was only 10 by the time the ’80s had rolled around, many
critics were quick to judge him on a topic that he would have been
too young to remember. “I grew up in the ’80s. I lived 10 years of
my life being told that if you have sex, you’re going to die, you
know what I mean? And I’m sick of that and I don’t wanna live that
way, so I’m looking back on the ’70s and saying, what was happening
there and what can I learn from that?” Anderson said. “Boogie
Nights” was released in October 1997 and had made over $20 million
by the end of its theatrical run. Even though $20 million seemed a
bit short by conventional Hollywood standards, it had given Anderson
the recognition he had long deserved. Not long after his run with
“Boogie Nights,” he set his sights on creating his third, and possibly
most popular, film to date. In the first week of 2000, “Magnolia”
was released nationwide. Within no time, Anderson again proved that
he had the talent to surpass his previous work. * * * “Magnolia”
presents a microcosm of American society through nine intertwined
stories that take place on one rainy day in Southern California, during
which all kinds of dramatic situations are unleashed. Parents and
children, anger and forgiveness, television and real life, longing
and loss, chance and volition, even sunshine and storm find themselves
in collision on this one day that builds through a series of accidents
to an unexpected phenomenon. Anderson was again applying his signature
style to his work by concentrating on the dialogue over the plot and
giving his characters a realistic aspect that audiences could identify
with. At
the center of the “Magnolia” maze of interconnections is Earl Partridge,
a dying man who is coming to terms with the regrets of his life in
his final moments. Partridge is played by the late Jason Robards,
who had never worked with Anderson before. Robards was struck by the
material’s reality: “I was taken aback by the script because it is
so honest about the human condition, about estrangement and relationships
with parents and even death,” he says. “It had a novelistic approach
that I found fascinating. There were no star parts. Every character
was equal. It was just a slice of the life we live nowadays.” The
film is a creative frenzy of a movie, highlighting the intensely spiritual
struggles of its characters caught in contemporary emotional conflicts.
It hops from character to character, tying them together in a web
of loneliness, rage and guilt that builds to a climax, and reality
ultimately yields confession, grace and forgiveness. It’s a movie
that holds the depths and heights of humanity in perfect balance with
each other. The
film sees relatedness in people, not so much in blood relationships,
but by their spiritual and emotional struggles. All of the characters
begin the movie in crisis, and the drama rises and falls in a pattern,
emphasizing their common humanity. And most of the characters’ lives
revolve around the television, which both empowers and oppresses them.
Anderson’s flashy visual style is at times fast and furious (such
as in the brilliant opening sequence depicting some urban legends)
and at other times is fluid and graceful (towards the third act).
Grounded in a world of cluttered apartments, professional offices,
darkened bedrooms, TV back stages and dilapidated streets, the sets
provide a sense of realism that reinforce the raw emotions exhibited
by their inhabitants. * * * After
a brief period of inactivity, both critics and fans alike were anxious
to know how and when Anderson would return. Giving only hints and
tidbits of information to various media sources beforehand, Anderson’s
fourth feature, “Punch Drunk Love,” premiered in Los Angeles and New
York on Oct. 11, 2002. After Anderson’s previous two films, both of
which exceeded two and a half hours, “PDL” was trimmed down to a slim
one and a half. But rather than concentrating on more dramatic writing
and performance, Anderson shifted genres to the romantic comedy. Unlike
his other films, “PDL” was not an ensemble piece but a starring vehicle
for Adam Sandler. Many people were turned off by the idea of the man
at the helm of “Magnolia” directing a film with the star of “Little
Nicky,” even if Sandler was teamed up with a few Anderson regulars
in supporting roles. Yet “PDL” blew away critics and audiences alike
by showcasing a much more serious and respected actor in Sandler.
The film received enough praise that Anderson went on to receive the
award for best director at the Cannes Film Festival. * * * Compared
to the likes of Robert Altman and having been called the next Martin
Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson has taken the world of cinema by
storm. In less than a decade, Anderson has proved to critics and fans
alike that he has the ability to create stories that ring true of
their subject matter, despite their subject matter. From 1994 through
2002, Anderson climbed the ranks from an unknown production assistant
to a powerhouse director and has been labeled “wunderkind” and “genius.”
With a relatively short career thus far, Anderson’s work has earned
him a respect that is rarely seen in contemporary Hollywood. Jason
lives and works in Los Angeles. Work
cited: Time
Magazine, 1997. As posted on ptanderson.com Braun,
Liz. “Boogie Nights: Sex, Drugs, and Disco.” Jam Movie Reviews.com.
(1997) Stevens,
Chuck. “Interview with Paul Thomas Anderson” Magnolia: The Shooting
Script. (2000) Geracimos,
Ann. “Jason Robards brings patience, dedication to his craft, and
the awards cometh.” Washington Times. (1999) Related link: Paul Thomas Anderson's filmography @ IMDb |