Paul Thomas Anderson is revolutionary and comedically minded in his second Pynchon film.
Now it says: “Viva la Revolution!” With Paul Thomas Anderson (55) “One Battle after another” An almost three -hour, as rapidly and comedic Tour de Force comes to our cinemas. From the already already Oscar-winning main cast around Leonardo DiCaprio (50), Benicio del Toro (58) and Sean Penn (65), the first-mentioned star seems to be hot for another gold boy.
Obtained from your own past – that's what it's about
It has been around 16 years ago that a resistance movement under the name “French 75” could free hundreds of people from the imprisonment of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Bob Ferguson (DiCaprio) was also called ghetto pat among the revolutionary. In the present, he is plagued by the delusion of the persecution. Is the unscrupulous (and highly racist) ICE colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) still hunting for him?
The only constant in his life is his spirited daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti, 25). When she suddenly disappears, the former activist desperately starts looking for her. Father and daughter have to face the consequences that have grown from Bob's former actions.
Action meets Screwball comedy
Paul Thomas Anderson gathers an illustrious star ensemble in front of the camera for his new film. In view of the current events in the United States around the ICE immigration authority under President Donald Trump, “One Battle After Another” is also highly up to date. However, the strip does not tell a beer-most moral apostle story, but also takes on the topic in addition to all the action, but also on humorous, sometimes reminiscent of a screwball comedy.
That may seem surprising at first glance. Because, especially with the recently returned from the acting pension, Daniel Day-Lewis has brought Anderson to hay stories on the screen-in addition to “the silky thread”, especially in the form of the masterpiece “There will be Blood”. With his last film, the coming-of-age comedy “Licorice Pizza”, and already in 1997 with “Boogie Nights” the director already proved to have a comedic hand.
“One Battle after another” can be seen as an extremely loose adaptation by Thomas Pynchon's book “Vineland”. It is no secret that Anderson is a big fan of the works of the US writer. In 2014 he was already filming another book by Pynchon with “Inherent Vice” and Joaquin Phoenix in the leading role.
Is the Oscar nomination already safe?
DiCaprio is with absolute fervor and seems to want to tackle his second Oscar. His removed figure is reminiscent of his character from “One Upon a Time … in Hollywood”, which had to face various internal and external demons, similarly mentally unstable. DiCaprio received a nomination at the Academy Awards 2020, but he had to surrender to the “Joker” aka Joaquin Phoenix.
Maybe thanks to Paul Thomas Anderson. With a greater probability, only a few directors can boast of making it on the nomination list at the Oscars. His last five works alone collected 22 nominations at the Academy Awards.
3 1/2 out of 5 revolutionary liberation points