4 Point Review – One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another is Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest movie based on Thoman Pynchon’s novel Vineland. It follows a middle-aged ex-revolutionary who ventures to save his daughter from the clutches of a bigoted military officer. That’s a very straightforward summary of the plot, but it is far from what makes this movie, in my opinion, one of the best of the year.
I won’t be spoiling the ending of the movie in this review, but I will be exploring certain plot points along the way. I don’t think these will negatively impact your viewing of the movie in any way, but warning just in case you would like to go in fully blind.
Revolutionary Roads
This will sound odd to say, but I really felt like the movie explored the concept of revolutions three dimensionally. And by that I mean, we got the dimension of time but also the dimension of the variety with different types of revolutions.
We see DiCaprio’s Ghetto Pat Calhoun and Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia Beverly Hills infiltrate a prison camp to release the prisoners. Then later, they escalate by detonating bombs in courthouses, politicians’ offices, and power stations. They do their revolution in their own way as an infamous revolutionary force named the French 75.
We also see Sergio St. Carlos, played deftly by Benicio del Toro, be part of his own type of revolution – one that does not rely on violence or infamy, but rather just going against the law for what he believes is right. Providing shelter and resources to his community to live when those in power would rather lock them up or leave them to their meager fate elsewhere is empowering and just as impactful as what the French 75 were doing.
Finally, we also see Chase Infiniti’s character Willa rebel in her own way. At first, she pushes back against her father by standing up for her nonbinary friend. More substantially, she then fights against figures in power throughout the film and stands up for herself, learning to do what her own parents did many years ago. Although the passing of the torch feels distant, it shows how those who foster the right values ensure that that spirit is passed on.
In all cases, it felt eerily poignant as the oppression and the counterculture across generations shown in the film are so prevalent today, if not moreso. It goes to show that although we constantly feel like things have never been this bad, the fight against systemic oppression is a fight we have undertaken forever and it’s one we will continue to need each other to fight against.
What Are We Fighting For?
One of my big takeaways from this film is the dichotomy of what oppressors and the oppressed are fighting for. It really drove home how those seeking power at the expense of others are doing it for themselves.
Whether it’s Sean Penn’s Steven Lockjaw or the members of the Christmas Adventurer’s Club, they are shown as selfish people in isolated, cold environments. It emphasizes how they are really in it for their own personal gain, whether it’s wealth or status. They are not only self-centred but are willing to submit to levels of bigotry that they don’t even believe in order to be part of the club. This in itself is very reflective of the politics we see today. Do I believe every extreme right person actually holds the homogeneously identical bigoted beliefs amongst themselves? No. But being willing to let go of tolerances for your own benefit in whatever form is as despicable as holding those beliefs in the first place.
Meanwhile, although the revolutionaries may not be in luxurious abodes, they continuously have one thing that you don’t see in the oppressors: community. They are taking immeasurable risks to provide better conditions for others. Instead of sacrificing others for their benefit, they are willing to sacrifice themselves for others’ benefit. Whether that is in the form of Segio’s community of refugees or the nun commune in the desert, we are constantly shown these groups as having strong bonds with each other as they fight for a common goal.
In the end, this distinction feels so important in light of current world events. So much of the “extreme left” is just people wanting everyone to be accepted. Meanwhile, the extreme right is about hoarding the wealth and benefits for themselves. For a minute, I was like oh I should just stick to reviewing the movie and not be political, but you know what, this is the only platform I have, and I’m gonna say what I want. Fuck the bigots in power oppressing minority groups and I couldn’t have said it any better than this movie.
Bad Hombres
Moving on to things that are not about the messaging and the plot, it is important to also touch on how great the movie is technically. And that starts with the performances. Although Leonardo DiCaprio is the thread that takes you from the beginning of the movie to the end, it’s really the other performances that stand out. That’s not to say that DiCaprio is bad, but he provides more canvas for others to pop in contrast to.
In that vein, it would be disingenuous to not praise the best performance in the film: Sean Penn’s Steven Lockjaw. I’m not a huge Sean Penn fan (especially the person), but crafting the perfect hateable character who is simultaneously laughable, despicable, and intimidating is to be commended nonetheless. You felt that at any point, he may blow a fuse, and yet Penn’s performance zagged every time you expected him to zig. Paul Thomas Anderson also brilliantly chooses to make the character a caricature of what people like him are. It will be hard to forget that walk.
Chase Infiniti in her feature debut carries on from her excellent debut TV role in Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent. Whereas in that show, her role was more one-toned, here she gets the opportunity to shift through the gears from a regular teenager to becoming radicalized herself in the face of being the victim of an abuse of power. There is an inner rage that is well framed by a relatively controlled performance, which works perfectly for this character. The hesitance feels organic rather than too far for the performer.
In stark contrast, Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia Beverly Hills (and no, I’m not making up any of these names) is an absolute firecracker and Taylor kills it. Although not in the movie for too long, the time she is on screen, she is magnetic and impossible to take your eyes off of.
The final mention here is for Benicio del Toro who I wish was in the movie more than he was, but his performance in one of the two standout long scenes of the movie was just a masterclass of calmness being power. His tone never wavered and his volume was at a 2 out of 10 throughout, but his movement and performance would not let you forget for a second that he had everything under control. For del Toro, this is an easy role, but that’s simply because of how great of an actor he is. He was a low-key standout for me and I could watch a whole movie of just this one character.
What Time Is It?
This is kind of my catch-all last section to talk about elements I haven’t touched on yet, but the title actually worked for all of these, so I thought it was fun to keep it.
The most obvious use of this line in the movie underlines how great the comedic writing of the film is. Despite dealing with pretty heavy themes, you are never too far away from a laugh out loud moment. Whether that’s Pat falling down from a building, Lockjaw walking, or just the running joke of the phone calls in the movie. Releasing tension so organically helps pace this movie that could have easily felt too long.
And on that note, this is a movie that runs for just under 3 hours, but personally I never really felt the length. The plot moves at a decent clip while the masterful tone shifts keep you on your toe constantly. But what really makes this movie tick and is its true secret weapon? The score. I won’t pretend to have a huge knowledge of composer Johnny Greenwood’s work, but he absolutely kills it in this film. The score rarely overwhelms, but its metronomic presence in tense scenes becomes a character of its own and beckons you to lean forward. It feels uneasy and chaotic while perfectly complimenting the beats of the film. I legitimately do not think the film comes together without the music and I will be disappointed to not see it be nominated for awards. It feels reminiscent of Conclave but with a personality all its own seemingly inspired by a Radiohead mood board.
Finally, my last point in this time-related smorgasbord of elements, PTA really shows his mastery of timing in this movie. There are two specific standout scenes that run for a long time, but have you at the edge of your seat the whole time. Many filmmakers would have cut it shorter or not edited it well enough to make it work. And that’s not a slight on other filmmakers, it’s just evidence of PTA’s mastery of his craft. That final road scene was fantastic and will live in my head as one of the scenes of the year (although there’s lots of competition).
Time doesn’t exist yet it controls us all.
One Battle After Another is either the best or second best film of the year for me, in contention with Sinners. It is worth watching on a big screen with a great sound system. It threads the needle of great entertainment and having a lot to say all at once, which is a rare find, especially the ones that nail both those elements. Could not recommend it more.
