"One Battle After Another”: Notes on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Film, a Personal Memory, and the Notion of Uprisings
" One Battle After Another”: Notes on Paul Thomas Anderson’s Film, a Personal Memory, and the Notion of Uprisings 1- A Film It is an understatement to say that this new work by the prodigiously gifted Paul Thomas Anderson is divisive. Less for its aesthetic qualities—universally praised—than for its political scope. Some criticize its caricatural depiction of the two forms of radicalism clashing in Trump’s America—ultra-left movements on one side and White supremacists on the other—while others reproach it for being ultimately harmless, due to PTA’s choice to privilege entertainment over a deeper political exploration. And indeed, it is far removed from the incendiary political force of "The Battle of Algiers" by Gillo Pontecorvo—a film directly referenced by PTA through a clip watched by the character played by Leonardo DiCaprio. Yet despite this, one cannot deny that the film—telling the story of a former left-wing activist forced to track down his daughter kidnapped ...