One Battle After Another
Paul Thomas Anderson’s revolutionary satire is a blast of a gear shift. One of the great masters of cinema is back bigger than ever in his most rebellious effort concurring the action blockbuster for our times.
Loosely Adapted from Thomas Pynchom's1990 novel Vineland, Anderson translates the fascist resurgence of the Regan 80s into to the 21st century, following the efforts of the French 75, a group of revolutionaries who target migrant detention centres, anti-abortion clinics, and corrupt banks, all to disrupt the plans of the secret white supremacist elite that rule the country. One of the fascistic enemies is the deviant Steve Lockjaw (Sean Penn) who comes to exact vengeance on the French 75, 16 years after a member; Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor) humiliated Lockjaw in liberating his migrant compound. Perfidia is forced to flee, leaving her partner and explosives expert Bob Fergusson (DeCaprio) to raise their daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti) singlehandedly isolating Bob in a pot headed paranoia. When Lockjaw’s retaliation begins with abducting Willa, Bob is sprung back into the revolution though his head is so shot with drink and drugs that he is clueless to the world he is fighting in.
Anderson is no stranger to controlled chaos whether it be colliding stories from the San Fernando Valley in Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999), or the romantic rage of Punch-Drunk Love (2002) or the free-wheeling spirit of youth in Licorice Pizza (2021), though his most distinctly manic work comes from his previous Pynchon adaptation Inherent Vice (2014). A radical departure from Anderson’s body of work that consists of formidable characters studies in various period settings, One Battle is Anderson’s biggest production and his most prevalent work that tackles a hot political climate in a fast and loose action film where the director gets to show off how anarchically exhilarating he can be. Anderson’s change of pace feels unusual but as the film charges by you will be comfortably reminded that you’re in the hands of a master craftsmen still with an impeccable sense in all genres. Anderson makes the weaving a 70s style momentum in this contemporary parable looks like child’s play when you consider it is his first blockbuster.
Hitting the ground running with a fiery montage of the French 75’s heyday antics, the full thrust of the plot begins over the course of two days when Lockjaw begins his decent on sanctuary city of Baktan Cross which commences one unrelenting cat and mouse hunt for the duration of the picture, culminating in one hell of a roller coaster ride of a car chase. Jonny Greenwood’s most extravagant score is the underlying anchor to the chaos which ranges from explosive operatic blasts to pulse racing piano keys. The story bolts with urgency about our endless battles with a growing fascist regime, but it never takes itself too serious with Dr Strangelove level of cartoonish characters wrapped up in a hopeful statement about how our kids may be able to finally put the world to right.
Leonardo DiCaprio channels the Dude in a pot heady haze that stumbles into a world he can't navigate. DiCaprio continues a bumbling body of characters with Bob as a laughable and loveable stoner which climaxes in a screwball centrepiece where Bob gets into an increasingly aggravating argument with a resistance phone line as they bicker over forgotten passwords. Sean Penn has never been better in a hilarious unstable performance as the federal government commander Steve Lockjaw. Lockjaw is hysterical in his authoritarian manner but manically nerve racking with a perverted psychosexual energy that is reminiscent of Geroge C Scott’s General Buck Turgidson and Dennis Hopper's Frank Booth. Teyana Taylor charges in the first act as the fire at the heart of French 75 revolution leaving a legacy of freedom fighting, calamity, and betrayal that casts the longest shadow over the character’s lives. Newcomer Chase Infiniti rises like a phoenix as she holds her own against these screen giants which truly marks her as the face of the next generation.
Benecio Del Toro is Sensi St. Carlos, Willa’s martial arts instructor and the calm and collected custodian to the hiding migrant families that Lockjaw hunts. Sensi is like the Robin Hood of Baktan Cross who leads a safe refuge during an ICE raid, while having to reassure a panic-stricken Bob who is struggling to charge his phone. “Ocean Waves”- Sensi gently murmurs to Bob. The subtle backdrop in which the camera travels through Sensi’s sanctuary operation is like clockwork with a community of locals working in solidarity for each other when the soldiers come breaking down the doors.
One Battle After Another offers a proactively optimistic viewpoint in our politically heated times that reminds us not give up on our fights against injustice and sees a new line of revolutionaries rising in our youth who can continue the fight. In the Church, we know that there is an eternal kingdom built that is to come and that one day we will be free of this broken world, but that doesn’t mean we don’t try to help what we can in this current life, it is what Jesus called us to do as witness to his love and selflessness. Sensi Carlos tells Bob “You know what Freedom is, no Fear”. It can be so trying right now to remain hopeful about seeing breakthrough and victory in this world as things continuously seem to be falling apart as the very title suggests, but it remains a calling for all of us as Ephesians 6:10-17 instructs:
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full Armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
Comments