Paul Thomas Anderson
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
Contents |
Film style, themes, and trademarks
Anderson is known for films with large ensemble casts, independent film styles, and interweaving storylines, as in the case of Boogie Nights (1997) and Magnolia (1999). Anderson is a member of the first generation of "VCR filmmakers", much like directors Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith, who learned the craft not in film schools, but by viewing thousands of movies on video.
Anderson's films typically deal with the significance of familial relationships, particularly those of fathers and their children. Themes concerning divine fate, the serendipitous nature of love, and the role of contemporary media are also examined. Anderson stresses the interconnections among his characters as volatile circumstances affect their fragile lives. Anderson's stylistic trademarks include logistically difficult steadicam-based long takes (such as the 3 minute opening shot in Boogie Nights), often with bombastic use of sound and music.
In addition to films, Anderson has directed several music videos, including several Fiona Apple pieces. Anderson was a standby director for Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion, presumably for insurance purposes, as Altman was 80 years old at the time. Anderson was not formally credited in the film, but receives a "Special thanks to ..." toward the end of the closing credits.
Filmography
Feature films
- Hard Eight (also known as Sydney) (1996)
- Boogie Nights (1997)
- Magnolia (1999)
- Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
- There Will Be Blood (2007)
- The Master (2012)
- Inherent Vice (TBA)
Short films
- The Dirk Diggler Story (1987)
- Cigarettes and Coffee (1993)
- Flagpole Special (1998)
- Couch (2002)
Music videos
- "Try" by Michael Penn (1997)
- "Across the Universe" by Fiona Apple (1998)
- "Fast as You Can" by Fiona Apple (1999)
- "Save Me" by Aimee Mann (1999)
- "Limp" by Fiona Apple (2000)
- "Paper Bag" by Fiona Apple (2000)
- "Here We Go" by Jon Brion (2002)
