The Films and Career of Paul Thomas Anderson (Part One)

Brandon Thompson
Mar 15, 2016
6 min read

THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICA's GREATSEST WORKING AUTEUR

Early Days/Short Films

Of all the directors working today it would be hard to make an argument saying that Paul Thomas Anderson is not one of the most audacious directors working today. He's done small personal films about characters discovering themselves and large ensemble movies that movie unlike any others. When you start to discover film Anderson is a go to director, his work is accessible and can you lead you down the rabbit hole of other auteurs.

Like any other director Anderson has been influenced by other directors and their works. He once said that the three most influential directors for him were "Jonathan Demme, Jonathan Demme and Jonathan Demme". The other major influence for PTA is Robert Altman who like Anderson is known for his ensemble pieces like MASH, Short Cuts and Gosford Park. Other directors that Anderson has claimed to be important to him include Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Orson Welles, Max Ophüls and Sidney Lumet. He claims that his all-time favorite film is Network (Dir. Sidney Lumet) and the influence of this movie can be seen all across his filmography.

Anderson grew up in the San Fernando Valley in California which is also where he set several of his films. From an early age he gained an interest in filmmaking. His father (who he was close to) encouraged him to ensue a filmmaking career. Anderson was born in 1970 making him a Gen X kid. Anyone who knows about or is a member of Gens X would know that Gen X is firmly associated with the emergence of VHS tapes, of which Anderson had an abundance of.

At the age of 17 he made his first major project with help from from his father and his friends and money he had raised by cleaning birdcages. The film was The Dirk Diggler Story. Anyone familiar with Anderson's work would know that Dirk Diggler is Mark Wahlberg's character in Boogie Nights and this is no accident. The Dirk Diggler Story has most of the characters, themes and skills Anderson will show us again in Boogie Nights.

The Dirk Diggler Story is heavily influenced by This is Spinal Tap, one of the most influential mockumentaries. Unlike Boogie Nights, The Dirk Diggler Story is amidst with interviews from the characters of the film. The exclusion of these interviews suggests that either he worked out that mockumentaries weren't right for him or he had moved on from mockumentaries in terms of tastes. Anderson also shows off his skill with the camera continuouslymoving around, as if it's own character. The short film was shot on video because Anderson was obligated to for finacial reasons. Using video worked to Anderson's advantage by making the film feel grounded and as if it was a real documentary crew filming the events shown.

Soon Anderson started to attend film school. However he only attended for two days as he decided it wasn't right for him. He soon started working as a production assistant on TV films, game shows and music videos. This is where he met Philip Baker Hall (who he admired as an actor previously) and he gave him a script of his titled 'Coffee and Cigarettes'. Anderson claimed that he had a role of Hall that he was suited for and Hall took the role.

Anderson had gained $20 000 for the production from gambling, his girlfriend's credit card and his father. He compiled a team for production by using his contacts he made as a production assistant. Shooting was meant to last one weekend but lasted over six weeks. He borrowed a camera from the studio which he was only meant to for the weekend. He hired a cinematographer but later replaced him. Overall the production was troubled as Anderson was still inexperienced and he lacked the help from an experienced producer.

After making the short film Anderson went on to show the film at the Sundance Film Festival, a leaping board for a lot of today's great American directors (Wes Anderson, Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, Darren Aronofsky and David O'Russell) where he managed to get a spot in the Sundance Filmmaker Lab where he managed to fine-tune and calibrate his skills for his first feature film.

Hard Eight

With two short films and experience as a production assistant and in the Sundance Film-maker Lab, Anderson went on to direct his first feature film. Hard Eight. Like Anderson's short film Coffee and Cigarettes Anderson faced several productions issues and was far from a joyous shoot. The most commonly known issue was that Anderson wanted the title of the movie to be "Sydney", after Philip Baker Hall's Character.

Anderson's resume of actors he has worked with start off strong in Hard Eight with names like John C Riley, Samuel L Jackson, Gwyneth Paltrow and Philip Baker Hall with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Melora Walters in small roles. All actors bring in strong performances and while none of them may be career bests they all have added a great performance to their careers.

Unlike Anderson's other movies this is a personal story between Hall's and Riley's characters, the blossoming of their friendship and the secrets behind it all. Most scenes in the movie aim to develop character and in some scenes the plot doesn't move forward but rather solely concentrates on character.

Hard Eight's plot however is about John C Rilley's character John Finnegan who is in need of money for his father's funeral when Philip Baker Hall's Sydney Brown comes out of nowhere and gives him the opportunity to make money in Las Vegas. Like most of Anderson's films the stories are personal and important times in the lives of the characters.

The story is in parts expanded from Coffee and Cigarettes. Anderson's history with gambling surely served as an inspiration in the production of the movie as Anderson himself had gambled to raise money for his short film Coffee and Cigarettes.

The movie is presented with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio but was not shot in that format as the film would've been too expensive and it was converted in post production. Like so many other directors today Anderson uses plenty of steadicam shots which have become an essential storytelling tool since its use in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. With no particular colour scheme that stands out Anderson has a low key lighting along with slick and precise camera moves to give the film a neo-noir atmosphere. This also marks the first collaboration with Robert Elswit Anderson's most common cinematographer and eventual Oscar winner for There Will Be Blood.

The music in Hard Eight is composed by Jon Brion who enlisted Michel Penn to create a score which reflects mainly character and atmosphere. In some scenes the music turns quiet scenes which have no dialogue into something more deeper and personal than what we see on screen and leads us into the minds of the characters as well as the decisions they face.

The source of headaches for Anderson was mainly the producer Robert Jones who wanted the named changed as it was feared people would think it was about Sydney, Australia. Anderson's first cut was 2 and half hours long and Jones demanded cuts but Anderson refused. Anderson was subsequently fired and Jones re-cut the film.

The film was entered into the 1996 Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes but as Anderson's cut of the film. The film failed to win any awards but it was major step for one of today's most important filmmakers and as Sam Mendes puts it "A true auteur".

The film received a warm reception when released in early 1997 with Roger Ebert writing "Movies like "Hard Eight" remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us". The only cements the limelight the theme of family and friendships Anderson's characters have throughout his films. However Paul Thomas Anderson wouldn't be regular name outside of people who saw Hard Eight until his follow up Boogie Nights.

This is my first entrance for the career and films of Paul Thomas Anderson and the first of any director. I hope to do more of these in the future. If you have any feedback or director requests, send them my way.

Next time I will talk about Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love.

Sources include

Wikipedia pages