I’ve been thinking a lot about this over the past few days. It’s certainly resonating with a lot of people right now, who are rightly taking it as a call to action. And it is! Somehow, the unchallenged premise of the theory — that violent authoritarianism must be met with violent revolution — left me feeling a sense of unease. I do not think one violent end prevents another; in other words, violent revolution will beget more violence further along the arc of history. The cycle of violence always continues.
At one point, del Toro’s character tells Bob his people have been fighting for hundreds of years. Bob is late to the party. That conversation felt like the nugget of truth hidden in the film; that this battle will be endless. One battle after another, as it were, fought in perpetuity. There are no clear victories. Peace will be short lived, if it is attained at all.
Is that what we all want? Is there no other way?
Paul Thomas Anderson never stops to ask. The film moves from one set piece to another at breakneck speed, stopping only for brief meetings between officials that feel ripped right out of Dr. Strangelove. These moments when the film descends to farce also don’t work for me; I think the movie would have been more suspenseful if it treated the state as a violent and cunning force. As ridiculous as the USA’s current administration is, and as easy as they are to mock in this display, they are also committing acts of cruelty and violence. They have conned millions of Americans into agreeing with their hateful policies, and are remaking the American landscape in their image. I can’t help but think that a farce like this undersells their danger.
But it’s also important that we make fun of bullies, so I am conflicted on this.
Overall, this is great filmmaking. It’s certainly some of the most interesting of PTA’s career; it sparks much more debate than Phantom Thread (which I adored). So my questioning of the film’s ideologies are points in its favour; it is challenging and interesting and well worth your time.
I do have one gripe to pick. The first thirty minutes don’t work for me. I don’t need this back story. The film would be better, more taut, more thrilling, and more suspenseful if I didn’t have the backstory. If I had more questions than answers about how we got here, and who is who, and who the mother really was, I think there would be way more surprises during the film’s biggest reveals. And then the film would be a tense 2 hours and 15 minutes, a pace which allows an audience to figuratively hold its breath.