In this riveting blockbuster-drama set in an undetermined period of our modern, collective hysteria, which we call the present, Paul Thomas Anderson delivers a blisteringly relatable picture with magnificent panache and his signature meticulous filmmaking. Despite interpolating the 1990s-written Thomas Pynchon novel ‘Vineland’, Anderson brings us into a reverie of the modern-day United States, diving into the palettes of fascist America and white supremacy, and igniting the sparks of a class revolution. The 170-minute runtime flashes by, masterfully paced and sous vide into perfection, leaving you on the edge of your seat, while forming meaningful connections with the characters. “One Battle After Another” is a chaotic, methodical piece that stands immediately true as a modern classic, instantly entering the annals of the 21st-century canon.
The opening of “One Battle After Another” throws you directly into the deep end as we follow the revolutionary insurgents known as the French 75 as they raid an immigration detention camp on the US-Mexico border, giving the military officers a taste of their own medicine as they are taken prisoners and thrown into cages, while loading the immigrants into cramped trucks to be taken away into freedom. The group is led by the audacious, human personification of black feminine power, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), whose rageful spirit and unsettled psyche kick off the film’s conflict as she encounters Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn). Their meeting is disturbing and sexually-charged, stimulating Lockjaw’s Pavlovian obsession with Perfidia and powerful black women to contrast his fragile, white male sexuality; something that both symbolises the fetishising tendency of white supremacy and the relationship of capitalist America with its underclass. The resistance is also aided by the bomb crafter Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is also Perfidia’s lover and close compatriot.
After a series of events which led to the disappearance of Perfidia Beverly Hills from the French 75, we cut 16 years later to a small town (also a safe haven for Latin immigrants—illegal or otherwise) where Bob is living in hiding with his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti), now a teenager who, despite her doubts about her father’s past, have been moulded to survive in fascist America, from her practising Karate under her Sensei Sergio St. Carlos (Benicio Del Toro) to her alienation with modern technology—ripe with government spyware—like smartphones. After the resurgence of Colonel Lockjaw, now in league with a white supremacist secret society and now on a twisted quest order by that group, Bob and his daughter must contend with his pursuit and the shadowy legacy that Perfidia left behind.
One Battle encapsulates the spirit of the societal stasis—yet one that is boiling under immense pressure and is ready to explode —that we are experiencing. Before and after the sixteen-year timeskip, the world of the film feels unchanged, stagnant, and perhaps even in decline (although Sheck Wes’s Mo Bamba playing in the prom scene funnily suggests a specific time just after Trump won in 2017). And maybe that is true to life, as such things as immigrant detention centres have existed even before Trump, under both the Democrats and Republicans. The core of fascist America is down in its roots and history, something that the radical French 75 attempts to overturn through direct militant action rather than simply organising or having theoretical discussions. And the film demonstrates how even violent resistance can be met with indifference in a polarised society. The folly of the human character escapes not even its most politically-charged revolutionary, as left infighting and snitching under direct threats to one’s family or promise of personal freedom lay the seeds of destruction for the resistance.
What the timeskip produces is the birth of the new generation through Willa and the Gen-X angst and regret of “Ghetto Pat” Bob. Bob is an alcoholic drug addict navigating being a single father to a mixed-race daughter, one scene even has him regretting not being able to do something as simple as doing her naturally curly hair properly like a parent should. The theme of parenting runs thick in the blood of this film, and the failure of the previous generations to create a brighter future for the next is the dark undercurrent of modern society. Yet, there is hope on the horizon. Even with upcoming battles that still need to be fought by our children, one can only let go and hope they break the cycle. In the film, DiCaprio and Infiniti actually only share a few scenes; much of the film revolves around the former chasing the other, and we see Willa coming to her own resolve and agency after learning shocking truths about her past.
Much can be said about the truly stellar and iconic cast that has been assembled for this picture. From the luscious and electrifying Teyana Taylor to the comical but wise Benicio Del Toro, it truly feels like we have an all-timer ensemble in our hands. One can mention a plethora of denigrating things about the outside life of Leonardo DiCaprio, or Sean Penn, for that matter, yet admit that they played their respective roles with masterful precision. It is also a treat to witness the birth of a future star with Chase Infiniti, who is capable of holding her own as the heart of a Paul Thomas Anderson film in her debut feature-length role, a fact that was rather surprising to learn after the credits rolled. Her presence is mesmerising and full of youthful force, entrenched in anger and a palpable desire for self-preservation, something that she inherits from her mother, Perfidia, but mixed with the empathy of her father, Bob.
Working with Director of Photography Michael Bauman, Anderson delivers a breakneck-paced film that practically flies through its almost 3-hour runtime. It is a race against time for much of the film, and the controlled, masterfully blocked chaos that unfolds keeps your heart pumping and your eyes glued to the screen. The urgency is reflected in the camera movements, as we follow Bob from place to place, from rooftop to rooftop. There is a car chase at the film’s climax that has been in much of the online discussions surrounding the film. It is not really a car chase in the way that we usually understand it in the language of film; there is no weaving through incoming traffic or ramming the steering wheel in an attempt to throw off the car in pursuit. It is something very much reminiscent of the car chases you would see in a thriller from the 1970. It is more of a methodical dance filled with uncertainty and melodically accompanied by longtime collaborator of Anderson, Jonny Greenwood. The score itself is extremely well-done and serves as a rhythmic accompaniment to the unfolding pandemonium.
One Battle comes at an interesting time in our collective present. It is the interweaving of the past and present, a struggle that is, unfortunately, much resembling a loop rather than one with a clear end goal in mind, much to the delight of the cabal of fascists running the country in the film. Such an approach resembles the mind of Walter Benjamin with his concept of a “homogenous, empty time”, a linear imagination of time with little meaning and defined by our oppressive power structures and capitalist overlords. We can only hope that Willa and the new generation break this socially constructed cycle, so that the past of the oppressed can be wrestled away from the powers that be, and a revolutionary future is possible.
