VIDEO ESSAY: There Will Be Blood and Symmetry
Friday, August 24, 2012 at 11:30AM Hey everybody! It’s Matt.
Five years have passed since we last heard from Paul Thomas Anderson, but he returns on September 14th with The Master, a movie that has been the object of considerable anticipation related to a few surprise screenings and its subject matter. Anderson’s phalanx of adoring fans has already started to speculate on The Master’s Oscar potential. While it is meaningless to start daydreaming about Anderson’s acceptance speech before we've seen the movie, there are several reasons to get excited about The Master.
Above all, it is crucial to recognize that Anderson has managed to improve with every project. He has progressed from the boisterous creative ecstasy of Boogie Nights, Hard Eight, and Magnolia to the tight formal elegance of Punch-Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood. There Will Be Blood, one of the many great films released in 2007, is especially notable for its visual and thematic maturity. Anderson used a careful system of symmetries and visual rhymes to hold together the sprawling, epic subject.
In this video essay, I demonstrate how Paul Thomas Anderson communicates his ideas. The video is graciously hosted by IndieWire’s Press Play. Be sure to head over and check out a brief introduction. Special thanks to Matt Zoller Seitz, someone I really look up to, for his assistance.
Reader Comments (9)
Fantastic video. Incisive, curious, assured.
So excited to see even more of these. Beautifully done. :)
Welcome!!!
Thanks, Beau! I'm really excited that it's out there. It's especially cool to share it on this site!
Ya know, there's a joke about DDL stepping in the blood with his Left Foot, I just have to find it.
Jeremy it isn't a joke Anderson foresaw a second Oscar, this was done deliberately, also note that superstition played as an anchor in the dialogue during this scene prior to the murder.
Thanks for being here,Matt ... I am really looking forward to this movie.
Great video essay!
After watching this video, I seriously want to buy the dvd to watch it again. Also, I'll be really happy if Hoffman finally gets nominated for a performance in a PTA movie. This is his 4th collaboration after all.
@ Mike
Their fifth. He has a bit role in Hard Eight.
@Mike, I agree wholeheartedly about Hoffman. And, indeed 4rtful is correct, he plays an obnoxious craps enthusiast in HARD EIGHT. When it comes to rewatching THERE WILL BE BLOOD, I can only recommend it above most other things you can spend your time doing. I never would have picked up on many of these subtle references if I didn't spend (a fairly ridiculous amount of) time soaking in it. It's worth it.