The title says it all, just one conflict after the next.
One Battle After Another was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. A movie that sought to challenge viewers in many different ways. The movie was loosely inspired by the 1990 novel “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon.
The story focuses on a revolutionary named Bob, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his daughter Willa, played by Chase Infiniti in her debut role. Bob fought side by side and fell in love with his sister-in-arms Perifida, played by Teyana Taylor.
The real problems start when the antagonist Col. Steven J. Lockjaw, played by Sean Penn, harbors a weird attachment towards Perifida and blackmails her into becoming his lover. In a shocking twist, Willa turns out to be Lockjaw’s daughter and not Bob’s, unbeknownst to everyone.
Perfidia was a revolutionary free spirit in her early adulthood. She did things to oppose the government and make a statement about the state of her brothers and sisters who were oppressed. She fell in love with Bob, but after she became a mother, she couldn’t bring herself to be tied down by a child — she still wanted to fight. Willa is the primary source of conflict in the film, mainly because she is Lockjaw’s child, who wants to join a racist all-white man group that strictly forbids mixed relations. This causes him immense inner turmoil as Willa is like a stain on his resumé.
Perifida stated at the end of the movie that she wanted to change the world. Whether she was fighting for a noble cause or she was battling racism or prejudice of any kind, I think she did it wrong. Striking fear into the hearts of people and acting in violence may seem like the most impactful way to do something or solicit a reaction, but it’s wrong. What Perifida and the French 75 did was terrorism. Blowing buildings up to make a statement and robbing banks while waving guns around is not empowering.
I did really enjoy how the movie painted Lockjaw’s life, however. He is a fraud, a man stuck in place. It showed how there may be another side of the coin when it comes to race and how you may be viewed by society. He was clearly at war with himself, and that haunted him in physical form, his child Willa, as well as mentally.
As for the actual experience of the film, it was extremely exciting. At every moment I felt very concerned for Willow’s safety and felt real grief when the army walked in on her when she escaped to the nuns. I felt terrified when Leonardo Di Caprio fell off the building and was tased. It did a great job of making me feel truly immersed in the experience. One thing I recognized from the movie was its ability to convince me that it’s real even when it’s not. In most of our bubbles we can’t fathom what happened, but stuff like this happens daily for people.
“One Battle After Another” is a film with great themes, including compassion, perseverance, love, hatred, basically every human emotion you can think of the movie displayed wonderfully. I think the way the film was shot was incredibly surreal and immersive. The way the camera panned out at key moments and the music to intensify themes. It sucked you in and kept you on edge, hungry for more. The actors were all brilliant showing real honest human emotion at key moments.
The most impactful moment for me was when Willa and Bob reunited at the end. During the movie I just expected him to come and save her, but that never happened. In fact, she did it all on her own displaying her own strength. I especially loved that when they meet up, he abandons the revolutionary secret code slogan they have been using for trust, showing that has tired of it all and just wants to be normal and be a father to his child.
But how does Anderson display revolution in the film, and what constitutes doing it well or fruitlessly? On one side were the violent protesters the French 75 who in my opinion didn’t accomplish anything. All they did was garner attention and strike fear into people, but at the end of the day who is that changing? On the other hand you had Sensei Sergio who brought change through community and impacted lives and did whatever it took to help one of his own. To me that is real change. Affecting the community you’re in and changing lives near you is more impactful that trying to instigate change on a global scale trying to outright fight the government. Because in history, has that ever truly worked?
In conclusion, the movie was great, but was there a clear message? Did anything get resolved? Evil was punished and the very thing he strived so hard for he didn’t get but was anything on the “good guys” side accomplished? I don’t think so at all. They didn’t change the mindset of anyone and the majority got killed or imprisoned and they were all running for their lives. Maybe they too received justice, but in the end it seemed to come to nothing.
