Writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson discusses how he creates great films like Magnolia, Boogie Nights, and The Master with interviewer F. X. Feeney. Filmed on November 8, 2012. #screenwriter #screenwriting #paulthomasanderson
I really like this interviewer, I think he did a good job at listening, asking questions and keeping the flow of engagement, making sure the discussion stays on track and intriguing
Amazing conversation!! There’s something so spiritual calming about Paul Thomas Anderson.... He’s one of the small handful of true modern-day masters, yet, somehow, just a real genuine guy.
Even back in the 90s and early 00s when he was known to be very fond of his cocaine, he still came across as chilled out in interviews. You're right though. If you listen to the very entertaining conversation between him and Marc Maron on Maron's podcast (you'll find here if you search for it) Anderson is a chilled out, smart, but very funny and engaging guy. I'm not sure how he does it either. I won't name names, but there are modern film makers who can't boast half his talent and they always come across as slightly pompous in interviews, as if it would kill them not to be seen as an 'artist' 24/7.
The fact he shot The Phantom Thread himself means he is the only true auteur in Hollywood right now. He can write, direct and shoot his films now. Maybe it's a generational thing, but I think he is the greatest American film maker working today.
You have a point and agreed on that he is a true artist and genius. I do contend with the idea of auteur though. Every film is a collaborative effort with often hundreds or at least dozens of people giving creative input. Even if he didn't have a DP on Phantom Thread, he still had a gaffer and sparks under him helping and advising with lighting. No doubt he understands lighting and cinematography incredibly well though.
@@NicolasWaldvogel With respect, it's a little naive to tell someone who is obviously a film fan something as obvious as 'it takes a lot of people to make a film'. A less kind man than myself might see that as condescending.
@@davidlean1060 I was merely making a point, that even a lot of filmmakers (such as myself) put the 'auteur' way too high on a pedestal. I wasn't trying to school you my friend, but to offer a differing viewpoint. I said I agreed with you on a lot of things.
Isn't Auteur theory more to do with how a director could take someone else's ok script and still put their stamp in it and elevate it. Like if Orson Welles directs a B Movie script he turns it into Touch of Evil. That's Auteur theory I think. Not so much the director does everything himself
A couple hints Inherent Vice would be his next film: earlier he, PTA, says he's a "slow learner" which is a book of short stories Thomas Pynchon wrote while in college, and when he quotes Thelonious Monk, "It's always night otherwise we wouldn't need light," which opens Thomas Pynchon's "Against the Day."
You'll notice in The Master, as Dodd gives the speech at the wedding he says, 'we fought against the day and we won'. There's another Pynchon reference.
Im honestly inspired by PTA, I’ve watched all his films numerous times. I’m a studying film director who’s only made short films but one day if I don’t die unexpectedly or films become a has been ( a few form of entertainment takes its place). Mark my words I will become a famous film director, maybe not even famous but you guys will know my name. Trevor Bennet pray for me that ideas are entertaining to a mass audience and that I succeed. Pray for me guys you never know life will turn out
it kinda sounds like youre only in it to be famous, you think anyone you look up to wouldve been in a youtube comment section saying "i will become famous you will know my name" just stfu and do something
Great video on film, writing and PTA. F.X. Feeney, the interviewer did a great job here. Sad to see he passed away earlier this year. This is a tribute to film and literature.
I am starting my own journey now. It is a cooler experience than a labor. I don't need anything except the reading materials. It has to be fresh. I need to be reading a lot when I write. Otherwise I'm weak.
I’m glad Paul does all these interviews, but most of the time it seems like he’s (rightfully) bores with the questions. This one’s unique because he’s got questions coming his way that are good PTA questions. And he is responding accordingly. Great stuff.
I like how so much of what happens in his movies seems to take place by accident. Or there's an underlying trend or force at play and everything takes shape like that. There are probably a hundred different ways to tell stories like that, and at least 99 of them are wrong.
Paul Chick It’s funny to see the mannerisms that PTA and DDL share. It’s probably Paul who started the “palm across the forehead, pushing the hair to one side”, but ever since they worked on TWBB, DDL has made that gesture, even when his head is shaven. In a Charlie Rose interview, DDL, a couple times, chimes in with “no,no,no,no,no...”, which is one of Paul’s habits.
The sound mixer was abducted by aliens just before the interview started - very unfortunate but at least he got to go into space without training for three years. He now lives on Alpha Centauri where no one can hear him scream about the bad sound mixing during this interview! Despite the bad sound - the interviewer should have been told to move the microphone AWAY from his face more, it’s not an ice cream cone! Great interview though, he is a great filmmaker, may he make many more great movies...
WHY do so many people upload a video without checking the volume first? I have to hold my phone up to me ear, full blast, just to hear this video over the sound of me chewing my food
pt was so important to me growing up, but inherent vice was so bizarrely out of tune it made me feel like it was time to forget my heroes and just become my own inspiration. a bittersweet rite of passage. love pta and am happy to see his new films from a new view.
I've tried inherent vice a couple times. Still haven't enjoyed it, nor made it through more than 20 minutes. But the master, there will be blood, and phantom thread I can watch over and over.
I watched bucket of blood, it’s on RU-vid, idk what he’s talking about with the train and the doctor, but bucket of blood is about a busboy that wants to be an artist and accidentally kills his cat when it gets stuck in the wall of his apartment…. Worth a watch only an hour.
But that's an honest question and I felt the same way.I love Magnolia,Boogie Nights,Punch Drunk Love,even Phantom thread at the very first time. I think I had to give "The Master" and "TWBB" a second watch.I have "Inherent Vice" but I haven't watched if in a while.
The interviewer represents everything that the mainstream insipid media has always been. If you don’t even know why PTA is PTA then what’s the point of asking stupid generic questions of plot and basic filmmaking techniques to a avant-garde non traditional filmmaker as PTA. His discomfort is so evident with the line of questioning.
Akash Akks this is from the top of my head, as a pure film fan and a starting out filmmaker myself - PTA is PTA because one can never ever truly figure out his creative genius completely nor his films and for me that’s when the art is at its best when you deep down know you felt something so truthful and honest that it’s unbelievable yet you can’t ever reduce it to just words without reducing the original effect you had while witnessing the masterpieces. PTA is PTA cuz there’s this unpredictable, bizarringly honest yet completely coherent narrative structure that’s rare for films to achieve. The alchemy caused by disparate elements (first achieved during the writing process) is what makes him uniquely him. It’s not literally possible to define it. I can only suggest to watch most of his films and let that experience form your opinion on what it is because there are people who can sit through There Will be Blood or The Master (my favourite film ever) and still won’t feel a thing or barely feel just the superficial craziness of it without getting anything so that’s that. Art is subjective and what I spoke about in the original comment is how I feel about PTA’s art and his uniquely incredible contribution to the cinematic arts and screenwriting !
Akash Akks I feel so great that you were able to find The Master at a relatively young age and still feel how unexplainably great it is.. mesmerising is truly a right word for The Master.. and without getting into comparisons I’d say Joaquin Phoenix (The actor who also played Joker in the most recent film) deserved an oscar far more for The Master than anything else he’s ever done. The performance he gave in The Master was once in a lifetime performance and just can’t be replicated. And also thanks for asking about my own filmmaking, well I did make a 27 minute short film but it was technically really bad because it was made after I dropped out of my engineering right at the first day of my college and I didn’t know what to do and suddenly I started journaling how I was feeling and at the end of it all I don’t know why I had this idea to make it into a film so that these people (family and close friends) would understand it more why I did what I did, since film is the most impactful medium of expression.. so I did make that film without knowing a thing about filmmaking and since then I’ve been learning more and more about how to really do it, I tried to make my first feature but couldn’t really do it because of various production limitations and in the meanwhile I’ve written and directed a few ads and written a few short films too but haven’t been able to unfortunately make them due to one reason or another but I really hope to. I’m sorry for the long explanation but to set the perspective right I had to mention all that. How did you stumble upon this writing masterclass? Are you also into filmmaking in some way or the other?
