How Paul Thomas Anderson lost his closest collaborator: “Like a bad married couple”
Finding someone who exists on the same artistic wavelength is not always easy to come by, but it is an extraordinary thing, like Paul Thomas Anderson was lucky enough to find in a close collaborator, his long-serving cinematographer, Robert Elswit, who first worked with the filmmaker on his directorial debut, Hard Eight.
Anderson was impressed with Elswit, so he hired him once again for his next film, Boogie Nights, then Magnolia, and so on, such that he became a vital component in shaping Anderson’s visual style. In 2007, he even won the Academy Award for ‘Best Cinematography’ for There Will Be Blood, which is widely considered the pair’s greatest work, but despite the repeated success they found working together, their relationship eventually weakened.
Finally, in 2012, the filmmaker released his first movie not filmed by Elswit, The Master, where the reins were taken up by Mihai Mălaimare Jr, earning various awards as a result. Two years later, though, Anderson would recruit Elswit again for Inherent Vice, seemingly restoring order in PTA’s cinematic universe.
But that would mark the pair’s last collaboration, at least for the time being. Since then, Anderson has explored the role of cinematographer for himself, becoming the sole director of photography for Phantom Thread, which he shot on 70mm. He collaborated with Michael Bauman on his follow-up movie, Licorice Pizza, although duties were handed solely over to Bauman for his ‘Best Picture’-winning One Battle After Another.
So, what happened?
It turns out that the two men just clash, and when Anderson brought Elswit back for Inherent Vice, it became clear that they were no longer suited to working with each other, serving as the final nail in the coffin. It’s sad, because they’ve made such astounding work together, but sometimes, people change, egos butt heads, and you outgrow those you once found artistic kinship with.
Elswit revealed on the Light the Fuse podcast in 2019, “God, I don’t know what it is anymore. It’s like a bad married couple. Unpleasant. I don’t know [if we’ll work together again]. Probably not. You know, it depends on how he feels. I would do it again…I didn’t enjoy myself on Inherent Vice… It was a combination of me and Paul just not getting along, and I can be as immature as him.”
Clearly, they reached a point of getting too comfortable with each other, likely getting too comfortable with treating each other without that degree of professionalism that is needed to make a film production work successfully.
“Hated his guts”: the one director who swore they’d never make a movie with “bastard” John Wayne
The 1986 movie Eddie Murphy turned down to make a “piece of shit” instead: “In retrospect, I might have been better off”
The iconic 1990s character almost played by Pamela Anderson: “Taller, leggier, blonder, and breastier”
Elswit wasn’t a fan of the way Anderson shot Phantom Thread, and in the book Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks, the cinematographer was highly critical of the filmmaker’s technique, noting, “He just threw a lot of smoke in the room. Which he never would let me do, he never let me smoke a set. Not that I wanted to, I mean, he wanted it for a scene. But I think he shot tests and he knew enough that he didn’t know enough.”
While Elswit liked the movie, he made a rather damning comment about its visual appearance. “It was OK and had really good locations. I enjoyed the film. I just…if I’d shot that movie, I would not be happy with it ending up looking like it looked, that’s all.” Perhaps they really won’t be collaborating with each other again anytime soon.
