Paul Thomas Anderson names the favourite movie from his filmography
The talent and cinematic mastery of American filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson truly cannot be understated, with the director’s meticulous attention to detail only really being matched by such industry icons as Stanley Kubrick and Andrei Tarkovsky. In contemporary cinema, he stands as one of the most significant filmmaking minds, having worked with the likes of Joaquin Phoenix, Daniel Day-Lewis and Philip Seymour Hoffman throughout his modern career.
Emerging in 1996, Anderson first impressed audiences and critics with the crime drama Hard Eight before delving into the world of 1970s Los Angeles with his love letter Boogie Nights in 1997. His debut trio was capped off by Magnolia in 1999, where his ensemble cast of Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Patton Oswalt, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy and Alfred Molina helped to sky-rocket his reputation as his career headed into the new millennium.
After several successful music videos, Anderson further impressed with Punch-Drunk Love in 2002, There Will Be Blood in 2007 and The Master in 2012, with the director getting better with each new release. Keeping up an impressive pace, more outstanding movies would follow, with Inherent Vice in 2014, Phantom Thread in 2017 and Licorice Pizza in 2021. Remarkably, despite 11 nominations, Paul Thomas Anderson has never walked away with an Academy Award.
But, of each of his celebrated nine movies, from Hard Eight to Licorice Pizza, which one does he consider his magnum opus?
When asked this very same question by Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles Times, the writer proposed The Master was Anderson’s favourite, citing “epic performances, great humour” as two key reasons. In response, the director firmly stated, “For sure. I think that won’t change. The amount of emotion I put into it and they put into it — they being Phil [Seymour Hoffman], Joaquin [Phoenix] and Amy [Amy Adams]. I’m not sure it’s entirely successful. But that’s fine with me”.
“It feels right. It feels unique to me,” Anderson says of the 2012 movie, adding, “I really hope it will be something people can revisit and enjoy in a way that equals my pride in it. And pride can be a dangerous thing, and I’m not being very quiet about my pride in saying all this. But I just feel really proud of it. And of course, there’s a particular sentimentality attached to it for a number of personal reasons. It’s all wrapped up”.
Following a Navy veteran named Freddie Quell (Phoenix) who returns home from war psychologically broken and seeking existential guidance from a strange organisation with a charismatic leader, The Master is one of Anderson’s most intricate movies. Alongside Hoffman, Adams and Phoenix, the film also includes an impressive supporting cast, with the likes of Jesse Plemons, Andrew Koponen and Laura Dern helping to create a mighty ensemble.
Criminally, although the film was nominated for three Academy Awards, it wasn’t lucky enough to take any home and was even sidelined by Cannes Film Festival too.
