Doc (Joaquin Phoenix), a hippie PI, has a case thrust upon him by his ex-lover, Shasta (Katherine Waterstone). Doc is asked to stop the plot to commit Mickey Wolfman, an eccentric real estate developer, to an insane asylum. As soon the plot starts to gain momentum it breaks down; Aryan Brotherhood, the Black Guerrilla family, a society of drug smuggling dentists, a Chinese drug syndicate, the FBI, cults, local politicians, prostitutes and a renegade cop all twist the narrative out of shape.
Being familiar with the source material, this feels like as close you could get to a watchable adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. Pynchon subverts plot and structure in his novels; he presents the world as an absurdist mess, presenting stranger and stranger situations as his protagonists meanders to a conclusion that doesn't really matter. In these worlds Pynchon assaults his readers with symbolism trying to force meaning where there may be none; PT Anderson's script and direction adeptly translates this on to the big screen, and is probably why he has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The sequence in the brothel shows the strength of Anderson's adaption; Doc is confronted by a prostitute who lists all of the specials that are available, another prostitute comes into the conversation and goes down on the first one. Doc wanders off into the brothel, is hit over the head, and falls to the ground Buster Keaton style. Moments later he awakes, beside a dead body, and surrounded by a battalion of police who shout insults at him through a megaphone. This is a jarring sequence of events; noir style conversation, sexual action, violent action, black screen cut, resting shot, cut to army of police, reaction shot. The dialogue suits the absurdity of the situation and Anderson's shooting and direction mould the scene to flow naturally, and Anderson manages to avoid abstraction allowing for to audience to take in everything, and he keeps this style throughout.
Casting in the film is extensive, and suits to the collage tone of the film. Anderson employs Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Martin Shortt and other notable faces to create a sense of recognisable chaos. However the real strength of this film comes from the interplay between Brolin and Phoenix; their back and fourths elevates the dark humour to laugh out loud moments, and at times allow us to see the repressed emotions amongst the absurdity.
All that said, this film isn't accessible, it is intentionally obscured in pacing, dialogue and plot; the reaction from a person behind me when the credits rolled was "Sh*t", several people also walked out during the film. I spent an hour or so trying to think of people I could recommend it to, and left empty handed. Also my housemate and I failed at discussing exactly what had happen in the film and why, and I think I will need to watch this film again to grasp what happened. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.
Being familiar with the source material, this feels like as close you could get to a watchable adaption of a Thomas Pynchon novel. Pynchon subverts plot and structure in his novels; he presents the world as an absurdist mess, presenting stranger and stranger situations as his protagonists meanders to a conclusion that doesn't really matter. In these worlds Pynchon assaults his readers with symbolism trying to force meaning where there may be none; PT Anderson's script and direction adeptly translates this on to the big screen, and is probably why he has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The sequence in the brothel shows the strength of Anderson's adaption; Doc is confronted by a prostitute who lists all of the specials that are available, another prostitute comes into the conversation and goes down on the first one. Doc wanders off into the brothel, is hit over the head, and falls to the ground Buster Keaton style. Moments later he awakes, beside a dead body, and surrounded by a battalion of police who shout insults at him through a megaphone. This is a jarring sequence of events; noir style conversation, sexual action, violent action, black screen cut, resting shot, cut to army of police, reaction shot. The dialogue suits the absurdity of the situation and Anderson's shooting and direction mould the scene to flow naturally, and Anderson manages to avoid abstraction allowing for to audience to take in everything, and he keeps this style throughout.
Casting in the film is extensive, and suits to the collage tone of the film. Anderson employs Reese Witherspoon, Josh Brolin, Martin Shortt and other notable faces to create a sense of recognisable chaos. However the real strength of this film comes from the interplay between Brolin and Phoenix; their back and fourths elevates the dark humour to laugh out loud moments, and at times allow us to see the repressed emotions amongst the absurdity.
All that said, this film isn't accessible, it is intentionally obscured in pacing, dialogue and plot; the reaction from a person behind me when the credits rolled was "Sh*t", several people also walked out during the film. I spent an hour or so trying to think of people I could recommend it to, and left empty handed. Also my housemate and I failed at discussing exactly what had happen in the film and why, and I think I will need to watch this film again to grasp what happened. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it.