Ok, I must apologize for the half-assed post I did for this yesterday. For some reason, it ended up reading like a fanboy review in a community college newspaper. I'm ashamed and embarrassed. Let's see if I can redeem myself.
On with the show.......
When I first saw this film, I really didn't get that Anderson was really trying to beat you over the head because he's a "serious filmmaker". Everybody has got to hate when a bro does something completely different. I gotta give credit to PTA because this was such a departure for his established Robert Altman-like style. It was a bold move to make this movie for a guy who was really only known for his hilarious take on porn....and this move paid off in spades. This movie isn't your average holiday blockbuster.....it's not even a movie, really. It's too big to be a movie. This is art. This is Anderson's "Guernica". You said something interesting yesterday about how you liked Jodorowsky's "El Topo", but that you probably couldn't watch it again and again. I agree. This movie isn't meant for repeat watchings.....and really, who would want to watch it over and over again? This film is so brutal and emotional that you would have to be like an abused woman who keeps going back to her husband for more. Yeah, yeah.....so, why did I buy the DVD then? Well, so you could borrow it and so I could have it in my collection for when I feel the need to be brutalized again.
It's a hard movie to shake because of Day-Lewis' absolutely electric performance as the oilman, Plainview. My god!!! Everytime he was on the screen, he just set it on fire! If I was an actor, I would quit and go back to waiting tables at Kerby Lane because how in the hell could you ever be that good? He is amazing and unreal in the film and it's his performance that helps elevate the film to epic heights. PTA really knows how to work with his actors. He's always been able to pull great and honest performances from his ensamble cast.....hell, even Adam Sandler in "Punch Drunk Love" was good. I have to admit that the scene from "Magnolia" when Tom Cruise is at his father's bedside has to be one of the top acting performances ever......and I hate Tom Cruise.....but, his performance made that damn film. (BTW, I like "Magnolia" a lot, except for that idiotic ending that had all of those frogs falling from the sky. Now that was a plea of someone trying to be a "serious director").
Now, on to the score.....holy crap. Was that one of the most grating and uncomfortable film scores in the history of cinema? Well, maybe except for Rick Springfield's "Hard to Hold" or really any John Singleton's movie soundtracks (that guy is a fucking hack). I realize that it was supposed to evoke an unsettling emotion from the viewer and it really did......but, damn was it interesting. You're right, there was already so much tension visually that PTA probably didn't need to add more by using this soundtrack, but it worked. When I was watching the film, I kept on thinking to myself about how relentless the score was....how it just beat you up. Think about it.....it's like if you looped the shower scene from "Psycho" over and over again. Except this time, the film is Anthony Perkins in drag and you're (the audience) Janet Leigh. We talked about John Williams' score for "Jaws" and how it became almost a separate entity with the visual. This is very similar.......it's kinda like Greenwood becomes Williams and Plainview becomes the shark. The way Williams used his famous score in "Jaws" is a perfect comparison to this film's soundtrack. Yet, when you heard the "duh duh duh duh duh duh...etc" you knew there was going to be a tense m0ment......the shark was about to attack that hot topless chick in the water. In TWBB, the movie is so tense that the soundtrack just adds to the electricity....yet, doesn't bring nothing else to it.
There are some very beautifully haunting tracks in the score as well. Greenwood's compositions are relentless, but there is also some charm to them. It's like if Danny Elfman went on a booze and drug bender and decided to just fuck with Tim Burton. I had to listen to the score on iTunes and was actually surprised that there were some tracks that were lush and minimalistic all at the same time (if that makes any sense). It's hard to remember those scores when the standout has to be the fierce brigade of tension-filled strings attacking you in your seat. You nailed it when you called the score "monochromatic" and "harsh and unforgiving". I read where most of the compositions were from an existing piece that Greenwood had done for something else......hence, the reason why he was unable to be nominated for an Oscar. I wonder what PTA was thinking when he thought this would be the perfect score for his bold movie? There is merit to the pairing of the two.......just not sure if the audience needed an extra elbow to the head? The visual is unsettling enough. The score just kicked you in the teeth when you were down.
Speaking of Greenwood......I gotta tell you, man.......I've been completely obsessed with Radiohead's "In Rainbows" album. Back when it came out, I listened to it once and thought...."ok, here's these bros trying to undo what they did best by putting out an album of jibberish and noise". I didn't like it. I couldn't understand what the hell Yorke was saying. Then I just forgot about it. I told you to keep an eye out on MHD for the "In The Basement" show where Radiohead played most of the album live in the studio. It was fucking amazing! Just to see them playing such layered music live and how they each had their own textured part to play was badass. I kinda got my respect back for them. They have been slowly losing their audience because they've been trying to do something different......out of the norm.....very much like what PTA was doing with TWBB. I've always respected artists that bucked the norm and took risks......but, with Radiohead, I think it was personal with me. I was mad at them for not giving us another "Ok Computer" or the even better "The Bends". I have to say that after repeated listenings to "In Rainbows", I think it's their most gentle and delicate album to date. It's really closer to their version of a soul record......some kind of indie RnB take. Check it out again......it's really fucking good.
With art, you sometimes don't have to get it all of the time.......you don't even have to like it. I appreciated TWBB because it was so brutal and was like a gut-punch that you didn't even see coming. PTA took a risk and I'll give him credit for it. I think what's the most shocking is that his previous movies all had some kind of heart to them.......and this one didn't have one at all. It's just a cold dark look at a sad obsessed man who wants everything and won't stop.......like you at gay bar. (I had to leave that line in there....it was too good).
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