Of Blood and Beards

by Giampaolo Bianconi

If only Philip Seymour Hoffman looked like Heather Graham (Anderson directing "Boogie Nights")

Variety broke the news yesterday about Paul Thomas Anderson’s next feature, which it describes as exploring “the need to believe in a higher power.” The film will star frequent Anderson collaborator and now-portlier-than-ever Philip Seymour Hoffman as the founder of a fictitious religious movement in the 1950s. Hoffman’s character, according to Variety, is referred to in the film as “the Master,” (in the sense of a master of ceremonies) which gives me hope that Anderson might delve into the art of stage magic and slight-of-hand trickery–a concept not so foreign to the idea of religion in the twentieth century. Anderson, for those of you who don’t know, is the son of this man. He’s also collaborated with the great Ricky Jay.

Anderson’s There Will Be Blood was, I think, one of the best big, American, narrative films of the decade. Yet the facility with which the film passed into distant memory, with little impact on the American film scene, has left me feeling uneasy. For a while I inferred that it revealed the film’s hidden mainstream sensibilities; it was, after all, accessible enough to win an Oscar. Perhaps the film didn’t do enough to challenge norms of Hollywood filmmaking. Then I considered what the film won an Oscar for: Daniel Day-Lewis’ sumptuous turn as Daniel Plainview. Day-Lewis’ marvelously exaggerated performance appeared meticulous and nuanced in context. When absorbed and fragmented by Youtube–which manages to turn anything into an amusing fragment (“I drink your milkshake!”)–it became a piece of hilarious high camp. A brilliant film was nullified by the dismembering power of the internet. Here’s hoping his next film isn’t subject to the same fate.

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Anderson should be well-aware that he’s set the bar high for himself, not only because of his previous films but also because of his fucking awesome beard. When he made Boogie Nights, he had no beard. But these days it reaches down his neck, perhaps–by now–merging with what I’m sure is a dense mat of chest hair. I admire Anderson’s beard because it implies everything I’ve ever wanted my attempted beards to imply–casual masculinity, diner counter wisdom, Americana ruggedness, and hard working intelligence. We can’t all grow beards like that–Anderson has to live up to his.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 4th, 2009 at 3:54 pm. It is filed under blog, Giampaolo, writing and tagged with beards, Paul Thomas Anderson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, There Will Be Blood, youtube.