"One Battle after Another," currently playing in Chinese theaters, marks director Paul Thomas Anderson's (PTA) first film set in the present day in 23 years, following 2002's "The Unsettling." However, the film's overall tone remains consistent with PTA's penchant for nostalgia. If it weren't for the closing scene where the protagonist Bob learns to use a smartphone, the film's setting could easily have been set a decade or two earlier. Its themes aren't solely focused on current political realities. As PTA himself put it, "This story could have been told 20 years ago, in the Middle Ages, and even in space." If there's one element of this film that truly taps into the vein of modernism, it's perhaps its score.
Music creation starting from the script
As usual, the soundtrack for "The First Time" is composed by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. He also composes the soundtracks for PTA's previous five releases: "There Will Be Blood," "The Master," "Inherent Vice," "Phantom Thread," and "Licorice Pizza." PTA has previously collaborated with musicians like Michael Penn (Boogie Nights, Casino) and Jon Brilleon (Dysfunctional Love, Magnolia). However, after meeting Jonny Greenwood, he seemingly never needed to find a musical collaborator again. Of course, he also returned the favor, directing several Radiohead music videos, including "Present Tense" and "Daydreaming."
"War and War" Original Soundtrack Cover
Jonny Greenwood and Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke revealed in an interview how they met PTA. "We were recording the album 'Hail to the Thief' in Los Angeles when he invited us to a private screening of 'Personal Disorder' because the film's title came from a song Thom had written. He later used a piece of classical music I wrote in the film and then asked if I could contribute something similar. At the time, I knew neither him nor his films; I was just looking for an opportunity to perform with a large orchestra," Jonny Greenwood revealed.
While Jonny Greenwood downplays it, their collaboration is anything but casual. Composers have different approaches to composition. Some simply listen to the director discuss the story outline or desired feel and then instantly unleash their musical choreography (think Morricone and Hans Zimmer). Others must first see a rough cut before inspiration can flow (think John Williams, Howard Shore, Thomas Newman, and Alexandre Desplat). Jonny Greenwood, on the other hand, deeply immerses himself in every aspect of the PTA's filmmaking process, similar to Kieslowski and Presner's collaboration.
In 2018, Paul Thomas Anderson (second from left) attended the Academy Awards with his partner Maya Rudolph (first from left) and Jonny Greenwood (second from right) with his wife Sharona Katan.
Take "The First and the Second," for example. Greenwood was involved in the film's early stages of development. He received the script in late 2023 and began composing the music accordingly. Later, during the actual filming phase, PTA would play Greenwood's pre-written music on set alongside the footage, helping the crew more accurately grasp the film's atmosphere and emotional direction. After the day's shoot, PTA and Greenwood would further refine and select the music based on the footage.
"Johnny's music is always unique and distinctive. We can feel where the film is going, how the tension will be built, and how we should maintain this tension before shooting - it is a luxury to be able to work like this, and this is all because Johnny is always a few steps ahead of us." PTA recently commented on his old partner in an interview with Forbes magazine.
The theme melody when Colonel Lockhart appears is orchestral.
Strings make up a significant portion of the score for "The First Time," a move not surprisingly attributed to the PTA. In 2017, after "Phantom Thread" was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score (losing to Alexandre Desplat's "The Shape of Water"), Jonny Greenwood revealed on a podcast that the PTA had challenged him during his film score: "Why isn't your Radiohead music romantic? Come on, you've got to have some romance in you, give me some more strings."
The musical theme of "The First and the Second" is clearly not romantic, but rather a dramatic variation, reflecting the passionate yet turbulent lives of the revolutionaries. The film's most profound piece of music is the title theme, which begins with a repetitive piano note before segueing into a magnificent orchestral movement. This piece plays during the first meeting between Sean Penn's character, Colonel Lockjaw, and Chase Infinity's character, Vera, for DNA matching, seemingly foreshadowing the impending climax of the plot, where a profound secret will be revealed, heightening the audience's tension.
In the film, Vera's theme melody is a clear and revolving guitar solo.
Each character in the film also has his or her own theme melody. The orchestral music when Sean Penn appears has a strong sense of tearing. According to "The Playlist", it comes from a piece of music that PTA's "predecessor" Jon Brion wrote for him in the past but was not used in the end; Pafia's theme melody performed by bass and violin has a certain fatalistic color; and Vera's theme melody is a clear and revolving guitar solo, with a rare tenderness in the film.
Minimalist piano music plays throughout Bob's escape.
Of course, the most striking piece of music is the theme melody for Leonardo DiCaprio's protagonist, Bob. This minimalist piano score begins as he escapes from his home through a tunnel, following his chaotic journey through supermarkets, karate gyms, grocery stores housing illegal immigrants, and rooftops, culminating in his fall from a tree and capture by immigration authorities. It resonates relentlessly throughout this over 30-minute segment. While the melody consists of a simple repetition of piano keys, the rhythm, like a bomb countdown timer, perfectly captures the urgency of Bob's escape. It also has a slightly comical tone, complementing his predicament of not being able to remember the codeword and finding a place to charge his phone.
Intertextuality between song and narrative
If the soundtrack of "I Am a Man" follows a modernist style, the songs used in it also highlight a strong sense of nostalgia. These two seemingly contradictory styles coexist clearly and richly in the film in a form that is close to polyphony.
The background music for Pafilia and Lockjoy's sex scene is "Soldier Boy" by The Shellies.
The film features a staggering number of songs, over ten in total, many of which intertextually intertwine with the narrative. For example, the hilarious yet metaphorical sex scene between Pafilia and Lockjoy is set to "Soldier Boy," a classic from the 1960s black all-female chorus band The Shirelles. The sweet female vocals perfectly capture the irony of the shift in dominance. Furthermore, to highlight Bob's incompetence and decadence, Steely Dan's 1972 song "Dirty Work" (from the album "Can't Buy A Thrill") plays in the background as he prepares himself in his car for a meeting with Vera's teacher. This isn't Steely Dan's only appearance in the film; later, when Bob explains to Vera that he didn't get home until 3 a.m. after hanging out at a bar, he uses the excuse that the band there had recycled some of Steely Dan's instruments.
Gil Scott-Heron's "The Revolution Will Never Be on Television" is included on the album "Pieces of a Man".
The film's most crucial song is undoubtedly "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." Its lyrics ("Oz, the Beverly Hillbillies, Hooterville/Will no longer matter/And the women won't care/If Dick and Jane slept together in 'Looking for Tomorrow'/Because the Negroes will take to the streets/To find a brighter day") serve as the codeword for the French 75, the revolutionary group to which Bob and Pafilia belong, and ultimately, it's how Vera distinguishes friend from foe.
At first glance, this might sound like a recent rap song, but it's actually a poem written by rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron. The earliest recorded version, a recitation of the poem accompanied by congas and bongos, appeared on Scott-Heron's 1970 album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. In 1971, Scott-Heron rearranged it, adding bass and jazz flute, and re-released it on his album Pieces of a Man. It's this latter version that appears on "Fight Again."
The lyrics, "Green Acres," "Beverly Hillbillies," and "Hooterville Junction," refer to three popular rural white comedies from the 1960s. Scott-Heron used them to satirize the fact that, despite the burgeoning social movements of black civil rights and the anti-Vietnam War movement, television was dominated by shows that glossed over the past and were at odds with the realities of the Black struggle. It's worth noting that progressive social ideologies had already infiltrated television production at the time. In 1971, a "rural cleansing" campaign swept American television, and all three series, which celebrated a false pastoral idyll, were canceled.
In "War and War," "The Revolution Will Never Be On TV" is a perfect counterattack against the white supremacist group "Santa Claus Adventurers," a group of high-ranking government officials, and also implies their eventual collapse. This year, Rolling Stone magazine re-selected the "100 Greatest Protest Songs of All Time," and "The Revolution Will Never Be On TV" ranked 14th.
"The Revolution Will Never Be on Television" appears twice in the film, once at the beginning of the film after French 75 successfully completes his mission, and once during the end credits, which shows its significance to the film. In fact, there are three pieces of music used in the end credits, and the other two are also worth mentioning.
The background music during the end credits is a Christmas carol sung by Ella Fitzgerald, "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".
The second song, following "The Revolution Will Never Be on Television," is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," a Christmas carol popular since the 15th century. Countless singers throughout history have sung this universally known song. "War and War" specifically uses Ella Fitzgerald's version, a riposte to the white supremacist groups depicted in the film.
Jonny Greenwood (left) and Thom Yorke
The final piece of music accompanying the credits is a purely soundtrack piece titled "Mean Alley." This guitar and symphonic counterpoint was co-written by Jonny Greenwood and Thom Yorke, marking the latter's debut with PTA. The song's sentimental quality aligns perfectly with the closing credits' tribute to the late producer Adam Somner. Adam Somner was considered a Hollywood legend as an assistant director and producer, a longtime collaborator with renowned directors like Steven Spielberg and a fixture of the PTA production team since There Will Be Blood. He tragically passed away in 2024, during the filming of Once Upon a Time.
The car chase scene where the French 75 members are escaping from the police after a failed bank robbery is one of the few scenes in the film without background music.
A rough estimate suggests that music covers nearly 90% of the film. Audiences' reactions to such a dense musical score are likely to be subjective. However, one scene in the film surprisingly lacks any music: the opening scene where the French 75 escape the police after a botched bank robbery. This scene is highly reminiscent of the textbook car chase in William Friedkin's The French Connection. While Don Ellis's avant-garde and radical free jazz soundtrack for The French Connection was ingenious, the scene where Gene Hackman dodged and chased light rail trains through the streets of Brooklyn, New York, is completely devoid of any music. The only sounds on screen are car horns, the roar of engines, and the screeching of brakes. In this respect, it's no surprise that the PTA, a film buff, would adopt a similar approach in their homage to a classic.
All in all, the music in "Imperial War" is fully permeated with PTA's creative motivations. Like other elements of the film, it has a multi-layered semantic structure that deserves in-depth interpretation. I believe that viewers who have the opportunity to watch it a second or third time will be able to appreciate its beauty even more.