4. Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson
There are two titans in contemporary American cinema. One is the ever-entertaining guru, Quentin Tarantino, and the other is Paul Thomas Anderson. In film school those two are the most referenced filmmakers amongst quasi-cinephiles. ‘Inherent Vice’ to many PTA fans is considered to be his worst film since ‘Hard Eight’ AKA ‘Sydney’. I think ‘Inherent Vice’ is a misunderstood masterpiece, that cements Paul Thomas Anderson to be the true master of American cinema.
Most people’s argument for ‘Inherent Vice’s’ flaws are the films incoherent, bizarre plot, a statement that seems juvenile to me. ‘Inherent Vice’ is probably one of the most coherent films made in Paul Thomas Anderson’s career. Maybe the only movie that even has a plot. The film perfectly encapsulates the paranoia endured amongst many citizens in America who were transitioning into the 70s from the Counterculture era of the 60s. America was going through a huge political change at the time, where the once trusted government seemed no longer in tune with the need of it’s citizens, drugs were rampant, Hell’s Angels, Neo-Nazis, the rise of gonzo journalism, civil rights movement, psychedelics, the assassination of JFK, 70s is probably the point in American history where the rise of self-awareness caused the biggest hysteria amongst the average citizens. The long-held views of American conservatism was in question and challenged, but it seems as if there was nothing in hand to replace the American identity from the country’s once held values.
Doc Sportello played by Joaquin Phoenix, probably the best actor in America since Philip Seymour Hoffman does a great job of exploring the perception of America as a whole. A dope-head, good for nothing private detective must engage himself in an investigation that involves his ex-girlfriend Shasta’s lover the Wolfmann, who has been abducted and forced into an insane-asylum. The investigation kicks off, and at Doc’s office he meets Tariq, a member of the Black Guerrilla Family, who hires him to find a member of the Aryan Brotherhood. Doc quickly visits a brothel disguised as an oriental massage parlour, there he meets Jade, who will eventually give significant information to Doc concerning the obscure ‘Golden Fang’. Once Doc goes through the massage parlour, he is quickly knocked out by a baseball bat. When he wakes up, he meets Detective ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornson (Josh Broling), a hard ass, the quintessential macho man, underneath his hardness Bjornson conspicuously hides his homosexuality. Doc is also hired to investigate the disappearance of Coy (Owen Wilson) by his wife. Who are all these loonies and weirdos that Doc is encounting and how are they connected to the disappearance of Doc’s ex-girlfriend’s lover? During Doc’s investigation he discovers all type of characters. Could it be that these are all characters who somehow define the past time of America? Each one fighting for some sort of cause underneath an unseeable, puzzling society that no one knows about? The film places the audience in the mindset of Doc, because much like Doc the world that we live in operates in secrecy. We do not hold the answers, each situations presented is told in haze and mystery. Could it be that Doc much like us are walking through life, trying to figure out what’s really going on?
The beauty of ‘Inherent Vice’ is that it perfectly captures the atmosphere of Pynchon’s visceral writing. ‘Inherent Vice’ the novel written by Thomas Pynchon is probably his most accessible book alongside ‘V’ and ‘The Crying Lot of 49’. Thomas Pynchon much like writers of his time, carefully structures an environment of mystery and secrecy. The audience much like the readers of Pynchon’s book are placed in a world where answers are sparse, placing us in a riddled environment of loss and hope long-gone. PTA does a great job of juxtaposing the romantic nature of cinema while capturing the essence of the novel’s uncertainty. We are placed in the world of Doc, a place that seems so out of tune with the present, but but for some reason looking back in time makes us think of the past and how the past and present seem much more similar than we would like to think.
SPOILER ALERT. To me ‘Inherent Vice’ is very much about the conditions that an average human is placed in. Doc may find the answers to Wolfmann’s disappearance, which includes a secret society, a cult, but the film really raises the question of, ‘What good is it if we know the secrets to our society?’ ‘Does it change anything?’ ‘Are we capable of destroying the untruthful society we are habitating in?’ There is bigger power at play in the film that is larger than Doc or any individual in the film. With more answers, more questions follow, and the film explores these themes of uncertainty. The film is very sweet in it’s nature, it romanticises it’s puzzling nature, but also humanises each character as an individual as a person of some sort of accountability, Doc is portrayed as a romantic longing for his past lover, Coy as man who has a duty of returning to his family, Bigfoot’s secrecy of his sexuality.
There are two scenes I absolutely adore in ‘Inherent Vice’. The first scene is a moment of flashback when Doc and Shasta runs through the street, hoping to score dope while it rains, and Neil Young’s ‘Journey Through the Past’ plays in the background. The scene captures the moment of true brilliance. The dope-fiend Doc truly remembers this moment of pure sobriety with his ex where the time of his past with his lover is an ever longing presence of the past. It showcases that no matter which era people are brought up in, we remember the purity of what once was. The second scene that is truly brilliant is the scene where ‘Bigfoot’ visits Doc, and consumes his dope by devouring a tray full of pot. This moment very carefully points out ‘Bigfoot’ Bjornsen’s desire to be like Doc. Doc represents the free man, the hippie who is not bound by the laws of society, Bjornsen characterises the straight man who is caged, desiring to be free from his occupation, his family, and his sexuality. Throughout the film Bjornsen constantly abuses and berates Doc, because he cannot stand the sight of a man he truly desires to be. It showcases that even though ‘Bigfoot’ ultimately has power over Doc, he is still simultaneously inferior to Doc and vice-versa. The motif of the film showcases that even in the midst of a seemingly free society there remains a dwelling of mystery, the absolute freedom seems obsolete, and we as each individuals will forever be placed by the exterior rules beyond our control.
Advertisements Share this:
