Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks

This heavily illustrated mid-career monograph documents the thirty-year creative journey of eight-time Academy Award-nominated writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson, from his early short films through his latest features.

A heavily illustrated mid-career monograph exploring the 30-year creative journey of the 8-time Academy Award–nominated writer and director

Paul Thomas Anderson has been described as a true auteur and among the foremost filmmaking talents of his generation. His films have received 25 Academy Award nominations, and he has worked closely with the finest actors of our time, including Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. In Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks, Anderson’s entire oeuvre — from Boogie Nights (1997), There Will Be Blood (2007), and The Master (2012) to his music videos for Radiohead to his early short films—is examined in illustrated detail for the first time.

Anderson’s influences, his style, and the recurring themes of reinvention, alienation, destiny, and ambition that course through his movies are analyzed and supplemented by firsthand interviews with Anderson’s closest collaborators and illuminated by film stills, archival photos, original illustrations, and a vibrant, engaging design aesthetic. Masterworks is a tribute to the dreamers, drifters, and evil dentists who populate his world.

Anderson has been described as “one of American film’s modern masters” and “the foremost filmmaking talent of his generation.” His films have received more than 25 Academy Award nominations, and he has worked closely with many of the most accomplished actors of our time, including Lesley Ann Manville, Julianne Moore, Daniel Day-Lewis, Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Film critics and fans are constantly looking forward to what he might create next and discuss the meaning and technical aspects of his movies and their most famous scenes. Mark Wahlberg in Boogie Nights, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood, and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master are not just memorable movie performances, they are the stuff of Hollywood legend.

It also covers his music videos for Radiohead and his early short films. All are examined and illustrated in detail. Anderson’s influences; his style; and the recurring themes of alienation, reinvention, ambition, and destiny that course through his movies are analyzed and supplemented by firsthand interviews with his closest collaborators — and illuminated by film stills, archival photos, original illustrations, and an appropriately psychedelic design aesthetic.

Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks is a tribute to the dreamers, drifters, and evil dentists who populate his world.

About the Author:

Adam Nayman is the author of The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together and is a contributing editor to Cinema Scope.