Jan Lubaczewski: "I drink your milkshake!"

American cinema is often described as the American Dream personified. And, when talking about films made in the United States, there is a tendency to think about a certain type of Hollywood productions. We like to imagine the most popular film industry on the planet as a big, scary-looking and incredibly potent monster whose only concern is to make money, and preferably a lot of it. All of this is of course to some extent true. Yet what is often omitted, ignored or simply not acknowledged enough is the great diversity of American cinema: the diversity of genre, of style, but also of ideas. There is an incredibly fascinating and ample industry of independent American cinema with its great masters such as David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch or Noah Baumbach. All these directors make their films with a very small budget, not because they want it so (although in case of early Jarmusch’s films it could have been the case), but because big Hollywood executives try to, almost literally, take their movie away from them. The independent filmmakers’ cinema often revolves around the subjects of independence, freedom, and dominance. It is also concerned with American society as perceived by them and by the rest of the world, including postmodern artists and writers. Yet, aside from being an independent filmmaker, there is another way of commenting on the situation of the United States and on its citizens’ values, that is, making films in Hollywood, but still remaining an artist and having the final word on the set. This path was chosen by many great American directors such as Martin Scorsese, the Coen brothers, or the protagonist of this article – Paul Thomas Anderson.

To describe Anderson’s films simply as being “American” would be an understatement. The attempt to grasp what’s really “American” about the United States and the Americans stands at the core of Anderson’s attitude towards film. Almost all of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films are concerned with the illusion of the American Dream, but the ones that stress the idea the most are Boogie Nights (1997) and There Will Be Blood (2007). And so, whether it's the story of becoming a porn star or a 19thcentury gold prospector, PTA always puts forward the question of how it is all connected with the USA nowadays. A firm belief in the American Dream proves to be an answer: the idea that your life belongs to you and that with sheer grit you can easily become a millionaire, and that you were born to do great things.

The second film in PTA’s career is one of the greatest examples in the American cinema of the need for coming-of-age stories that enable the audience to understand themselves better. Boogie Nights was released in 1997 and it provoked a great scandal in the US film business. It is a film about the porn industry, which is not only provocative and explicit but also gives a strange kind of satisfaction. Here is a film in which the pornographic industry is portrayed ambiguously. On the one hand, the critique is there, on the other, it doesn’t seem to be strong enough. To answer the question of how it is all connected to the American Dream, we need to step back a bit and look at the US porn industry of the late 1990s. We also need to note that Boogie Nights puts stress on the financial side of the enterprise. And on that note, this is how David Foster Wallace, an American postmodern writer, describes the importance of porn within the US entertainment industry: “It is universally acknowledged that the US adult-film industry (…) is an even larger and more efficient moneymaking machine than legitimate mainstream American (…). The US adult industry

is centered in LA’s San Fernando Valley, just over the mountains from Hollywood. Some insiders like to refer to the adult industry as Hollywood’s Evil Twin”.

Whatever can be said about the porn industry from a moral point of view, you have to admit that its commercial success may be seen as the realization of the American Dream. The porn business is starting to be more and more inclusive as it is being acknowledged as another form of entertainment. What concerns PTA most in Boogie Nights are the moments of living the Dream, and those moments when the Dream is challenged in one way or the other. The whole film, among other things, is about the illusion of Hollywood-like fame and glory. The film questions, but at the same time acknowledges the Dream; there is no judgment – just pure observation. And that’s what makes Boogie Nights so special. We realize that we long for stories about the American Dream and that we wish to take part in these stories. At the same time there emerges the incredibly difficult realization – what price do I have to pay for the Dream to come true? Just how does it change the way I am?

Moving on to another of PTA’s works, recognized as his greatest film and one of the most important movies of the 21st century, There Will Be Blood is a story of a middle-aged man, Daniel Plainview, who one day finds oil deposits while looking for gold and decides to become an oil-rich potentate. The story is set in early twentieth-century California and the atmosphere pervading the movie is one of constant anxiety and fear. The cinematographic and directorial actions taken by PTA constantly mount up more and more tension, which weighs down upon the audience. We experience fear, greed, satisfaction, and a sense of superiority because this is how Daniel Plainview feels on the screen. We quickly realize that Planview’s motivation is really very simple – he wants, he NEEDS to be great.

Some thought should be devoted to the definition of the American Dream. The most accurate and relevant definition is the one established by an American historian H.W. Brands: “The old American Dream (…) was the dream of the Puritans, of Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard (…), of men and women content to accumulate their modest fortunes a little at a time, year by year by year. The new dream was the dream of instant wealth, won in a twinkling by audacity and good luck.”

Brands grasps the essence of PTA’s view on the matter. He pinpoints the way in which the Dream is inscribed into the American psyche. But even more importantly, Brands stresses how it should and must be realized instantly. The aspect of time is crucial when discussing the American Dream phenomenon in PTA’s films. Daniel Plainview’s need to achieve his goals is rooted deep in his consciousness. He is chosen to do great things, he is going to achieve all this by himself, and he is going to do it fast.

The setting of the film is also of great significance. California in the early 20 th century was a place of considerable economic growth. It started during the 19 th century, to be more precise in 1848 when the California Gold Rush took place. In 1840 the state was inhabited by 8,000 people. By 1850 the population grew to 120,000. And of course, most of those newcomers were Gold Rushers, people with a dream. The state to this day is recognized as the place where “dreams come true”, where you can achieve anything you want. And while it is true in almost every state of the US (it is after all the national ethos, the ethos of Founding Fathers), it is especially valid in California, where after the Gold Rush the industrial powers began to expand. Nowadays, a great part of the Californian glamour and fame is Hollywood. There is something ironic in setting a story about success, greed, and fame exactly there.

Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood are movies that challenge our beliefs. They are also popcultural blends of genres and moods, creating an atmosphere of doubt. The mind of the viewer begins to wander and question the roots of the American Dream. Do I really HAVE TO be successful? How is it going to change me? Do I mind changing, and if so, why? While there are no right answers and there are many new questions, this serves an overarching goal – to make the US doubt in the Dream.

Jan Lubaczewski

Cover illustration: Zofia Klamka