As you might have read, Paul Thomas Anderson has finally unveiled a first look at his new film—though only in select theaters—now officially titled “Licorice Pizza.” Luckily, by attending a 35mmm double feature at American Cinematheque’s Los Feliz 3 location, yours truly was accidentally privy to the honor of seeing the trailer for PTA’s majestic-looking new movie. Twice.
Reportedly first shown in front of “American Graffiti,” in London, the film previously known as “Soggy Bottom” is clearly the auteur’s foray into the rebel teen genre. Additionally, much in the same way that “Phantom Thread” was his first true woman-led picture with a female point of view, “Licorice Pizza” very much seems like his love letter to the youth generation—which makes a lot of sense given reports that he was writing a project with his daughter. Stylistically, the movie appears to be a mash-up of “Inherent Vice” and “Boogie Nights,” being the first movie Anderson has shot in scope since “There Will Be Blood.” (The first screening I attended was also in scope; the second was not, where the trailer was matted, so this was not a projection error).
Set to David Bowie’s “Life on Mars,” the preview is a bit like one for David Fincher’s flicks, specifically “The Social Network”—a rapidly escalating montage juxtaposed against a cover of “Creep.” For the most part, there aren’t really scenes in it, rather a few big dialog exchanges and lots of fleeting moments.
Opening with a classic PTA track, Alana Haim’s character struts by the poles of her school courtyard—consistently clad in a modest red dress, just like Alma Elson or Lena Leonard. Honestly, the footage makes her out to be the star of the film, but perhaps that’s partly due to the affections of Cooper Hoffman’s (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) character, who enviously looks on in a club as Haim’s character wraps her arms around Sean Penn’s, looking like he just got off work at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce with his sharp suit and smoke cloud. She sticks her tongue out at Hoffman, before soon showing up at his front door, asking if he’d like to see her boobs. Cutting to a shot from behind her back as Haim exposes her chest, Hoffman asks if he can touch them. When he goes to try, she slaps him in the face.
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In the same way that “The Master” showcased its damaged sailors as a kind of Kubrickian tribe — and “Phantom Thread” did the same with models and seamstresses — one memorable shot sees a line of young men in similarly clad suit-and-bowtie schoolboy outfits. It appears as if they’re waiting to see a principal or disciplinary type of some sort. There’s also a sequence of Hoffman’s character acting in a stage play—maybe “Annie” or one of a similar variety—confirming that his role would be that of an aspiring actor. The photography style in the theater looks radically different here than the outdoor shots, the production staged with such a white background and clean costumed look that it almost pops out off the screen as abstract, not unlike select sequences in the two aforementioned PTA films. There’s also a brief snipped of a film within a film, a la the Dirk Diggler documentary in “Boogie Nights.”
But quite possibly most fascinatingly of all, the trailer confirms Bradley Cooper to be playing zany Hollywood producer/former hairdresser Jon Peters—yes, the one from the Kevin Smith “Superman” story. Though (Bradley) Cooper is billed first, he definitely seems to be filling the supporting father/mentor-type figure a la Jack Horner or Lancaster Dodd. His one dialog bit is an amusing exchange in which he corrects the way Hoffman’s character pronounces girlfriend Barbara Streisand’s name.
Other actors spotted among the quick cutting are Tom Waits, Maya Rudolph, John C. Reilly, and Benny Safdie, who is playing Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs, also Present of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Two of the most stand-out moments find Sean Penn riding a motorcycle shouting “I AM A NAZI!” at the top of his lungs, and Peters crouched between two muscle cars with a window squeegee in each hand—the latter looks very “Punch Drunk Love” and is just chef’s kiss PTA. As the editing builds, the counterculture/civil rights components also grow. Kids party. Arrests are made—the music swells while the montage crescendos with a succession of several running shots. Haim’s character can be heard being hard on herself for spending time too much time with a 15-year-old and his friends. Perhaps most wonderfully, one close-up finds Hoffman’s mouth slightly agape, and he’s the splitting image of a young Scotty J. for a second.
“I’m not going to forget you, just like you’re not going to forget me,” his character says as the trailer ends, a clear romantic like Barry Egan. The final shot is an intimate silhouette at sunset behind the back of him and Haim as they walk down a valley road; finally, the title “Licorice Pizza” pops up (it’s very “Inherent Vice” looking, and sounds like a Thomas Pynchon title, no?). Speaking as a fellow, lifelong, San Fernando Valley boy, the textured widescreen imagery of PTA’s time hole looks to turn the banal into bliss here, but it’s not an aesthetic without a sense of looming disappointment and danger as well. With his recent pivot towards tight/medium compositions, returning to shooting in scope will surely make for some fascinating cinematography choices, as the footage makes known.
Like his stoner noir, ‘Pizza’ has a bright green credit font, the six actors billed after the title card: Bradley Cooper, Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, and Benny Safdie. It’s a good-sized trailer. Probably close to two minutes, but boy does it fly. From what’s been gathered from other sources, Anderson has only given the reel to certain theaters which screen 35mm. If you live in LA, I believe that also includes the New Beverly and the Aero if you can’t wait until it drops online — and hey, those theaters are showing some great stuff — but the cat’s finally out of the bag. We are officially getting a new PTA movie soon.
