Patrick McElroy Finds Shades of Jonathan Demme Throughout Paul Thomas Anderson's Work

When I was re-watching last year’s Licorice Pizza, something came across my mind that hadn’t on the previous viewings, and that’s the influence of Jonathan Demme on Paul Thomas Anderson. When Pizza was first released, I read one review comparing it to Robert Altman - as has happened with so many of his films - along with Martin Scorsese. These are two auteurs who have very distinct and obvious styles, and they’re two of his favorite filmmakers. But Anderson’s favorite is Jonathan Demme, whose style isn’t quite as overt.

In his commentary for Boogie Nights, PTA talks about being on the phone with Demme. He said “‘Did you see all those shots I ripped off from you?’, and Demme responded, ‘no’”. Anderson added, “…no one does either, but I guess I do, I don’t know, I somehow interpret these shots that he’s done, and they affect me in such a way, it’s kind of this profound, it’s the most profound influence, because it strikes me in such a way, it comes out, it vomits out of me in another way. Hopefully I’m adding on top of what he’s done in an interesting way.”

When I watched Demme’s Something Wild for the first time, I noticed three shots similar to Boogie Nights. Early in the film when Melanie Griffith’s character is showing Jeff Daniels’ character her childhood room, the camera pans, doing a 180. This is similar to when we see Mark Wahlberg’s character’s room, but Anderson does a full 360. Then, there’s a shot later in the movie where character actor Jack Gilpin is talking to Ray  Liotta: it’s a medium shot of the actors standing side-by-side, then towards the end of the conversation the camera pushes in on Liotta who’s standing on the right. In Boogie  Nights there’s a shot where John C. Reilly is talking to Thomas Jane, where they’re standing side-by-side, then at the end the camera pushes in on Jane who’s on the right.

Towards the end of Something Wild there’s a shot from an extremely low angle, where Liotta drags Griffith down the hallway, and the camera tracks forward. Then in Boogie Nights, Anderson mimics this when  Heather Graham’s character roller-skates down a hall to meet Wahlberg.

In these shots, Anderson does build upon Demme but makes the camera more fluid. Demme was one of the first filmmakers to really utilize the steadicam along with Stanley Kubrick and Brian De Palma. In Anderson’s work, he makes use of the steadicam but he never abuses it, and always chooses to use it wisely.

As far as the narratives, Licorice Pizza is perhaps the closest to Demme. In an interview Anderson did with Neon Magazine back in 1998 he talked about Demme’s Melvin and  Howard, saying “…It's the first twenty minutes. All that's going on is two guys talking in a fucking car, and that's it! This to me is heaven. Then the film branches off with one of them and we watch his life unfold. It's so fucking amazing the way the movie sets you up to accept whatever happens.” In the first scene of Licorice Pizza, it’s Cooper Hoffman’s character meeting  Alana Haim’s character, and it’s just conversation; the movie sets you up to also accept whatever happens to these characters.

There are similar structures in other Demme films, such as Citizens Band, Swing Shift, and Something Wild. Anderson has tried this with other films of his, but none more unexpectedly than Licorice Pizza. Demme died when Anderson was editing Phantom Thread, and the movie would be dedicated to him. Licorice Pizza would be the first film of his to be filmed after Demme passed away, and I don’t think there’s a more loving tribute to his themes, style, and ideas.

Patrick McElroy is a movie writer and movie lover based in Los Angeles. Check out his other writing at: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.mcelroy.3726 or his IG: @mcelroy.patrick