Paul
Thomas Anderson Interviewed by Anwar Brett
What
was the inspiration for Punch-Drunk Love?
“These
are usually nice triggers that get you going on a path more than anything
else. You get into a situation, you have a bunch of ideas floating around,
and you want to make a movie. So what do you need? With this it was
a story I read in Time magazine about a guy who finds a loophole in a
frequent-flyer promotion. It was just a piece of inspiration really.
It’s nice to wave that story around too and say it’s true, it really did
happen.”
 What
made you think of casting Adam Sandler as your leading man, Barry Egan?
“I
thought of him when I was editing Magnolia. I love his movies, I think
he’s a terrific performer, very handsome and really funny. When I met
him I found someone that I shared a similar work ethic with. And that’s
always nice, to go to work with someone you have that in common with.
I’ve heard horror stories about some actors, you want to make sure that
the people you work with are right there with you. I’ve heard of actors
who do three takes and then say that’s it. But meeting Adam and hanging
around with him I thought he would be a great person to have as a collaborator.”
Are
you surprised that people have made so much of his casting in the movie?
“I
would hate to think that it feels like stunt casting. You’re aware of
his place in the world, that he’s supposed to make this kind of movie
and I’m supposed to make another kind. That’s bull really, but I can understand
how there can be some confusion. I think now that the movie is out there
and that people are seeing him doing what he does it’s not very confusing.
It’s very clear that he’s really terrific.”
Was
he surprised at all to be asked?
“I
think he was at first. Maybe he was surprised having seen my movies, but
sitting in the same room as me I don’t think he was. We’re really similar
guys, we live very similar lives outside of Los Angeles. We have this
established group of people that we work with and we both love making
movies. We’re really in similar situations really. I think that he was
happy and excited to be an actor, especially in not having to generate
the whole movie from scratch. And also I’m a good director so he knew
it would be a good movie.”
Was
there not a moment’s hesitation on his part?
“No,
none. When I first met him I didn’t have much of the script, I just had
a little bit. But I told him what I was going to write for him and it
always seemed that it was going to work out and be great. We knew that
people would say it was weird, but when you’re working and doing your
stuff you don’t think about that at all. Whenever I’d see a friend of
mine and tell them that I was making a movie with Adam Sandler and they’d
look surprised. But then the proof is in the pudding as they say.”
Your
work has attracted such a loyal audience, and has proved so diverse, that
there must be a lot of pressure on whatever you choose to do next, isn’t
there?
“That
doesn’t seem like pressure, that seems wonderful to have. That’s great.
I feel pressure on myself to do good work, but I don’t feel it in a bad
way at all. It would be silly if I was always comparing what I was doing
to what I’ve done. People will like one movie more than they like another,
the audience is always going to have their preferences but I have no control
over that.”
Do
you not have any fear of failure though?
“I
think everybody does. I know when I’m honest with myself and I know when
I’m proud of my work and I know when it’s going good and when I done what
I set out to do. I know if I stop doing that it’ll be pretty bad. But
I love what I do, and I love to make movies. I think as long as I’m writing
stories that are personal to me and an accurate reflection of who I am
then I’m doing my job. You do different things, and maybe something will
be more successful than something else, but I think I know enough about
myself to know what my standard is. Just the level of quality I attain.
Did I do it how I wanted to do it? Yeah I did. And after that you see
if people go for it. But of course you have movies that are going to
be more successful than others financially, or critically.”
 Was
Punch-Drunk Love made in reaction to the darkness of Magnolia?
“I
did want to make a lighter movie. It’s a bit like if you’ve been in your
house all day, you just want to go outside. It’s like that kind of feeling.
Wherever you were last you generally want to go somewhere else next.
And there are so many stories to tell, I wanted to try to make a real
love story, a romantic picture. I certainly don’t want to repeat myself.
I have so many interests and so many genres that I would like to do, and
stories to tell. It’s nice to make movies that are funny. I wish this
movie was funnier, that there were more laughs, but it was fun to make.”
Will
this film you have answered critics who were not keen on the ambitious,
multi strand storyline of your previous two films, Magnolia and Boogie
Nights.
“Well
let me tell you, it’s harder to do a stripped down straightforward story
like this. That’s what I found anyway. You’ve got to stay in the boat,
you can’t really go anywhere else. It is nice to see what you can do away
with, wonder what economy you can work with, but on the other hand how
much can I cram into 90 minutes to tell the story effectively to make
it entertaining for an audience? What it does is help focus in on what
you really want to say, on what your real point is. I’ve brought the audience
to this point, so what am I trying to say? That can get a bit muddled
in three hours. I wish I could take ten or fifteen minutes out of Magnolia.
I don’t know where from, but it might help pinpoint what it was saying
a bit better. But in 90 minutes you have to get to it, say what you’ve
got to say and get the hell out of there.”
Have
you experienced ‘punch-drunk love’ yourself?
“I
certainly remember the experience of punch-drunk love. So many of the
emotions in this movie are personal. I come from a large family too so
I know very well the insanity and craziness that goes on there. They’re
not all sisters in my family though, thank God. That would be a nightmare,
to have that situation that Barry has in the film. The smack you and
kiss you thing would really screw you up. But a lot of big families are
like that, that tendency that siblings have on each other to have that
push and pull thing going on all the time. Being completely aggressive
toward each other but then completely protective from any outsiders. It’s
a crazy dynamic.”
Years
ago you dropped out of film school. Any regrets?
“I
think it’s worked out pretty well for me, all things considered. It might
have worked out differently if I’d stayed there, sure. The problem is
when I was growing up people like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Martin
Scorsese went to film school and they preached in its favour. It made
a lot of kids think that the only way you could make a movie was if you
went to film school. But that’s nonsense really, you basically get a lot
of kids who love movies going to watch more movies. That’s the last thing
that they should be doing, because they’re going to be watching movies
anyway. I don’t know if it would be different if there are great teachers
there. My experience with the teachers I had was not so good, so that’s
what turned me off of it. But I also think that it’s silly to make someone
think that they have to go to school to do this job. It should be a little
bit of a broader base of abilities to get it done, it shouldn’t be school
related.”
What,
if any, cinematic influences did you draw on in Punch-Drunk Love?
“I
was trying to steal some Blake Edwards stuff from this movie, and Jacques
Tati. Tati stuff is always in my brain, I can’t help but escape to his
stuff. I love Edwards’ stuff, SOB and Victor Victoria included, and I
remember watching those Pink Panther movies after a day of writing, sitting
around and watching those and really having fun. And musicals, those
Astaire-Rogers musicals. I tried to steal a bit of that and wondered
how they did it. Even though they were musicals they’re really romances
more than anything else, they’re always about him getting with her and
her getting with him, and fighting it out.”
You
have developed a terrific repertory of actors over the years, some of
whom appear in this movie. Is that part of the fun of the whole process
for you?
“It
is like working with a family, it’s a great way to go. But they’re also
great actors. It’s not nepotism in the family, they’re great. It’s
nice too because in the movie business the big drag is that you spend
time with these people and then they go off to work. You’re always separated.
You talk over the phone all the time but that’s it. It’s great to come
back together and hang out for a couple of months, because it is a bit
of a circus life really.”
Do
you ever look on the internet to see what people think of your work?
“I’ll
check around on that stuff here and there, kind of for the guilty pleasure
of seeing my own name somewhere. There are people who do really nice
websites that are fan sites, that kind of thing. That’s very flattering.
I just like to check those out here and there. But it’s a little bit like
staring at yourself naked in the mirror after a while. Put some clothes
on!”
Can
the degree of analysis of your films that exists in cyberspace be a little
unhealthy though, do you think?
“No
I think that that degree of fan interest is nice, I think it’s a good
thing. In a healthy dose of ego you could say that I know I collaborate
and work with people and we put everything there and have thought about
everything in the movie. But so many other things come from not a very
intellectual place half the time, from an instinctual place that feels
good and right. So it’s nice to have the attention to detail identified
because we have cared about the details in making the movie. That’s great,
thank you for paying attention because we were thinking about that. That’s
very flattering.”
Click here
to read a review of Punch-Drunk Love
Click here for the Press Notes of the
film
Click here for an interview with Emily
Watson who stars in the film
Click here to find out more about After
Eden, the rock band featured in the movie.
by Neil
Young
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