I watched the film after it had cleaned up at the Oscars.

 

Would I agree with how the members of the Academy had voted? I was so impressed by

Hamlet that I was unsure whether I could recast my vote for another film. Already halfway

through, I sensed that this is the very best film of the year. Yes, One Battle After Another

deserved the six Oscars.

 

Best film, best director, and best adapted screenplay are all due to the artistry of James Paul

Anderson, who is one of the best filmmakers of our time. Anderson took the 1990 novel

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, which is set in 1984, and moved it with incredible skill to

our times. When future historians want to understand the mood and feel of the

contemporary USA, they can simply watch One Battle After Another, which so adroitly

captures it without ever becoming schoolmasterly or preachy. Left-wing and right-wing

extremism are getting equal billing. Even though one can get depressed simply reading any

morning in the 2nd reign of Trump, the film is not depressing because the pictures it paints

are so well composed.

 

As I was watching the film, my thoughts traveled to Donald Trump’s reactionary senior

advisor Steven Miller, who is the architect of the campaigns to turn USA cities into

militarized zones. As the government is hunting down left-wing terrorists in the film, my

thoughts traveled to the streets of Minnesota, where the American citizen Alex Pretti is

unjustifiably gunned down by ICE agents. Sean Penn plays a role similar to ICE agents and

delivers, again, a stunning performance that earned him the Oscar for best supporting actor.

Sean Penn put himself in the illustrious group of actors who win an Oscar and do not even

show up to receive it.

 

As Donald Trump is waging war in Iran, weapons necessary for the defense of Ukraine are

now redirected to the Middle East. The war in the Middle East is the best gift Trump could

have made to Putin. Instead of attending the Oscars ceremony, Penn traveled to Ukraine,

where he has spent a lot of time in these years to support Ukrainians’ fight for self-

determination. Incidentally, Mr. Nobody Against Putin, a film about a school teacher who

captures on video Putin’s indoctrination campaigns, won the Oscar for best documentary.

One Battle After Another also won an Oscar for best casting and best editing. It beat

Sinners, which won four: best actor, best music (original score), and writing for original

screenplay. Curiously, Marty Supreme was nominated for nine Oscars but went home

empty-handed.

 

One Battle After Another is one of the best films I have seen in my entire life.