Any reason to keep the conversation going about “Phantom Thread” is a good one, and six Oscar nominations is certainly one way to do that. Or, if you’re the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, you honor Paul Thomas Anderson with Outstanding Director of the Year Award, a prize shared with fellow Best Director nominees Greta Gerwig (“Lady Bird“), Guillermo del Toro (“The Shape of Water“), Jordan Peele (“Get Out“), and Christopher Nolan (“Dunkirk“).
Rolling through Santa Barbara to pick up his trophy, Anderson took part in a Q&A session (via Collider) that touched upon the expected talking points of “Phantom Thread,” but also saw the director weigh in on the work of his fellow Oscar nominees. Equally generous and awed as Nolan, Andreson’s thoughts are terrific:
The first thing I think of, when I think of Guillermo’s film [The Shape of Water] is Sally Hawkins and her performance. I’ve felt, for so long, that there she was, right in front of our faces. I wondered who was going to be the person to grab her and put her where she needed to be, and the most memorable thing about that film is seeing her, front and center. I always get to see Chris’ films in the optimal setting, hot off the presses. I just remember thinking that, as many times as you’ve done this, there’s no greater pleasure than sitting in a movie theater now and saying, “How the fuck did he do that?!” That was every single moment [with Dunkirk], really. With Greta’s film [Lady Bird], I go right to Saoirse [Ronan]. You see this Irish actress be somebody from California, and more specifically from Sacramento, and you go, “How did she do that?!” That’s the best feeling, when you see a magic trick in front of you and all the things you know about being a director go away. And I got to see [Jordan Peele’s] movie [Get Out] in the middle of shooting, in winter in London, when I really needed a lifeline and I needed something to inspire me. I was cold and I didn’t think we were doing well, and I took myself to the movies on Sunday night. I was an enormous fan of everything he’d done in television, but the film inspired me so deeply and hugely. It was also a connection back to my country, as peculiar as that connection might be. It actually ironically made me homesick.
All those movie are available to watch either on the big screen or in the comfort of your home right now. And if you need to catch up with them, let Anderson’s comments be your guide.
