One Battle After Another: Spirit of resistance from USA to Bangladesh
One Battle After Another is on track to become the most critically acclaimed movie of this year. Based loosely on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation is a dark-comedy sprinkled with political satire. The story follows Bob, a washed-up, far-left ex-revolutionary, and his high-spirited daughter Willa. Soon ghosts from Bob’s past resurface and Willa falls in their crosshairs, setting Bob on a rescue mission. As for themes, the social commentary in this movie is not at all subtle. The film satirizes radical white extremists, critiques immigration laws, and pokes fun at gun violence in America, with little left to interpretation. However, all of this commentary is specific to modern day American politics. What can Bangladeshi audiences take away from this movie?
Bangladeshi youth have always been instrumental in the political developments of the country. Starting all the way back in 1952, it was the student body who put their foot down to preserve Bangla as the state language. Just last year, students threw down an entire dictatorial government, which is part of a bigger contemporary cascading phenomenon happening across Southeast Asia. The younger generations have always had the number advantage. Once they grow conscious of the injustices of the state, they make their stand.
This is at the heart of One Battle After Another. Chase Infiniti’s Willa–representing the future generation–carries this central message. She endures emotional and physical trauma throughout the near-three hour runtime, and comes out of it stronger and more resolute, adopting the revolutionary spirit of both her parents. The film bookends with Willa joining protests, but not with explosives like her father, nor espionage like her mother, but with diplomacy. In this tumultuous time of border disputes and ethnic endangerment, we are all revolutionaries like the French 75. It is up to us, the youth, to choose how we tackle life’s battles, one after another.
