After “One Battle After Another” claimed the BAFTA for best film on Sunday night, director Paul Thomas Anderson had a simple message for critics of modern cinema.
“Anybody that says movies aren’t any good anymore should piss right off,” Anderson, who both wrote and directed the action thriller, said to cheers and laughter. “I want to say thank you, and I know that there’s a bar somewhere, I think we should all go there. It’s been a long evening, but we have so much to celebrate.”
Anderson ended his speech by sharing a quote from pianist, singer and activist Nina Simone that he admitted “we stole in our film.”
“She says, ‘I know what freedom is, it’s no fear,’” Anderson said. “So let’s keep making things without fear. It’s a good idea. See ya at the bar!”
Loosely inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Vineland,” “One Battle After Another” follows ex-revolutionaries reuniting to rescue a comrade’s daughter after an old enemy resurfaces. The ensemble cast is stacked with award winners in Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Regina Hall plus Teyana Taylor and breakout Chase Infiniti. On Sunday, “One Battle After Another” took home the most BAFTA Awards, including best director and adapted screenplay for Anderson and best supporting actor for Penn.
For Anderson, one of contemporary cinema’s most critically-acclaimed directors, “One Battle After Another” marks his first major awards contender and his first time winning BAFTA’s top prize. Both “There Will Be Blood” and “Licorice Pizza” were nominated for best film but lost out. Across eight previous nominations, he’s only had one win, when “Licorice Pizza” won best original screenplay in 2022.
“One Battle After Another,” which has 13 Oscar nominations, went into the BAFTA Film Awards leading the pack with 14 nominations, just two short of the record set by “Gandhi.”