Film Name: 一战再战 / One Battle After Another
One Battle After Another delivered a surprise I hadn’t felt in ages—perhaps because today’s Hollywood seems to favor simplistic, mindless blockbusters. Suddenly, here comes this film that looks like an A-grade production but packs an S-grade depth, leaving my head spinning with a kind of “oxygen intoxication.”
Of course, this also stems from my unfamiliarity with the director and writer Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA), who holds considerable renown within the industry… But regardless, a good film is a good film, and it deserves proper praise.
“One Battle After Another” isn’t the kind of film that immediately grabs you with its brilliance. It lacks that overwhelming initial impact or dazzling spectacle. Much of its appeal lies hidden in its nuanced portrayal of political stances and meticulous craftsmanship—it’s the kind of work that grows on you the more you watch it.
Moreover, as you delve deeper, you’ll discover the film’s cinematic language is genuinely sophisticated. Setting aside the breathtaking mountain highway chase scene at the end, my true appreciation for this film began with the moment where “Pajama Warrior/Junkie” Leo runs to the staccato beat of a piano snare drum.
Let’s briefly discuss the film’s core “political” substance.
“One Battle After Another” encompasses nearly every major political stance, faction, and ideology that has graced American soil over the past five to six decades—violent revolution, neoliberalism, white supremacy, civil rights movements, women’s liberation, colonialism, and more. Crucially, the film avoids simplistic political stereotypes. Each character embodies some degree of political alienation, mutation, or hybridity.
Take Pafidia and Rockjo, positioned at opposite ends of the political spectrum. While one appears far-left and the other far-right, both defy their expected personas: Pafidia is a born-rebellious revolutionary, yet she cannot control her violent tendencies, ultimately fading away as a “confused traitor”; Rockjo, meanwhile, is a quintessential polarized traditional conservative hawk, yet he harbors an obsessive fixation on Black women and reacts with extreme anxiety to questions like “Are you gay?”
What’s even more striking is how these two collide in their shared sexual repression, resonating in a way that leads to the highest form of carnal union—one that pierces the soul through the flesh.
For a more professional and comprehensive analysis, check out others’ takes. I’d like to highlight what I appreciate most about One Battle After Another: its chaotic yet cohesive perspective and tone.
Typically, films with high political content tend to be serious, even tedious, and not particularly likable (many works incorporating political elements treat politics as texture rather than core). Meanwhile, political satire comedies often overdo the mockery, excelling at deconstruction but lacking in character development.
“One Battle After Another” achieves a rare balance between the gravity and entertainment value expected of political films (thanks in part to its inherently high-concept premise). It remains rich without being overwhelming, steady without being dull, playful yet respectful.
The characters and scenes that best embody this effortless mastery are undoubtedly Bob and Sensei in the film’s middle and latter sections.
Bob, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, was my primary source of joy throughout the film. From the outset, he wasn’t exactly a steadfast revolutionary—at heart, he was just a guy dreaming of a wife, kids, and a cozy home. Yet his ideology and past experiences doomed him to never truly settle down, leaving him to waste away sixteen years in numbness and confusion.
But as Lockejo presses closer and his daughter goes missing, Bob must finally step up—and so we witness the grueling life of this aging revolutionary: shuffling around in pajamas and sunglasses, greasy and disheveled, tortured by code-breaking, stumbling during parkour with youngsters only to fall from a building and get arrested… The film fully captures the disgraced revolutionary’s misery and decline, yet ultimately pays tribute and offers solace through a hundred-mile pursuit and the father-daughter reunion.
Benicio del Toro’s portrayal of the Latino mentor embodies a flawless elegance. Though seemingly devoid of overt political affiliations, his organizational prowess—from sheltering immigrants and crisis management to brokering alliances—outshines most political factions. This formidable competence and pragmatic spirit make him the film’s most endearing character. Even I found myself wishing Sensei would come to my rescue…
Speaking of which, I suddenly grasp why One Battle After Another centers its latter-half focus and storm eye on Vera: as the daughter of Pafedia and Rockjo, she inherits her mother’s defiance and fearlessness alongside her father’s ferocity and decisiveness. Yet raised by Bob, she possesses the love and compassion ordinary people should have. As Sensei’s student, while her politically layered worldview and values might require further consideration, her methodology learned from her master is undoubtedly sound.
No one embodies the spirit of carrying forward the legacy of battle better than Vera.
After a spectacular, climactic, perfectly choreographed car chase, Vera and Bob finally embrace as father and daughter. Some call this an “American-style happy ending,” inevitably clichéd.
So be it. After feasting on the grand banquet of One Battle After Another, savoring the taste of home cooking isn’t so bad… Besides, this ending feels fitting for the film: Vera’s future holds countless trials, and her life is destined to be “one battle after another.” When political chaos blinds you to what lies ahead or behind, remember that “love and family” remain steadfast anchors.
This truth holds for the complex characters within the film, and equally for those outside it—friends who love to debate politics, macro-narratives, and argue endlessly over various causes.
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