The Sounds of Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson uses sound design to complement his expansive visual style. His close-ups are underscored by full-bodied foley and his masters often echo. When a sound is isolated, it’s either played for humor—a croaking frog, tumbling down from the sky in Magnolia—or tension—a wheezing Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will be Blood. Sometimes, the two are combined. Thirty minutes into Phantom Thread, during a family breakfast scene, Vicky Krieps begins to butter her toast and it’s clear that no amount of he