Leonardo DiCaprio’s new movie,One Battle After Another, continues a trend that took 63 years to happen. One of the finest actors of his generation,DiCaprio has collaboratedwith many of the finest filmmakers of his generation, beginning with his breakout role in James Cameron’sTitanic(1997), which became the highest-grossing film ever at the time of its release.
Since then, DiCaprio has continued collaborating with great directors, including sixmovies withMartin Scorsese–Gangs of New York(2002),The Aviator(2004),The Departed(2006),Shutter Island(2010),The Wolf of Wall Street(2013), andKillers of the Flower Moon(2023). He’s also worked with Steven Spielberg onCatch Me If You Can(2002), Christopher Nolan onInception(2008), and twice with Quentin Tarantino onDjango Unchained(2012) andOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood(2019).
However, it was Alejandro G. Iñárritu’sThe Revenant(2015) that finally won DiCaprio the Academy Award for Best Actor. Now, for his next film, DiCaprio is collaborating for the first time withdirector Paul Thomas Anderson. Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s novelVineland,One Battle After Anotherstars DiCaprioas a former revolutionary who, when their enemy resurfaces after 16 years, must reunite with his fellow revolutionaries to rescue his daughter.
The cast also includes two-time Oscar winner Sean Penn (Mystic River,Milk), Oscar winner Benicio del Toro (Traffic), Regina Hall, Teyana Taylor, Alana Haim (Licorice Pizza), andThe Wire’s Wood Harris. By way of Anderson’s bold visual style,One Battle After Anothercontinues a trendthat was recently revived after 63 years and is now gaining major momentum once again.
One Battle After Another Continues VistaVision’s Revival
And There’s Even More To Come
Paul Thomas Anderson’sOne Battle After Anothercontinues VistaVision’s revival, as will many more movies to come. VistaVision is a large, widescreen format that was developed by Paramount in 1954. It uses standard 35mm film, but is instead oriented horizontally to capture a wider image, while also resulting in a clearer and sharper picture, improving the overall image quality.
VistaVision was used heavily by Paramount throughout the 1950s, including on some absolute classic, all-time great films, most notablyAlfred Hitchcock’sVertigoandNorth By Northwest. However, as finer-grain film became available,the format was phased out in the 1960s, asOne-Eyed Jacks(1961) was the last American film shot entirely in VistaVision.
However, in 2024, Brady Corbet’sThe Brutalistwas the first major American movie to use VistaVision in 63 years, and it has started a real revival. Paul Thomas Anderson’sOne Battle After Another, Yorgos Lanthimos’Bugonia, andAlejandro G. Iñárritu’s untitled moviewith Tom Cruise are all using VistaVision, which is pretty exciting.
Filmmakers are reviving VistaVision for its high resolution, rich detail, and distinct sense of depth that digital formats often lack.
After not being used for 63 years,filmmakers are reviving VistaVision for its high resolution, rich detail, and distinct sense of depth that digital formats often lack. In an age dominated by digital sheen, auteurs are bringing back the format for its analog elegance. VistaVision doesn’t merely capture images, it sculpts them, making every frame feel etched into memory.
