#480 – Cut/daily Meets... Editor Andy Jurgensen

It is undeniable.

There really is something magic about hearing a projector whir, seeing film flickering through the gate, weaving a little on the screen and the slight grimy inflection from a print that's been shown a fair few times.

Ah, cinema*.

Such was my experience of seeing One Battle After Another at the Leciester Square Odeon Luxe in glorious VistaVision.

I'll also make the effort to see any Paul Thomas Anderson film in the cinema too.

True story. I was at a London Film Festival Suprise Film screening of Punch Drunk Love, which was presented LOUD. The first question in the Q&A to PTA afterward was more of a complaint.

“I thought it was too loud. Why was it so loud?”

(She is instantly booed.)

PTA — “I think falling in love feels loud.”

Ah, cinema.

All that to say, you're in for a real treat in this Issue of Cut/daily Meets... with OBAA's editor Andy Jurgensen.

Andy has been part of the PTA-team for well over 10 years; previously editing Licorice Pizza, and assisting on Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread – plus editing a ton of PTA's music videos along the way.

What struck me most about the relentlessly wild ride that is One Battle After Another, is that through it all, the heart of the film is a father's love.

That got me. And the killer ‘roll credits’ music.

*Arrow Films have a beautiful 4K restoration of Cinema Paradiso - treat yo'self.

This is your second feature collaboration with PTA as editor, but you've been working together for over a decade.

How does that change with every film or does it just get more comfortable?

Over the years, we’ve definitely developed a shorthand. I’ve become much more attuned to his sensibilities and his style of filmmaking, so I can better anticipate the performances, rhythms, and choices he gravitates toward.

You spend an enormous amount of time together in the cutting room, so it’s essential to have someone you genuinely enjoy collaborating with.

Before Licorice Pizza, I worked as the assistant editor on Inherent Vice and Phantom Thread, and I also cut a number of his music videos.

Each project has deepened that rapport and trust.

One of the frequent comments in reviews is that while the film is long (nearly 3 hours), yet it really keeps up a blistering pace. How did you achieve that in the edit suite?

We were always looking for ways to make the beginnings and endings of scenes more dynamic.

That might mean chopping off the end of a scene abruptly or pre-lapping a sound or a line of dialogue to push us forward. We experimented a lot with where to let the music drive things and where to pull it back entirely.

At the same time, we were conscious of giving the audience places to breathe before the momentum ramps up again.

The Christmas Adventure scenes and Bob & Willa’s argument at the kitchen table work as those little breaks in the rhythm, for example. There’s no music, very minimal camera movement, and the whole pace relaxes just enough to let things settle before the film drives forward again.

Was the film much longer to start with? Did you have to compress and lose stuff, or is it just in the nature of the film to keep moving forward?

Our longest version of the movie was a little over three hours. (We had already removed a few scenes.) The final cut comes in around 2 hours and 33 minutes.

Most of the condensing happened in the Sisters of the Brave Beaver/DNA test sequence. We also made trims in the prologue and the Sensei Sergio section.

We had a few screenings along the way that helped us gauge the pace and how the tonal shifts and various jokes were landing. As we shaped the film, we were careful to ensure the father–daughter bond remained the film’s emotional core.