Paul Thomas Andersonwas only 27when his breakthrough feature filmBoogie Nightswas released. Though the young writer-director had only directed one other film,Hard Eight(also known asSidney),his sophomore effort propelled him to Hollywood fame.Boogie Nightsended upgrossing over $43 million at the box officeand garneringthree Academy Award nominations. For the quality of his work and surprisingly young age, by filmmaking standards, Anderson was lauded as a “wunderkind” of the new age of American cinema. However, what many commentators did not know was that Anderson’s work onBoogie Nightshad begun over a decade prior,when he created the short filmThe Dirk Diggler Storyat only 17 years old.
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a comedy/drama that follows a young high-school dropout named Eddie Adams in the ’70s who stumbles into the porn industry after a fortuitous meeting with a filmmaker. The film chronicles his career and life, illuminating the problematic stigmas and troubles facing the sector heading into the 1980s.
How Does ‘The Dirk Diggler Story’ Compare to ‘Boogie Nights’?
Boogie Nightsfollows Eddie Adams, played by a youngMark Wahlberg, who drops out of high school to become an adult film actor after meeting with director Jack Horner, played byBurt Reynolds. Under Horner’s guidance, Eddie adopts the stage name Dirk Diggler and becomes a star in the adult entertainment industry. There, he meets a colorful cast of characters, like Amber Waves, played byJulianne Moore, Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly),and Scotty J., played by longtime Anderson collaboratorPhilip Seymour Hoffman. Casting director Christine Sheaks certainly deserved herArtios awardfor her work on the film. Having run away from his family in a search for success, Diggler loses his way and his career after getting addicted to hard drugs.
In 1988, nine years before the release ofBoogie Nights,Anderson released a short film calledThe Dirk Diggler Storywhich follows a young Steven Samuel Adams, who leaves home to become an adult film star under the mentorship of Jack Horner. Adams adopts the stage name Dirk Diggler and rises to the top of his field. Eventually, he develops a narcotic addiction which ruins his career as an actor. Sound familiar?The Dirk Diggler Storyis essentially a blueprint forBoogie Nights. The broad strokes of both films are identical, as each depict Dirk Diggler’s rise from obscurity and his eventual fall from grace as a result of egomania and a drug addiction. While both films are similar in their first two acts, they diverge in their endings.The Dirk Diggler Storyends with its titular hero dying after an overdose, whileBoogie Nightssees Diggler learn humility and return to his motley family of actors and collaborators. Considering that Anderson’s Oscar-nominatedBoogie Nightsscript is essentiallyThe Dirk Diggler Story, that means he was producing Academy-Award-worthy material at only 17-years-old. For curious fans,The Dirk Diggler Storyisavailable to watch on YouTube.
We Have Paul Thomas Anderson To Thank for ‘Anchorman’
The acclaimed filmmaker’s endorsement of Will Ferrell and Adam McKay paid off in droves.
How Did Paul Thomas Anderson Make ‘The Dirk Diggler Story’?
Anderson’s short boasts a cast and crew partially made up of seasoned professionals and carries a runtime of 32 minutes, which is rather long for a short film. How then did this 17-year-old manage a crew decades older than him and produce a film with no prior professional experience? As just a senior at Montclair Preparatory School in Van Nuys, Anderson compileda crew consisting of high school buddies along with a smattering of entertainment industry colleaguesof his father,Ernie Anderson, who worked as a radio personality under the stage name Ghoulardi. One of his father’s friends,Robert Ridgely, agreed to star as director Jack Horner and would eventually take on the substantive role as The Colonel inBoogie Nights. The young Anderson filmed the short at a motel nearby Universal Studios withmoney he earned near cages at a pet store. Lacking the funds for a proper film camera and stock, Anderson used a video camera and Steadicam owned by his father. In a time before smartphones and easily-accessible computers, the teenage directorhad to edit film via VCR-to-VCR transmission, a slow, old-school method where two VCRs were connected to allow footage from one tape to be recorded onto another. Even at 17,Paul Thomas Anderson was a dedicated filmmaker.
Despite his young age, Anderson knew exactly how to direct his short films and get what he wanted out of actors.Inspired by the John Holmes documentaryExhaustedand a childhood favorite movieThis Is Spinal Tap,Anderson chose to utilize the mockumentary format to film his short. In stark contrast to his later work,the characters in his short film speak directly to the cameralike they are in an episode ofThe Office.This stylistic change lends an air of reality to the production and brings the audience into the film. Since Anderson lacked the resources to rent proper film cameras and lights and therefore produce a professional-looking film, he made the intelligent choice to create a scrappy mockumentary. The short film looks like a low-budget documentary and could easily confuse a viewer unfamiliar with Paul Thomas Anderson orBoogie Nights.
‘The Dirk Diggler Story’ Is an Amazing Glimpse Into Paul Thomas Anderson’s Mind
Paul Thomas Anderson’s films are often inscrutable and difficult to understand upon first viewing. Many hundreds of analytical articles have been written to understand the twisted psyches of his characters, likeDaniel Day-Lewis’s Daniel Plainview inThere Will Be BloodorJoaquin Phoenix’s Freddie Quell inThe Master. With long gaps often in between his films' releases, Anderson seems to emerge out of the darkness each few years to leave audiences around the world with phenomenal viewing experiences. But understanding an artist’s work does not necessarily let one understand that person. WithThe Dirk Diggler Story,fans are allowed a sneak peek into the young mind of one of the greatest modern directors.
Many short films made by beginners often illustrate an artist struggling to find their footing. However, it appears as ifAnderson always possessed an innate understanding of storytelling conventionsand a love for oddball characters and subject matter. Even as a teenager in high school, his sights were seemingly set on filmmaking. Michael Stein, a childhood friend of Anderson’s who played Dirk Diggler inThe Dirk Diggler Story,recalled meeting with the director in his bedroomto discuss the film: “[On his wall was] a poster of all the Best Picture winners going back to 1927.” Whether his films are set in early 20th century oil fields,at sea with a new religious movement, or in theSan Fernando Valleywith adult entertainers,Paul Thomas Anderson’s works always find a way to provoke and excite the viewer.
Boogie Nightsis available to rent on Prime Video in the U.S.
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO
