Paul Thomas Anderson approaches filmmaking as a finely tuned Swiss watch: intricate, deliberate, and worth every second, evident in Boogie Nights and Licorice Pizza. He has fiercely defended film stock, theater projection, and the sanctity of the director’s authority. Staying true to his principles, he has voiced a firm objection to the Melania Trump documentary.

Paul Thomas Anderson, auteur of Phantom Thread, and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood have taken issue with the Melania Trump documentary’s use of music from their acclaimed film. Variety reported that the pair demanded its removal.

"While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement," the statement read. Anderson and Greenwood underscored the breach as a serious professional slight.

Greenwood’s haunting score for Phantom Thread has been widely celebrated for its tension and elegance. The filmmaker and composer stress that such music must not appear without consultation, especially in a controversial political context. Variety confirmed that Greenwood’s representative provided the statement, clarifying that the dispute concerns process, not authorship.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s objection to the unauthorized use of Phantom Thread’s music in Melania is unsurprising; few artists would quietly accept their painstaking work being repurposed.

The work that went into the soundtrack of the Paul Thomas Anderson film

Jonny Greenwood’s score for Phantom Thread was a meticulous blend of historical research and personal experimentation as per his revelation during his 2017 Variety interview. Greenwood studied what Reynolds Woodcock would actually listen to, drawing on Baroque music, Glenn Gould’s Bach recordings, and lush arrangements like Nelson Riddle’s Lolita score.

The music’s textures were deliberately distinctive. Greenwood used a practice upright piano with a felt strip for a muted, almost mechanical tone, contrasting intimate string quartets with a 60-piece orchestra to shift from quiet character moments to grand emotional climaxes.

Greenwood retained full control over composition, hand-writing every note and recording most tracks off-click to preserve natural timing. Many themes originated as iPhone demos to Paul Thomas Anderson, whose attachment to their raw imperfections led Greenwood to keep the demos in the final score.

The resulting soundtrack dominates nearly 90 minutes of the 130-minute film, integrating period research, innovative instrumentation, and intimate collaboration. This extraordinary care may explain why Paul Thomas Anderson seeks the immediate removal of Phantom Thread music from the Melania Trump documentary.

What do you think of Paul Thomas Anderson's response? Let us know in the comments!

Written by

Iffat Siddiqui

Edited by

Hriddhi Maitra