LOS ANGELES - "One Battle After Another" triumphed at the Oscars on Sunday, winning six awards, including the coveted best picture statuette, besting "Sinners" in a thrilling finale to one of the most competitive awards seasons in recent years.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson personally won three Oscars, the first of his career, for his political thriller that tackles the hot-button issues of immigration raids and white supremacy.
"You make a guy work really hard for one of these," he said to laughter as he accepted the award for best director.
"I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them," he said after collecting the best adapted screenplay prize.
"But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.
"One Battle" tells the story of a pot-addled ex-revolutionary, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who struggles to remember passphrases in a battle of wits against the terrifying Colonel Lockjaw, played by best supporting actor winner Sean Penn.
The film also won best editing and the inaugural award for casting.
Anderson is one of the greatest auteurs of contemporary US cinema, but until Sunday had never won an Oscar, despite 11 previous nominations for acclaimed films including "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights."