Magnolia (1999)
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/scope 188m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, Orlando Jones, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, Henry Gibson, Luis Guzman
Synopsis:
After a prologue on famous cases of coincidence so strange, if they happened in a movie you wouldn't believe them, the film begins to tell the interlocking stories of twelve characters as they reach crisis point during one stormy day in the San Fernando valley.
Review:
In some ways comparable to Altman's Short Cuts this is in fact a technical feat far more daring, in that the cross-cutting is sustained throughout; and, astonishingly enough, it works (almost). The most virtuosic, supremely acted adult entertainment from Hollywood imaginable, that is provided you are exhilarated rather than exhausted by this kind of relentlessness. The twin themes explored through a range of characters are the effects of parental abuse of all kinds on their children, through four overlapping stories, and the individual's need to give and receive love. Anderson seeks to show how the former directly affect the latter, which in turn manifests itself in different forms of behaviour, depending on the person. Hence the inexhaustible fascination of human variety, put on display through a glorious ensemble of performances and a rivetingly precocious film-making and writing talent.
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/scope 188m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, Orlando Jones, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, Henry Gibson, Luis Guzman
Synopsis:
After a prologue on famous cases of coincidence so strange, if they happened in a movie you wouldn't believe them, the film begins to tell the interlocking stories of twelve characters as they reach crisis point during one stormy day in the San Fernando valley.
Review:
In some ways comparable to Altman's Short Cuts this is in fact a technical feat far more daring, in that the cross-cutting is sustained throughout; and, astonishingly enough, it works (almost). The most virtuosic, supremely acted adult entertainment from Hollywood imaginable, that is provided you are exhilarated rather than exhausted by this kind of relentlessness. The twin themes explored through a range of characters are the effects of parental abuse of all kinds on their children, through four overlapping stories, and the individual's need to give and receive love. Anderson seeks to show how the former directly affect the latter, which in turn manifests itself in different forms of behaviour, depending on the person. Hence the inexhaustible fascination of human variety, put on display through a glorious ensemble of performances and a rivetingly precocious film-making and writing talent.
Country: US
Technical: DeLuxe/scope 188m
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Tom Cruise, Julianne Moore, Melinda Dillon, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ricky Jay, Orlando Jones, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Jason Robards, Melora Walters, Henry Gibson, Luis Guzman
Synopsis:
After a prologue on famous cases of coincidence so strange, if they happened in a movie you wouldn't believe them, the film begins to tell the interlocking stories of twelve characters as they reach crisis point during one stormy day in the San Fernando valley.
Review:
In some ways comparable to Altman's Short Cuts this is in fact a technical feat far more daring, in that the cross-cutting is sustained throughout; and, astonishingly enough, it works (almost). The most virtuosic, supremely acted adult entertainment from Hollywood imaginable, that is provided you are exhilarated rather than exhausted by this kind of relentlessness. The twin themes explored through a range of characters are the effects of parental abuse of all kinds on their children, through four overlapping stories, and the individual's need to give and receive love. Anderson seeks to show how the former directly affect the latter, which in turn manifests itself in different forms of behaviour, depending on the person. Hence the inexhaustible fascination of human variety, put on display through a glorious ensemble of performances and a rivetingly precocious film-making and writing talent.