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Magnolia (1999)
Starring Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Tom Cruise. Cinematography by Robert Elswit. Edited by Dylan Tichenor. Produced by Paul Thomas Anderson and Joanne Sellar. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Magnolia is nine intertwined stories told over the course of one day in Southern California. Most of the characters are related to someone else in the cast in one way or another and their situations weave in and out of each other. The film starts off with a brief documentary on baffling coincidences, which gives us a foothold on what will unfold over the following two and a half hours.
The short opening segment shows us that regardless of how hard we plan, sometimes shit just happens and there’s nothing that we can do about it. The characters seem to be blissfully unaware of this fact as they move through their days, totally engrossed in the microcosms of their own lives. But something incredible is on the horizon and their problems will soon be reduced into insignificance.
Exodus 8:2, "And if thou refuse to let them go behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs". Paul Thomas Anderson was not aware of the biblical verse when he was writing Magnolia, but it fits perfectly. The finale was actually inspired from the literature of Charles Fort, a writer of strange natural phenomenon in the early nineteen hundreds. After the script was finished the Exodus verse was brought to his attention. While on the set he thought it would be fun to add as many referenced to the verse as possible.
If you’ve seen the film once and picked up one here and there, you’re nowhere close. The verse is planted well over a hundred times in one form or another throughout the film. Look for meetings that start at 8:20, eight $20 dollar bills, 82% chance of rain, March 23rd the 82nd day of the year, etc.
Anderson started the project wanting to write something “small and intimate”. He wanted something that wouldn’t take more than thirty days to shoot. But the characters he started writing led to more interesting characters that led to plot that was anything but simple. Let us say that with very rare exception, a film that tops three hours is too damn long.
Even this film, with it’s deliberate pace and character development, can be difficult to sit still through from credits to credits. But, unlike most excessively long films, Magnolia uses most of it’s time wisely and for the most part is better for the additional minutes spent on the story.
Budget: $37,000,000
Total US Gross: $22,450,975
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 188 Minutes
US Release Date: 12/8/99
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Awards: Academy Awards: Nominated for best supporting actor, best original song, and best original screenplay. Golden Globes: Won for best supporting actor. Nominated for best original song. Writers Guild of America: Nominated for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.
Tagline: Things Fall Down. People Look Up. And When It Rains, It Pours.
Quote: “There are stories of coincidence and chance, of intersections and strange things told, and which is which and nobody knows; and we generally say, "Well, if that was in a movie, I wouldn't believe it."
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