Magnolia (film)
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| Magnolia | |
|---|---|
 Movie poster |
|
| Directed by | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Produced by | Paul Thomas Anderson Joanne Sellar |
| Written by | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Starring | Jeremy Blackman Tom Cruise Melinda Dillon April Grace Luis Guzmán Philip Baker Hall Philip Seymour Hoffman Ricky Jay William H. Macy Alfred Molina Julianne Moore John C. Reilly Jason Robards Melora Walters |
| Music by | Jon Brion |
| Cinematography | Robert Elswit |
| Editing by | Dylan Tichenor |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) |  December 8, 1999 |
| Running time | 188 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French German |
| Budget | $37,000,000 |
| Official website | |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Magnolia is a 1999 drama film, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It interweaves nine separate yet connected storylines, about the interactions among several people during one day in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles, California. The film was well-financed by New Line Cinema. Stylistically, it has strong independent film influences, and its running time is relatively long, at 188 minutes (NTSC) / 180 minutes (PAL).
It uses an ensemble cast of of Julianne Moore, Jason Robards, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Luis Guzmán, Philip Baker Hall, April Grace, Ricky Jay, Orlando Jones, William H. Macy, Alfred Molina, Jeremy Blackman, Michael Murphy, John C. Reilly, Melinda Dillon, Melora Walters, Michael Bowen, Thomas Jane and Felicity Huffman. Cruise was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Academy Awards, and won the award in the same category at the Golden Globes of 2000.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
Magnolia starts with an introduction describing three events that set the mood for the movie by urging the audience to think about supposed coincidences which occur "all the time." The events, which are well-known urban legends, are:
- Sir Edmund William Godfrey, a resident of Greenberry Hill, London, UK, is murdered outside his pharmacy by three vagrants by the names Joseph Green, Stanley Berry, and Daniel Hill. Based on the murder of Edmund Berry Godfrey.
- A blackjack dealer, Delmer Darion, dies of a heart attack while scuba diving, as he is accidentally picked up by a fire fighting airplane scooping water to put out a forest fire. The pilot of the plane, Craig Hansen, had met Darion a few days prior at Darion's casino, starting a fight with him after losing a hand of blackjack. The guilt and the measure of coincidence caused the pilot to commit suicide.
- A 17-year-old boy, Sydney Barringer, whose attempted suicide by jumping off the roof of his apartment building became a "successful homicide" when he was accidentally shot by his mother as he fell past his own apartment window. His parents regularly argued and threatened each other with a shotgun, which was not normally kept loaded. Sydney had loaded the gun a few days prior so that his parents would make good on their threats to kill each other and, in doing so, unwittingly became an accomplice in his own killing. The irony is that a newly installed netting on the building would have saved his life if not for the shotgun wound.
The movie then goes on to introduce the main characters:
- Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise), author of "Seduce and Destroy," a self-help system for men to get women to sleep with them. Mackey's character was inspired by Ross Jeffries, according to Paul Thomas Anderson in the magazine "Creative Screenwriting".
- Linda Partridge (Julianne Moore), a woman dealing with her much older husband's terminal illness and feelings of guilt for her infidelity. She is the stepmother of Frank T.J. Mackey.
- "Quiz Kid" Donnie Smith (William H. Macy), who won a large sum of money on the television game show What Do Kids Know? in the 1960s, but whose life has gone downhill since then as a celebrity spokesperson.
- Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman), a current contestant on What Do Kids Know? with a selfish showbiz father capitalizing off his son's success by using constant pressure.
- Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a kind, innocuous nurse working for the terminally ill Earl Partridge.
- Claudia Wilson Gator (Melora Walters), a young woman plagued by psychological problems and addicted to cocaine; daughter of Jimmy Gator.
- Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall), host of What Do Kids Know?.
- Earl Partridge (Jason Robards), a wealthy television producer with terminal lung cancer. Estranged father of Frank T.J. Mackey.
- Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly), a divorced and forthright police officer. While on patrol, Kurring often speaks to an imaginary camera, as if he were appearing on a reality TV series such as COPS.
- Dixon (Emmanuel L. Johnson), an African American youth who raps and is the son of "The Worm."
The characters are interesting in and of themselves, but the movie is more about the connections between the characters:
| Jim Kurring | Earl | Jimmy | Claudia | Phil | Stanley | Donnie | Linda | |
| Frank | Jim dates the daughter of the host of a game show produced by Frank's father. | Earl is Frank's estranged father and has a history of mistreating women | Jimmy is the host of What Do Kids Know? produced by Frank's father | Claudia is the daughter of the host of a game show produced by Frank's father. | Phil must find Frank to reunite him with his father | Stanley is a contestant on a game show produced by Frank's father. | Donnie was a contestant on a game show produced by Frank's father. | Linda is Frank's stepmother. |
| Linda | Dixon tries to tell Jim who committed a murder and Jim lectures him without understanding; Dixon finds Linda after she OD's | Earl is Linda's husband, both have been unfaithful (Linda to Earl and Earl to his first wife) | Both make admissions of infidelity, and both unsuccessfully attempt suicide. | Both abuse drugs and suffer from psychological problems | Linda employs Phil to take care of Earl | Stanley is a contestant on the show produced by Linda's husband, Earl | Both suffer emotional outbursts | |
| Donnie | Both are lonely and desperately seeking love; Jim spots Donnie attempting to return the stolen money, then comes to his aid after Donnie is injured by the falling frogs | Gained fame from the quiz show produced by Earl | Donnie was a contestant on Jimmy's show in 1968 | Both have a persecution complex | Phil is the caretaker of Earl, who produces the show that made Donnie famous | Both are "quiz kids" who feel unappreciated by their parents | ||
| Stanley | Both feel like outcasts, Stanley from his teammates and Jim from his co-workers | Gains fame from the quiz show produced by Earl | Stanley is a contestant on Jimmy's show, where both suffer breakdowns (Jimmy physically, Stanley emotionally) | Both abused by their fathers, Stanley emotionally, Claudia sexually | ||||
| Phil | Jim dates the daughter of the host of the gameshow produced by Earl, who Phil takes care of | Phil is Earl's nurse | ||||||
| Claudia | Jim goes to Claudia's apartment to check out a disturbance, and eventually asks her out on a date | Jimmy is Claudia's estranged father | ||||||
| Jimmy | Jim is called to the house of Jimmy's daughter, and eventually asks her on a date | Earl is the executive producer of Jimmy's show, both are dying of cancer and both cheated on their wives | ||||||
| Earl | Both had a troubled first marriage |
The plot reveals all these relationships over a number of interlocking events, including:
- A crime that investigators think was committed by the Worm (played by Orlando Jones in scenes that were deleted).
- The broadcasting of a live episode of What Do Kids Know?, a general-knowledge quiz show that pits children against adults.
- A noise complaint that leads to an awkward conversation, and eventually a date between Jim and Claudia.
- Donnie's barroom conversation with an enigmatic and eccentric man, and his misguided attempts to woo the braces-wearing bartender, Brad. His love for him results in an attempt to steal money to pay for braces that he does not need from the employer who fired him.
- An interview in which a reporter attempts to penetrate the emotional wall that Frank hides behind.
- The last hours of Earl, which complicate Linda's life with a number of vital decisions and in which a desperate Phil attempts to fulfill Earl's wish to see Frank, the son who despises him.
At the end of the movie, a rare but precedented event occurs: frogs rain from the sky. While the plague of frogs is unexpected, there have been real-life reports of frogs being sucked into waterspouts and raining to the ground miles inland; see raining animals. [1]
The movie ends with the narrator urging the audience to think again about the coincidences mentioned in the intro, implying that the unlikely connections between the characters in the movie are similar.
[edit] Raining Frogs & Exodus 8:2
The movie has an underlying theme of Fortean unexplained events, taken from the 1920s and 1930s works of American intellectual Charles Fort. Fortean author Loren Coleman has written a chapter about this motion picture, entitled "The Teleporting Animals and Magnolia," in one of his recent books. [2]The film has many hidden Fortean themes. The fall of frogs is merely one of them. One of Charles Fort's books is visible on the table in the library and there is an end credit thanking Charles Fort. [ISBN 1-416527-36-2 Mysterious America']
Another explanation could be the scene in which a boy named Dixon tells Jim that "when the sunshine don't work, the good Lord bring the rain in." A Bible verse frequently referenced and alluded to in the film, Exodus 8:2 (NIV), states that "If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs," (although in Exodus the frogs are described as simply crawling out of the "waters of Egypt"). Many of the film's other strange occurrences, such as quotes that seem odd or out of place, can be similarly explained (see the link to Cigarettes and Red Vines' Magnolia page below for more information).
There are various references to Exodus 8:2, like when the humidity is recorded to be 82%. At the very beginning, the man being hanged bears a sign reading '82'. The plane that kills Darion has '82' painted on the side. [3] At the beginning scene of the show "What Do Kids Know" a fan is seen carrying a sign reading "Exodus 8:2" before an usher removes the sign; one of the most concrete references towards that verse in the Bible. Also, the Officer Jim's voice mailbox says that his automated answering machine number is "82." Anderson did not originally include these allusions in his screenplay; after Henry Gibson brought the passage to his attention, he worked it into the script.[4]
Other repeated references to animal rain in the story include at least four different characters in different scenes using the cliche "It's raining cats and dogs." The only character in the story who seems to be unsurprised by the unusual meteorological event is the child prodigy, Stanley. He calmly observed the falling frog silhouettes, saying “This happens”. This has led to the speculation that Stanley is seen as a prophet, allegorically akin to Moses, and that the "slavery" the movie conveys alludes to the exploitation of children by adults. [5] These "father issues" persist throughout the movie, as seen with the abuse and neglect of Claudia, Frank and Donnie (as children), Stanley and Dixon (from the deleted scene).
[edit] Themes
Magnolia is a thematically rich film. Many essays and other writings have been composed on it. Some themes that are often associated with the film include:
- Regret
- The cost of failed relationships as a result of fathers that have failed their children. [6] Jimmy to Claudia, Earl to Frank, Stanley to his dad, Donnie to his parents. (While crouched over a toilet Donnie mumbles another explicit Exodus reference saying, ‘The sins of the fathers laid upon the children. Exodus 20:5’)
- Not all events and their results can be controlled, but an individual can control his own actions.
- Mistakes of the past cannot simply be erased [7].
- What it means to be a man. (Earl and Frank define masculinity by their oppression of women. Stanley's father defines it by bullying. Jim the cop defines it by talking to others in a manner that parents talk to their children, and by not losing face in front of his fellow cops and is shamed that he lost his gun.)
- Exploitation [8]
[edit] Script vs. final cut
A published version of the shooting script (Newmarket Press, 2001, ISBN 1-55704-406-6) indicates that there was substantial additional material to be incorporated into the film which did not make the final cut. In particular, the character of Dixon, the boy Jim Kurring met while investigating the shots in the first act, returns in a scene in the diner near where Donnie and Jim return the money, with his father (the Worm) in an extended dialogue exchange which indicates that Worm's father is abusive toward both Dixon and him.
[edit] Music and soundtracks
- See also: Magnolia (album)
- See also: Magnolia (score)
Paul Thomas Anderson has stated that the screenplay was written largely around the songs of Aimee Mann.
Two songs were written expressly for the film: "You Do," which was based on a character later cut from the film, and "Save Me," which closes the film; the latter was nominated in the 2000 Academy Awards and Golden Globes and in the 2001 Grammys. Most of the remaining seven Mann songs were demos and works in progress; "Wise Up," which is at the center of a sequence in which all of the characters sing the song, was originally written for the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. At the time Mann's record label had refused to release her songs on an album. Paul Thomas Anderson had heard the demos while writing the screenplay. The song that plays at the opening of the film is a cover version of "One" by Harry Nilsson.
The song "Deathly" by Aimee Mann is also on her album Bachelor No. 2. It features the lyric "Now that I've met you/Would you object to/Never seeing each other again". This is used as line of dialogue in Magnolia, and the song was a major inspiration for the film.
Anderson produced a music video for "Save Me" that featured Mann in the background of what appeared to be scenes from the film, singing to characters. There was no digital manipulation involved; the video was shot at the end of filming days with Mann and actors who were asked to stay in place. The video, which contains exactly seven cuts, won the Best Editing award at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards and was nominated for Best Music Video from a Film.
The soundtrack album, released in December 1999 on Reprise Records, features the Mann songs, as well as a section of Jon Brion's score and tracks by Supertramp and Gabrielle that were used in the film. Reprise released a full score album in March 2000.
Various spoken lines of the film were used as samples in the Dream Theater song "Honor Thy Father", from their album Train of Thought.
[edit] Documentary
The Magnolia DVD includes a lengthy behind-the-scenes documentary, That Moment. It uses a fly-on-the-wall approach to cover nearly every aspect of production, from production management and scheduling to music direction to special effects. As Magnolia is arguably Paul Thomas Anderson's most ambitious work to date, the behind-the-scenes documentary is also an in-depth look into his motivation and directing style. Pre-production included a screening of the film Network. Several scenes showed Anderson at odds with the child actors and labor laws that restrict their work time. The character of Dixon has further scenes filmed but it appears to be not working from Anderson's reactions. These scenes were cut completely and have never been shown on DVD.
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Jeremy Blackman | Stanley Spector |
| Michael Bowen | Rick Spector |
| Tom Cruise | Frank T.J. Mackey |
| Melinda Dillon | Rose Gator |
| April Grace | Gwenovier |
| Luis Guzmán | Luis |
| Philip Baker Hall | Jimmy Gator |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | Phil Parma |
| Felicity Huffman | Cynthia |
| Thomas Jane | Young Jimmy Gator |
| Ricky Jay | Burt Ramsey/Narrator |
| Orlando Jones | Worm |
| William H. Macy | Quiz Kid Donnie Smith |
| Alfred Molina | Solomon Solomon |
| Julianne Moore | Linda Partridge |
| Michael Murphy | Alan Klingman, Esq. |
| John C. Reilly | Jim Kurring |
| Jason Robards | Earl Partridge |
| Melora Walters | Claudia Wilson Gator |
[edit] Awards
2000 Academy Awards
- Nominated, Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Tom Cruise
- Nominated, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: P.T. Anderson
- Nominated, Best Music, Song: Aimee Mann, for the song "Save Me"
2000 Berlin Film Festival
- Won, Golden Bear: P.T. Anderson
2000 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
- Nominated, Best Picture
2000 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
- Won, Best Supporting Actor: Tom Cruise
- Nominated, Best Director: P.T. Anderson
- Nominated, Best Picture
- Nominated, Best Screenplay: P.T. Anderson
2000 Golden Globe Awards
- Won, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Tom Cruise
- Nominated, Best Original Song - Motion Picture: Aimee Mann, for the song "Save Me"
2001 Grammy Awards
- Nominated, Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
- Nominated, Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
- Nominated, Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Aimee Mann, for the song "Save Me
2000 Screen Actors Guild Awards
- Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Theatrical Motion Picture
- Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Julianne Moore
- Nominated, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Tom Cruise
2001 Swedish Film Institute award
- Winner of the Guldbaggen prize as Best Foreign Film of year 2000
1999 Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
- Won, Best Director: P.T. Anderson
- Won, Best Picture
- Won, Best Screenplay: P.T. Anderson
[edit] References
- Magnolia: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script Series), Newmarket Press, 2000, ISBN 1-55704-406-6
- Mysterious America NY: Simon and Schuster, 2007, ISBN 1-416527-36-2
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Magnolia at the Internet Movie Database
- cigarettes and red vines: magnolia
- Magnolia at the Arts & Faith Top100 Spiritually Significant Films list
- Discussion of Magnolia's unique take on genre. Alternate Takes
Hard Eight • Boogie Nights • Magnolia • Punch-Drunk Love • There Will Be Blood
| Preceded by The Thin Red Line |
Golden Bear winner 2000 |
Succeeded by Intimacy |
