Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Magnolia: A Film by Paul Thomas Anderson

Paul Thomas Anderson’s movie “Magnolia” was filmed in 1999. Critics have attributed it to the genre of mosaic-drama, because the story as a real mosaic incorporates dozens of dramatic lifelines that will intertwine with each other for almost one day. Since Paul Thomas Anderson makes films rarely, we can confidently say that his works are always powerful and self-sufficient.

Shooting the film took about 90 days, although originally intended to fit in 77. Shooting period lasted from January 12 – June 24, 1999. Actually, the basic casting team moved into “Magnolia” from the previous film of Paul Thomas Anderson “Boogie Nights” (1997). Together with the actors into the project came the same cinematographer, editor and costume designer.

Anderson wrote the screenplay in two weeks. Claudia (played by Melora Walters) was the first heroine invented by Anderson. All other characters were already “adjusted”. Paul Thomas also worked at poster for the film and edited all commercials.

It all started from Anderson’s visiting of the shooting of the film by Stanley Kubrick “Eyes Wide Shut” (1999), where he first saw Tom Cruise. Without delay, he immediately offered him the role of Frank Mackey. Cruz was so impressed by scenario that has even agreed to play the role of a “sex guru” with unfavorable financial conditions.

The film, “Magnolia” takes the audience for three hours, and this probably deters some viewers from a great movie. Some may say that the film is a little stretched in time and action, but the film still captures from the very first minutes by two components – the script and acting.

The plot here consists of several storylines. “Magnolia” is quite similar to “Crash” (filmed by Paul Haggis), however, if there the main theme is the prejudices, here we can see in the center of attention the problem of errors from the past. In the view of Anderson, life it is a series of mistakes which people make during their short life. These errors accumulate until the hot point to destroy everyone who was not right. Unfortunately, people often do not notice it, because they are similar to the audience in a TV show, who see only things they can see, and not what actually is happening behind the scenes. That is why Anderson decides to show us life from the backstage.

Protagonists of “Magnolias” are ordinary people, who are living a “normal” life. They are children, old people, men and women. Every one of them is a prisoner of own mistakes from past life. They are desperately trying to keep supposedly happy life.

So, what really happened on the other side of life? There comes the real horror and chaos. Many things that we once believed are false. Those things which at first glance could seem a little bit accidental (or like a combination of circumstances), suddenly turned to a difficult, confusing tangle of human destinies. Should pay attention to the fact that in the beginning of the film to us do not accidentally shown the mystification, where the life coincidences under careful examination turn out to be the logical course of events. Judge by yourself, after the incomprehensible suicide at the beginning of the film, director is leading the viewer by long alleys of life stories. Here we have a dying old man (who wants to confess in his sins before his death), a young girl (who realizes that she really love her old ugly and rich husband), abandoned child who became a popular teacher of seduction and prodigy, who forced to maintain reputation of a smart fellow on the television show. There are many characters (about a dozen), therefore, in the viewer’s head involuntarily slips thought: Maybe the director is overdone (who is also the author of the script) with the number of characters? After all, it is not an easy task to monitor so many twists and turns simultaneously. However, nevertheless if you will follow the events closely, without waiting for some action, intricate intrigues or weepy dramas, soon, you’ll begin to sympathize with the heroes.

As we talk about actors, it should be said that in the movie were played a lot of perfect celebrities, such as HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Blackman” o “Jeremy Blackman” Jeremy Blackman, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Cruise” o “Tom Cruise” Tom Cruise, HYPERLINK “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melinda_Dillon” o “Melinda Dillon” Melinda Dillon and others. It would be a mistake not to highlight the acting game of Tom Cruise (his hero is Frank Mackey, a leading TV program for men, preaching their views on relationships and communication with women.). Many critics called his role in the movie “Magnolia” the most powerful.

In addition to actors play and complex design of the film, it should be noted an interesting cinematic element – using of a special, fantastic effects. The film shows a very rare meteorological phenomenon, as the rain from frogs. In this scene were used more than 7900 of rubber frogs, others were drawn on the computer (this information was specially presented for the press and defenders of animals).

In conclusion, we must say that the movie causes different emotions. Some can not understand the essence of the film without the help of the read information about the problems of the plot. Therefore, it should be emphasized that the main theme is the story of sin and forgiveness. All events take place against the background of TV program “What Do Kids Know?” One of the heroes is the participant of the show, a boy whose father uses him as a machine for making money. His future is projected in another hero – a former winner, who was robbed by parents and remained to live in poverty on the sidelines of life. On the same side is a girl, who suffered from harassment of her father and now sandwiched somewhere between drugs and prostitution. Right there is also a pickup coach, better known as Tom Cruise. His father abandoned him with the terminally ill mother.

Of course, such parents want to receive forgiveness for their sins. We can not say that they were forgiven. However, the important thing is that their children got rid of the heavy burden. In the end, we see that the daughter of the famous TV presenter remembers that she has a mother and macho-man tries to communicate with his stepmother.

The probability that this will happen, for example, in real life is slightly small, but the director is trying to convey to us that everything is possible. People should not stop believing in miracles. They do not have to live with the problems that were in the past. People need to learn to forgive each other.