Watching Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 movie, Magnolia, for the second time confirmed that this is one of the real masterpieces of modern cinema.
After the critical and financial success of Anderson’s low budget ‘Boogie Nights’, New Line Cinema gave him carte blanche to do what he wanted for his next project. He rightly realised that this was a Citizen Kane moment that was unlikely to be repeated. He abandoned any notion of restraint and gave expression to the blooming of ideas that make up the multi-faceted drama which is epic in scope and full of memorable scenes. His subjects are BIG issues like dying, love, betrayal, regret, denial , guilt and truth. One of the key themes is expressed by the unknown narrator near the end – “We may be through with the past but the past isn’t through with us”. Continue reading
