Review of Magnolia (1999) by Maxwell S — 19 Jul 2012

My favourite movie ever made,which I'm almost not proud to say that, because it isn't really the "greatest" film. Also, I am actually very fluent in cinema, which is a reason why I am somewhat ashamed of that.

A lot of people have this as their favorite film, but not all of them can explain why it's great. Yes, I've seen "Short Cuts" and "Nashville", which are way up on my list. I have never viewed a movie that kept me to my full 100% attention that was of this length.

This is the only movie where at 2 hours in, I never wanted it to stop. I thought upon second viewing, I would find holes in the movie and see right through it, but it kept me possibly more drawn in than with my first viewing.

Well, about the film, this is a monstrous film. There is a lot going on, and if you don't pay enough attention in certain parts, you're not gonna get anything out of this film. Critics say that this film is messy, which it is.

But, being a fluent cinephile that has seen this about 12 times. I can say it is only messy because of it's timeline (no that wasn't a reference to the film). Meaning that it kind of gives itself a lot of leeway between stories, which are, as somewhat implied, happening at the same time.

Anyway, this is certainly an emotionally draining film. Also, it is full of the ideas of Paul Thomas Anderson, but it manages to breath rather fluidly. The thing I love most, other than it is everything I've ever looked for in a film, is that it is a downward spiral with so many emotion all the way through to the very last second, when Paul Thomas Anderson does the greatest thing he could have ever done for the film.

Claudia smiles.