Magnolia

Film history is the story of films constantly building on one another. If one contemporary director knows this, it’s Paul Thomas Anderson, PTA for professional purposes. In PTA & HIS MASTERS we take a look at the unofficial filmic predecessors of Paul Thomas Anderson. We place the director – arguably one of the most important directors of his generation – next to the influences he unabashedly cites in his work. In PTA & HIS MASTERS we link MAGNOLIA to Robert Altman’s SHORT CUTS.

For his third film, PTA was given free rein by studio New Line Cinema. He was able to determine the final cut of the film and that freedom led to an episodic patchwork of nine different characters and how their lives are eventually connected. The characters are each looking for love, forgiveness and connection in San Fernando Valley. We meet a current and former whiz kid of the tv-show “What Do Kids Know?”, the presenter of that show and his estranged and addicted daughter, an incompetent police officer, a successful misogynist motivational speaker, his dying father, the latter’s wife and nurse. Each character struggles with their past and is lonely and broken searching for connection.

PTA was inspired by the music of singer-songwriter Aimee Mann, who if of course present on the soundtrack as well. From a sing-along to the song Wise Up to the unforgettable end scene set to the tones of her song Save Me. PTA embraces Mann’s influence entirely. “What Simon and Garfunkel is to THE GRADUATE, Aimee Mann is to MAGNOLIA”, the director said. PTA even literally cites a line from Mann’s lyrics in a dialogue between two characters: “Now that I’ve met you, would you object to never seeing me again?”.

Not only music, but also his personal life remains a source of inspiration in PTA’s work. For the storyline of the dying father, PTA used his own experiences of watching his father die of cancer. The memorable role of Tom Cruise as the Andrew Tate avant-la-lettre was written by PTA with Tom Cruise in mind. As a fan of PTA’s second feature film BOOGIE NIGHTS, superstar Cruise had asked the director to keep him in mind for future projects. Cruise was initially unsure of playing such an over-the-top character, but was awarded an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globes win for his convincing performance. Respect the cock and tame the cunt, you know. It’s eerie how accurately PTA predicted the rise of alpha male brainwashing.

On a cinematic level, PTA honours his idol Robert Altman with MAGNOLIA. He borrows the discontinuous narrative style and the use of an ensemble cast from Altman, more specifically from his movie SHORT CUTS (1993). MAGNOLIA and SHORT CUTS are both built around intersecting storylines against the Los Angeles backdrop and span a short period of time in the lives of their characters. Anderson characterises his characters, just like Altman, by their conversations and both of them feature estranged and remorseful fathers. In general none of the parents in MAGNOLIA or SHORT CUTS deserves a Parent of the Year-award. Both directors also include natural disasters in their films. PTA has it raining frogs and Altman adds an earthquake. Coincidence or not, both movies have the exact same running time: three hours and eight minutes. With every second being worthwhile. Robert Altman told an interviewer that PTA openly said to him “all I’m doing is ripping you off”. But luckily the auteur does not see that as a problem: “That kid Anderson is really, really talented. He’s a real artist, our best hope.” Sometimes you do need to meet your heroes.