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13, 2012 (XXV:11) , (1999, 188 min)

Jim Directed, written and produced by Paul Thomas Anderson Produced by JoAnne Sellar Original Music by Cinematography by Editing by Production Design by William Arnold, Mark Bridges Set Decoration by Chris L. Spellman Costume Design by Mark Bridges Gray Miller… animator

John C. Reilly…Officer Jim Kurring …Frank T.J. Mackey …Jimmy Gator …Phil Parma Meskimen…Forensic Scientist …Earl Partridge Chris O'Hara…Sydney Barringer …Solomon Solomon Clement Blake…Arthur Barringer …Claudia Wilson Gator Frank Elmore…1958 Detective Michael Bowen…Rick Spector John Kraft Seitz…1958 Policeman …Burt Ramsey / Narrator Cory Buck…Young Boy Jeremy Blackman…Stanley Spector Tim Soronen…Infomercial Guy …Rose Gator Jim Ortlieb…Middle Aged Guy April Grace…Gwenovier …Young Jimmy Gator Luis Guzmán…Luis Holly Houston…Jimmy's Showgirl …Thurston Howell Benjamin Niedens…Little Donnie Smith Felicity Huffman…Cynthia Robert Downey Sr…WDKK Show Director (as Bob Downey Sr. 'a Emmanuel Johnson…Dixon ') Don McManus…Dr. Landon Eileen Ryan…Mary (Note: in the credits lists, titles in italics are ; titles in quotation Danny Wells…Dick Jennings marks are television programs, series, or made-for-tv movies.) Orlando Jones…Worm Michael Murphy…Alan Kligman Esq. PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON (June 26, 1970, Studio City, California) …Sir Edmund William Godfrey / Young Pharmacy Kid has 15 directing credits: 2012 The Master, 2007 , Genevieve Zweig…Mrs. Godfrey 2003 Mattress Man Commercial (video short), 2003 Blossoms & Mark Flannagan…Joseph Green Blood (video short), 2003 “Couch”, 2002 Punch-Drunk Love, 2001 Neil Flynn…Stanley Berry Saturday Night Live: The Best of Molly Shannon (video short), 2000 Rod McLachlan…Daniel Hill “SNL Fanatic”, 2000 “Saturday Night Live”, 1999 Magnolia, 1998 Allan Graf…Firefighter Flagpole Special (video short), 1997 , 1996 Hard Patton Oswalt…Delmer Darion Eight, 1993 Cigarettes & Coffee (short), and 1988 The Dirk Diggler Raymond 'Big Guy' Gonzales…Reno Security Guard Story (short). Brad Hunt…Craig Hansen Anderson—MAGNOLIA—2

ROBERT ELSWIT (April 22, 1950, California) won a best cinematography Oscar for There Will Be Blood (2007). Some of his other 64 cinematographer credits are 2012 The Bourne Legacy, 2011 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, 2010 Salt, 2009 The Men Who Stare at Goats, 2009 Duplicity, 2007 Michael Clayton, 2006 American Dreamz, 2005 Syriana, 2005 Good Night, and Good Luck., 2003 Runaway Jury, 2002 Punch-Drunk Love, 2000 Bounce, 1999 Magnolia, 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1996 Hard Eight, 1992 Waterland, 1992 The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, 1991 Paris Trout, 1990 Bad Influence, 1989 “Margaret Bourke- White”, 1987 “Into the Homeland”, 1986 Trick or Treat, 1985 Desert Hearts, 1983 Summerspell, 1982 Waltz Across Texas, and 1981 “A Single Light,”

JON BRION (December 11, 1963, Glen Ridge, ) has 18 composer credits: 2012 This Is 40 (completed), 2012 ParaNorman, 2010 The Other Guys, 2008 Step Brothers, 2008 Synecdoche, New York, 2006 The Break-Up, 2004 , 2004 Eternal JOHN C. REILLY… Officer Jim Kurring (May 24, 1965, , Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2002 Punch-Drunk Love, 2000 Illinois) has 68 acting credits, among them 2012 The Dictator, 2010- “BTM2” (12 episodes), 1999 Magnolia, and 1996 Hard Eight. 2012 “Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule” (12 episodes), 2011 Carnage, 2011 We Need to Talk About Kevin, 2011 Cedar Rapids, … Linda Partridge (b. Julie Anne Smith, 2007-2010 “Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!” (25 episodes), December 3, 1960, Fayetteville, North Carolina) has 71 acting 2010/I Cyrus, 2008 The Promotion, 2007/I Year of the Dog, 2006 credits, among them 2013 The Seventh Son (post-production), 2013 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, 2006 A Prairie Home Carrie (post-production), 2013 Don Jon's Addiction (post- Companion, 2004 The Aviator, 2002 The Hours, 2002 Chicago, 2002 production), 2012 The English Teacher (completed), 2012 What Gangs of New York, 2001 The Anniversary Party, 2000 The Perfect Maisie Knew, 2012 Being Flynn, 2012 “Game Change”, 2009-2010 Storm, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 For Love of the Game, 1999 Never Been “”, 1985-2010 “As the World Turns” (19 episodes), 2010 The Kissed, 1998 The Thin Red Line, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1996 Hard Kids Are All Right, 2009 A Single Man, 2008 Blindness, 2007 I'm Not Eight, 1995 Dolores Claiborne, 1994 The River Wild, 1993 What's There, 2006 Children of Men, 2004 The Forgotten, 2004 Laws of Eating Gilbert Grape, 1992 Hoffa, 1991 Shadows and Fog, 1990 Attraction, 2004 Marie and Bruce, 2002 The Hours, 2002 Far from State of Grace, 1990 , and 1989 Casualties of War. Heaven, 2001 The Shipping News, 2001 Evolution, 2001 Hannibal, 2000 The Ladies Man, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 The End of the Affair, TOM CRUISE… Frank T.J. Mackey (b. Thomas Cruise Mapother 1999 An Ideal Husband, 1998 Psycho, 1998 The Big Lebowski, 1997 IV, July 3, 1962, Syracuse, New York) has 40 acting credits, among Boogie Nights, 1997 The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1996 Surviving them 2013 Oblivion (post-production), 2012 Picasso, 1995 Nine Months, 1994 Vanya on 42nd Street, 1993 Short (completed), 2012 Rock of Ages, 2011 Mission: Impossible - Ghost Cuts, 1993 The Fugitive, 1993 Body of Evidence, 1992 The Hand Protocol, 2010 , 2008 Valkyrie, 2008 Tropic That Rocks the Cradle, 1989 “Money, Power, Murder,” and 1984 Thunder, 2006 Mission: Impossible III, 2005 War of the Worlds, “The of Night.” 2004 Collateral, 2003 , 2002 Minority Report, 2001 , 2000 Mission: Impossible II, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 Eyes WILLIAM H. MACY… Donnie Smith (March 13, 1950, Miami, Wide Shut, 1996 , 1996 Mission: Impossible, 1994 Florida) has 124 acting credits, some of which are 2013 Trust Me Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, 1993 The (post-production), 2013 A Single Shot (post-production), 2011-2012 Firm, 1992 , 1990 Days of Thunder, 1989 Born on “Shameless” (24 episodes), 2012 The Sessions, 2010 Marmaduke, the Fourth of July, 1988 , 1988 Cocktail, 1986 The Color of 1994-2009 “ER” (31 episodes), 2007 Wild Hogs, 2006 Inland Money, 1986 , 1985 Legend, 1983 All the Right Moves, 1983 Empire, 2005 , 2005 Sahara, 2004 Spartan, , 1983 The Outsiders, 1981 Taps, and 1981 Endless 2003 Seabiscuit, 2003 The Cooler, 2001 Jurassic Park III, 2000 Love. Panic, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 Mystery Men, 1999 Happy, Texas, 1998 A Civil Action, 1998 “The Lionhearts” (13 episodes), 1998 Psycho, PHILIP BAKER HALL… Jimmy Gator (September 10, 1931, Toledo, 1998 Pleasantville, 1997 Wag the Dog, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1997 Air Ohio) has 164 acting credits, some of which are 2012 “Ruth & Erica” Force One, 1996 Ghosts of Mississippi, 1996 Fargo, 1996 (8 episodes), 2012 “Children’s Hospital”, 2012 “The Newsroom”, “Andersonville”, 1995 Mr. Holland's Opus, 1995 Tall Tale, 1995 2012 Bending the Rules, 2011 The Chicago 8, 2004-2009 “Curb Your Murder in the First, 1994 Oleanna, 1994 The Client, 1993 Searching Enthusiasm”, 2007 “”, 2006-2007 “The Loop” (17 for Bobby Fischer, 1992 “In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion”, 1991 episodes), 2007 Zodiac, 2006 The Shaggy Dog, 2005 The Zodiac, Shadows and Fog, 1991 Homicide, 1988 “The Murder of Mary 2005 The Amityville Horror, 2004 “”, 2004 “ Phagan”, 1987 Radio Days, 1985 The Last Dragon, 1983 WarGames, Legal”, 2003 , 2003 , 2001-2002 “Pasadena” 1983 “The Cradle Will Fall”, 1980 Foolin' Around, 1980 Somewhere (7 episodes), 2002 The Sum of All Fears, 2000 “Jackie Bouvier in Time, and 1978 “The Awakening Land.” Kennedy Onassis”, 2000 The Contender, 2000 Rules of Engagement, 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 Cradle Will Anderson—MAGNOLIA—3

Rock, 1998 Psycho, 1998 Rush Hour, 1997-1998 “Michael Hayes” Upon a Time in the West, 1967 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, (20 episodes), 1998 , 1991-1998 “”, 1997 1967 Divorce American Style, 1966 , 1966 A Big “”, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1997 Air Force One, 1996 The Hand for the Little Lady, 1965 A Thousand Clowns, 1963 Act One, Rock, 1996 Hard Eight, 1995 Kiss of Death, 1994 “”, 1962 Long Day's Journey Into Night, 1962 Tender Is the Night, 1961 1993 “”, 1993 “Cigarettes & Coffee” (short), 1991 “Murder, By Love Possessed, 1960 “Play of the Week”, 1960 “The Iceman She Wrote”, 1989-1990 “” (13 episodes), 1989 An Cometh”, 1959 “A Doll's House”, 1959 “”, 1955-1957 Innocent Man, 1989 Ghostbusters II, 1987 “”, 1987 “The “Studio One in Hollywood”, 1957 “The Seven Lively Arts”, 1956- Spirit”, 1987 “Mariah” (7 episodes), 1984 , 1982 1957 “”, 1956-1957 “Goodyear Playhouse”, 1955- “Quincy M.E.”, 1980 “”, 1978 “The Bastard”, 1978 1956 “Star Tonight”, 1955-1956 “Justice”, 1955-1956 “Appointment “Emergency!”, 1977 “M*A*S*H”, 1976 “Mayday at 40,000 Feet!”, with Adventure”, 1955-1956 “”, 1955 “The 1974 Throw Out the Anchor!, and 1970 Cowards. Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse”, 1955 “Windows”, 1943 Swingtime Johnny, 1938 The Nurse from Brooklyn.

ALFRED MOLINA… Solomon Solomon (May 24, 1953, , England) has 129 acting credits, some of which are 2013 Justin and the Knights of Valour (post-production), 2012 Heavenly Sword (post- production), 2012 Emanuel and the Truth about Fishes (post- production), 2013 Divine Shadows, 2012 The Forger, 2010-2012 “Roger & Val Have Just Got In” (12 episodes), 2011 “Harry's Law”, 2011/I Abduction, 2010-2011 “Law & Order: LA” (16 episodes), 2010 The Tempest, 2010 The Sorcerer's Apprentice, 2009 The Lodger, 2007 The Little Traitor, 2007 Silk, 2007 “The Company” (6 episodes), 2006 The Hoax, 2006 As You Like It, 2006 The Da Vinci Code, 2005 “Law & Order: Trial by Jury”, 2005 “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”, 2003 Coffee and Cigarettes, 2003 Luther, 2002 Frida, 1999-2001 “Ladies Man” (30 episodes), 2001 “Murder on the Orient Express”, 2000 Chocolat, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 Dudley Do-Right, 1998 The Impostors, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1997 Anna Karenina, 1995 Species, 1995 Hideaway, 1994 Maverick, 1993 The PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN… Phil Parma (July 23, 1967, Fairport, Trial, 1991 “Performance”, 1991 American Friends, 1990-1991 “El New York) won a best actor Oscar for Capote (2005). Some of his C.I.D.” (13 episodes), 1991 Not Without My Daughter, 1988 other 58 acting credits are 2012 A Late Quartet, 2012 The Master, Manifesto, 1987 “Miami Vice”, 1985 Eleni, 1985 Ladyhawke, 1985 2011 Moneyball, 2009 The Invention of Lying, 2008 Doubt, 2008 Water, 1983 “Reilly: Ace of Spies”, 1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark, Synecdoche, New York, 2007 Charlie Wilson's War, 2007 Before the and 1979 A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Devil Knows You're Dead, 2007 The Savages, 2006 Mission: Impossible III, 2003 Cold Mountain, 2002 Red Dragon, 2002 Punch- MELORA WALTERS… Claudia Wilson Gator (October 21, 1960, Drunk Love, 2000 Almost Famous, 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) has 66 acting credits, among them 2013 1999 Magnolia, 1998 Patch Adams, 1998 The Big Lebowski, 1997 Underdogs (post-production), 2013 Lonely Boy (completed), 2012 Boogie Nights, 1996 Hard Eight, 1994 Nobody's Fool, 1994 When a Missing Pieces (completed), 2012 The Master, 2012 Man Loves a Woman, 1994 The Getaway, 1992 Scent of a Woman, “Californication”, 2010 Shit Year, 2006-2010 “Big Love” (43 and 1991 “Law & Order” episodes), 2007 “”, 2005 “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, 2003 Cold Mountain, 2003 The Big Empty, 2001 JASON ROBARDS… Earl Partridge (, 1922, Chicago, Illinois Speaking of Sex, 2001/I Rain, 1999 Magnolia, 1998-1999 “L.A. – December 26, 2000, Bridgeport, ) won best supporting Doctors” (20 episodes), 1997 Boogie Nights, 1996 Hard Eight, 1995 actor Oscars for Julia (1977) and All the President's Men (1976). “NYPD Blue”, 1995 “Dream On”, 1994 Ed Wood, 1994 “Seinfeld”, Some of his other 130 acting credits are 2000 “Going Home”, 1999 1992 “”, 1990 “How to Murder a Millionaire”, 1989- Magnolia, 1998 Enemy of the State, 1998 Beloved, 1997 A Thousand 1990 “”, 1989 Underground, and 1989 Dead Poets Society. Acres, 1995 Crimson Tide, 1994 The Paper, 1993 Philadelphia, 1993 The Trial, 1993 The Adventures of Huck Finn, 1991 “Chernobyl: The LUIS GUZMÁN… Luis (August 28, 1956, Cayey, Puerto Rico) has Final Warning”, 1989 Reunion, 1988 Bright Lights, Big City, 1988 116 acting credits, some of which are 2013 The Last Stand (post- “Inherit the Wind”, 1988 “Thomas Hart Benton”, 1985 “The Long production), 2013 Aztec Warrior (post-production), 2013 Henry & Hot Summer”, 1985 “The Atlanta Child Murders”, 1984 “Sakharov”, Me (post-production), 2012 Departure Date, 2012 “Counter Culture”, 1983 “The Day After”, 1983 Something Wicked This Way Comes, 2012 “IC Places Hollywood”, 2012 Journey 2: The Mysterious 1983 Max Dugan Returns, 1980 , 1980 Raise the Island, 2010-2011 “How to Make It in America” (16 episodes), Titanic, 1978 , 1976 The Spy Who Never Was, 2011/I Arthur, 2009 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, 2009 He's Just Not 1975 “A Moon for the Misbegotten”, 1974 “The Country Girl”, 1973 That Into You, 2007 Cleaner, 2007 “John from ” (10 Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, 1971 Johnny Got His Gun, 1970 Tora! episodes), 2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Tora! Tora!, 1970 , 1970 The Ballad of Cable Hogue, 2003 “Luis” (9 episodes), 2003 Runaway Jury, 2002 Punch-Drunk 1968 Isadora, 1968 The Night They Raided Minsky's, 1968 Once Love, 2002 The Count of Monte Cristo, 2000 Traffic, 1998-2000 Anderson—MAGNOLIA—4

“Oz” (12 episodes), 2000 “The Beat”, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 The Cold Day in the Park, 1968 The Legend of Lylah Clare, 1968 Bone Collector, 1999 The Limey, 1998 Out of Sight, 1998 “King of “Bonanza”, 1966 “12 O'Clock High”, 1964-1965 “Ben Casey”, 1965 New York”, 1997 Boogie Nights, 1995-1996 “New York “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, and 1963 “Combat!” Undercover”, 1996 The Substitute, 1995 Lotto Land, 1995 “House of Buggin'” (10 episodes), 1993 “NYPD Blue”, 1993 Carlito's Way, 1993 Mr. Wonderful, 1993 “Homicide: Life on the Street”, 1992 Innocent Blood, 1991 “Law & Order”, 1989 Family Business, 1989 Black Rain, 1988 Crocodile Dundee II, 1985-1986 “Miami Vice”, 1983 Variety, and 1977 Short Eyes.

HENRY GIBSON… Thurston Howell (b. James Bateman, September 21, 1935, Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – September 14, 2009, Malibu, County, California) jsd 146 acting credits, some of which are 2004-2008 “Boston Legal” (24 episodes), 2005-2008 “King of the Hill” (7 episodes), 2005 Wedding Crashers, 1999-2003 “” (14 episodes), 2003 The Commission, 1999 “Sunset Beach”, 1999 Magnolia, 1999 A Stranger in the Kingdom, 1997-1999 “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch”, 1996 Mother Night, 1995 “Escape to Witch Mountain”, 1992 “Tales from the Crypt”, 1988-1992 “Murder, She Wrote”, 1989 Brenda Starr, André Crous; Paul Thomas Anderson: Tracking through a 1989 Night Visitor, 1985 “Wuzzles” (13 episodes), 1984 “The New Fantastic Reality, Senses of Cinema, 25 November 2007 Mike Hammer”, 1983 “The Biskitts” (13 episodes), 1983 Vacation, 1983 “Quincy M.E.”, 1982 “The Love Boat”, 1982 “Magnum, P.I.”, That Moment 1981 The Incredible Shrinking Woman, 1980 The Blues Brothers, In each of the four feature-length films directed by Paul 1975 “Police Woman”, 1975 “McCloud”, 1975 Nashville, 1975 “Get Thomas Anderson, there is at least one visually arresting moment Christie Love!”, 1969-1973 “Love, American Style”, 1973 The Long when a Steadicam follows a moving target in a , effecting a Goodbye, 1973 Charlotte's Web, 1972 “Evil Roy Slade”, 1968-1971 continuous trajectory forwards, backwards and sideways – “Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In” (92 episodes), 1968-1970 descending from the heavens, winding through corridors and “”, 1966 “F Troop”, 1964 Kiss Me, Stupid, 1964 “My plunging into swimming pools. These shots respect dramatic time and Favorite Martian”, 1963 The Nutty Professor, and 1963 “The Littlest space because of their continuity in both respects. This instance of Hobo.” visible continuity does not imply, however, the construction of a realistic diegesis in the Bazinian sense, for the content might originate FELICITY HUFFMAn… Cynthia (December 9, 1962, Bedford, New somewhere foreign to our reality. York) has 45 acting credits, some of which are 2013 Trust Me (post- The focus of Paul Thomas Anderson’s films lies more on the production), 2004-2012 “Desperate Housewives” (181 episodes), spectacular presentation of their material than is the case in the films 2007 , 2005 Transamerica, 2003 “” (8 episodes), of , a director to whom he is inevitably (albeit 2001 “The West Wing”, 1998-2000 “” (45 episodes), simplistically) compared. Altman’s goal was a humanistic realism – 1999 Magnolia, 1999 “A Slight Case of Murder”, 1997 The Spanish the mimetic representation of daily conversations, for example. Prisoner, 1992-1997 “Law & Order”, 1995 Hackers, 1993 “The X- Anderson uses this kind of ambiance as one layer of his storytelling Files”, 1991 “Golden Years” (7 episodes), 1990 , fabric, onto which he adds spectacular audiovisual imagery that no 1988 “Lip Service”, and 1978 “ABC Afterschool Specials.” longer adheres to the laws of physical nature. A self-made filmmaker without any film school education, Michael Murphy… Alan Kligman Esq. (May 5, 1938, Los Paul Thomas Anderson has written all of his films himself; he is the Angeles, California) has 104 acting credits, some of which are 2011 purest auteur of the contemporary movie industry – even obtaining “Person of Interest”, 2010 “The Bridge” (12 episodes), 2006 “The the exceptional right of final cut on his projects. Wind in the Willows”, 2006 X-Men: The Last Stand, 2004-2006 The long tracking shot is a way for the director to display (in “This Is Wonderland” (39 episodes), 2002 “Live from Baghdad”, almost boastful fashion) his skills as a conductor of complex actions 2002 “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, 2001 “The Day Reagan Was over time, and many of today’s top filmmakers have tried to top each Shot”, 2001 “Law & Order”, 2000 The Art of War, 2000 “Judging other, sometimes completely undermining the credibility at the root Amy”, 2000 “The Only Living Boy in New York”, 1999 Magnolia, of these shots’ success. ’s widely quoted tracking shot 1998 “Indiscretion of an American Wife”, 1998 The Island, 1995 in Panic Room (2002) – the camera seemingly descends a staircase, “Truman”, 1995 Bad Company, 1993 “L.A. Law”, 1992 Batman enters a keyhole and proceeds to shoot past the handle of a coffee pot Returns, 1988 “Tanner '88” (11 episodes), 1988 “The Caine Mutiny – is unashamedly manipulated by special effects and strictly speaking Court-Martial”, 1986 Salvador, 1984 Cloak & Dagger, 1984 Talk to doesn’t even qualify as a continuous shot. While the tracking shot Me, 1982 The Year of Living Dangerously, 1979 Manhattan, 1978 An that follows past an apartment building, through a hole Unmarried Woman, 1976 The Front, 1975 Nashville, 1974 “The in the fence and across an open field in ’s Pulp Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman”, 1973 The Thief Who Came to Fiction (1994) is noteworthy, it contains but a single character and Dinner, 1972 What's Up, Doc?, 1971 McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1970 travels in only one direction: forward. Much the same is true of Brewster McCloud, 1970 MASH, 1969 The Arrangement, 1969 That another long Steadicam take in the same film, where Vincent Vega Anderson—MAGNOLIA—5

() walks around the Jack Rabbit Slim’s diner: forward stops in front of a crestfallen John (John C. Reilly) sitting next to the movement, one central character, no dialogue. entrance of a roadside diner. The director immediately emphasises In this regard, Anderson distinguishes himself with a firm what would become the basis for the signature shots of his films: the grasp of mise en scène – he uses a multitude of props, characters, crafty tracking shot. snippets of dialogue, music pumping full-blast on the soundtrack and Half an hour into Hard Eight, hard on the heels of our first pitch-perfect choreography – that remains engaging because of the glimpse of the film’s fourth and final major character, Sydney crosses cinematic energy he conjures up in the process. the length of a hall filled with slot machines and bright lights in a complex tracking shot that starts off filming him frontally, then from The Golden Thread of the PTA Canon the side and finally from behind. The shot lasts 74 seconds. Sydney is Paul Thomas Anderson’s impressive visual virtuosity is not the centre of attention almost throughout, except when the camera limited to his feature films. At first glance, The Dirk Diggler Story briefly pans away – while remaining in motion – and picks up Sydney (1988), a 30-minute directed by a teenage Anderson, is a elsewhere in moments later, when he reaches a craps table collection of interviews conducted after the death of the titular central and throws the dice. character. In what could have been a modernist set-up for a mock Framing the crucial dramatic turn of events in a motel, documentary, Anderson pauses during the climax to provide a Anderson’s camera first executes a tracking shot, following Sydney visually significant event: in a take that from his car in the parking lot, up the lasts 70 seconds, Paul Thomas stairs, along the outside corridor, to the Anderson’s camera tracks forwards, door of the motel room. After an intense sideways and backwards around a interior scene, the Steadicam tracks crew in prayer. It is a backwards, keeping the moving characters take filled with black humour and inside the frame, even as they descend the contradiction: having asked the Lord’s staircase, and ends the shot outside the blessing that Dirk Diggler (Michael parking lot, in the main street. Stein) should perform without premature ejaculation, the take ends The first shot of Boogie Nights when Diggler has overdosed in the (1997) – a combination of Steadicam and bathroom. crane work – is astounding in its The singularity of the take’s complexity and is unmatched by any of visual form, the tracking shot that lasts Anderson’s previous (or subsequent) much longer than anticipated, together work. While Anderson tends to use his with the narrative content, the camera to explore the physical trajectory supplication of divine action of his characters, this particular tracking (prevention of flaccidity), creates shot uses the vertical axis and thus evokes suspense and expectation. These hopes a feeling of the impossible becoming are met with a decidedly downbeat possible. The camera descends from above response: the death of Diggler (even though still unbeknownst to both to mix with the porn community below. Anderson’s aptitude as a the viewer and the characters) and a cut. The moment of the great director shines through not only in the complicated staging of the supernatural having passed, harsh reality intervenes and smashes the camera movements, but also in his mise en scène: the orchestration of poise of the preceding shot. his cast in a take that lasts 165 seconds – the longest shot duration in Anderson’s next short film was the 24-minute Cigarettes & Anderson’s entire career. Coffee (1992) and is set almost exclusively at a small diner near Las Anderson’s dynamic camera work calls to mind the cinema Vegas. Anderson establishes an evident connection between the of and it is only to be expected that this tracking shot characters – two couples and a man – by means of tracking shots that will be compared to Scorsese’s legendary Steadicam shot at the link the conversations at various dramatic pauses. A spectacular low- Copacabana nightclub in GoodFellas (1990). angle push-in (or brief forward tracking shot on a static object) At a pool party later in the film, the camera eavesdrops on appears smack in the middle of the revelatory sequence of events that two separate conversations, snaking between the guests and the other acknowledges a build-up of spatial and temporal coincidences. The sunbathers, and, after following a girl into the swimming pool, breaks shot neatly frames the mysterious stranger, whose fragmented the surface once more to show the character of Dirk Diggler (Mark presence right through the film is given meaning by the previous Wahlberg) jack-knifing into the pool from the diving board. conversation and given stature by the visual form that Anderson Recognising his debt to the audacious construction of a particular employs. The push-in also demonstrates an energy that elicits a shot in the first five minutes of Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soy Cuba (I Am feeling of elation and exhilaration in the viewer. Cuba, 1964), during which the camera dives into a hotel swimming With Hard Eight (1996), his first feature-length film, Paul pool, Paul Thomas Anderson spends as much time and effort Thomas Anderson’s bravura use of the Steadicam allows much more developing his characters and establishing a communal space in elaborately staged tracking shots, and his subsequent films all benefit which they and the camera can operate without restraint as he does in from very skilfully directed long takes filmed with this apparatus that setting up a technically complicated shot and executing it with great smoothes out the camera’s movement. In fact, Anderson’s very first skill and flair. shot is a Steadicam tracking shot accompanying Sydney (Philip Baker Another filmmaker who grew up on films as a way of Hall) as he crosses the road, walks over some stepping-stones and forming himself in the craft of is Quentin Tarantino. As Anderson—MAGNOLIA—6

an interesting comparison, a scene at the beginning of Kill Bill: Vol. 2 drawing of Gator’s face on the door. This image of an image (Jimmy (2004) supports the contention that the crane shot possesses some Gator is a television icon), like the slow-motion used to highlight supernatural implication. The camera tracks back, from the altar to Dirk Diggler when he appears at the end of Boogie Nights’ opening the front lawn of the church (a symbol of the divine), where the shot, reminds us that the tracking shot is made up of both natural and Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DIVAS) arrives. They enter the unnatural elements, the latter sometimes revealing that reality is still church and proceed to kill most of its occupants whilst the camera one more step away. ascends without losing sight of the killing spree. The camera may be The art form of the opera is often invoked in discussions seen as God (symbol of Good), about this film and with due who exits the church and allows pertinence. Magnolia is indeed the DIVAS (symbol of Evil) to operatic: it is a melodrama from enter and kill – He is watching beginning to end, glossed over with from the heavens and does not many of ’s songs, has interfere. a musical number (in which nine A more classical main characters sing one song approach to the tracking shot, together with disregard of all logic especially to its function as a of space and collective presence) complete narrative element with and even features a direct citation a set-up, a complication and a from an opera when Stanley sings resolution, is evident at one of an aria from Georges Bizet’s the evening parties Jack Horner Carmen. A professional opera () in another singer subsequently repeats this demonstration of Anderson’s aria on the soundtrack, as if called very impressive use of the upon by the young Stanley. Steadicam. William H. Macy’s The previously mentioned character, Little Bill, enters musical number – in which most of Horner’s house through the front door and, whilst trying to locate his the cast participates across the spatial divide and without any definite wife, wanders through the crowd. He finally manages to track her musical source – and the biblical climax are further events that blur down among the madness and is stunned when he discovers her the distinction between natural and preternatural. A spectacle creates having sex with one of the guests. Little Bill returns to his car, takes a feeling of “being overwhelmed” and this sensation is produced by his pistol, walks back to the bedroom and shoots both his wife and the the capable hands of Anderson when he uses his camera, his editing other man. This continuous shot lasts 161 seconds and, while (or lack thereof) and his screenplay in innovative ways to create a constantly focused on Little Bill, the camera executes forwards, vital energy on-screen. backwards and sideways moves relative to him. The poster image of Punch- In Magnolia (1999), Drunk Love (2002) features Adam Anderson ups the stakes on Sandler and Emily Watson kissing every level. Dealing with in silhouette in the archway of a coincidences and criss-crossing Hawaiian hotel. The Magritte-like numerous major storylines in a image visually pinpoints the film that lasts more than three surrealism (or a sense of heightened hours, Magnolia’s climax reality) that pervades the entire seems to have been taken from narrative and interestingly it is the a myth. The major tracking only shot taken from a fixed position shot in this film occurs within within a cluster of seven shots – the the world of television (the others being either push-ins or world of images), at the studio where a television quiz show called tracking shots, symmetrically surrounding this central image. What Do Kids Know? is being shot. The camera, starting outside Immediately following the magical image of the kiss, the camera under a heavy downpour before entering the production building, meanders through an outdoor restaurant, swerving around tables, and follows or accompanies an assortment of characters as they pass each finally fixes on the newly formed couple. Much like the impressive other in the corridors, into elevators and greenrooms: 1) Stanley opening shot of Boogie Nights, the camera starts as an autonomous (Jeremy Blackman) and his father (Michael Bowen); 2) Stanley, his entity roaming freely (but propelled forward by a very audible father and Cynthia (Felicity Huffman), the show’s coordinator; 3) soundtrack) before focusing on and accompanying one or more Stanley’s father; 4) a production assistant; 5) Stanley and Cynthia; 6) characters. Mary (Eileen Ryan), the assistant of Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall). “So now then…” The shot lasts 122 seconds and ends – at first glance – without a significant climactic event. The last image we see before While Paul Thomas Anderson’s tracking shots are much shorter and the cut to another brief tracking shot (picking up Mary, in post- less elaborate than Alfonso Cuarón’s visual constructions that serve modern fashion, at an angle perpendicular to her movement) is a big as complete scenes (the single-shot sequence of especially the - Anderson—MAGNOLIA—7

realist filmmakers whom André Bazin held in such high esteem), the the movie's intensity to levels that few single stories could ever desire for the supernatural – to increase the spectacular aspect of his achieve. This interconnectedness of the stories becomes a major focus storytelling – is evident in these particular shots. of Magnolia. The movie even opens with a ten-minute prologue done Furthermore, the extensive presence of magical realism in in Ripley's Believe It or Not fashion that examines three bizarre cases Anderson’s most recent work should be emphasised. Certain events where happenstance reaches absolutely absurd proportions. In one occur that the characters do not perceive as something totally out of case, a man attempts to commit suicide by jumping off a building, but the ordinary, and yet these events are always exceptional, and at times he lands in a safety net erected for window washers. That's not so downright impossible. Magnolia’s sing-along and the falling frogs strange, you say? Well, the man would have survived the fall, but on certainly fit these categories. So too does the occurrence of the digits his way down he was killed by an errant bullet. As he passed by a ‘8’ and ‘2’ throughout the film, ostensibly referring to Exodus 8:2 window, his own mother fired a gun shot during a domestic dispute. (directly cited at numerous intervals) – the biblical passage reporting The shot killed her own son immediately. Anderson teases us with on the imminent plague of frogs. crazy coincidences like this before launching into the movie's main Punch-Drunk Love is even more liberal in its treatment of stories. He wants to prime our eyes and brains so that we're open to reality. A mysterious light, that seems to emanate from the instrument accepting how the lives of his characters are interconnected. itself, lights up the face of Barry () while he plays the After the prologue ends, Anderson begins introducing the harmonium for the first time. Luminous red, white and blue spots of main characters. His camera fluidly tracks around the participants as unknown origin appear in the background during the car accident at if the camera operators had wings, pulling us first into one story and the end of the film. Finally, there are the puddings that physically call then sliding sideways into the next. During these introductions, out to Barry and instruct him (“Come here! Barry, come here!”) when Anderson uses the old hit "One" (as covered by he is most in need of assistance. Barry (highly-strung, but definitely Aimee Mann, who wrote several songs for Magnlia) as commentary not hallucinating) does not bat at eye at the apparent absurdity of this on the characters: "One is the loneliest number …" It's not the most phenomenon. subtle of approaches, and the music is played at such a high volume The tracking shot fulfils an essential function in the creation level that it effectively drowns out the actors, but Anderson makes his of an illusion of the film’s realism, and the presence of some point: the characters in this movie are terribly alone. They need and extraordinary elements within these supposedly unfettered slices of want love. They need and want someone with whom they can share reality casts a beautiful glow over the entire shot. Conversely, the their lives. But the movie reinforces their isolation. Meanwhile, the presence of the long tracking shot within the structure of the film specter of cancer casts a long shadow across their lives. stabilises any tension that supernatural elements might otherwise Earl Partridge (Jason Robards) is a wealthy television create within a realist narrative. In this respect, Anderson’s tracking producer who is dying of cancer. With his final wish, he asks to see shots normalise the extraordinary with equally extraordinary panache. his son, whom he abandoned and hasn't seen in many years. Linda Partridge (Julianne Moore) is the young, beautiful wife of Earl. She married him for his money, but now, as she begins to loathe her mercenary ways, she discovers a deep attachment to her dying husband. Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise) is the estranged son of Earl Partridge. He's a television guru of female seduction. Just call 1- 877-TAME-HER. For Frank, relationships are all about seducing and destroying. Donnie Smith (William H. Macy) is an ex-boy genius. In the '60s, he won thousands of dollars on a television quiz show. But time hasn't been kind to Donnie. Now he's barely hanging onto his job at an electronics store. Everything would be okay if the bartender at the corner bar would pay him some attention. Stanley Spector (Jeremy Blackman) is the new boy genius on "What Do Kids Know?" He knows all the answers, but all he really wants is his father's love. However, Rick Spector (Michael Bowen) only sees his son as a means of making it rich. Jimmy Gator (Philip Baker Hall) is the game show host. He has skeletons in his closet that explain why his daughter refuses to talk to him or show him any compassion when he tells her he has cancer. Claudia Gator (Melora Walters) is the Gary Johnson: mag.no´li.a, Imagesjournal 8 daughter who dulls her senses with drugs, loud music, and When Paul Thomas Anderson began writing Magnolia, he wanted meaningless sex. Officer Jim Kurring (John C. Reilly) is a "something small and intimate"--something he could shoot in 30 compassionate but bumbling police officer who interviews himself as days. But as he wrote, his characters began to take over. Working he drives in the squad car. When he's called to Claudia's apartment on with a theme of estrangement and parental relationships, Anderson a disturbing-the-peace call, he soon finds himself totally smitten. discovered that relationships beget relationships. And soon he was Even a blind man would've known that Claudia is trouble. weaving a complex network of characters and stories. Eventually he All of these characters are horribly isolated in their own lives. Like had at least twelve main characters and nine story lines. While the the petals on a flower, each character is separate but they're linked resulting movie is nearly three hours long, it nonetheless still feels together. And it's those links that Anderson is interested in exploring. intimate, but not necessarily so small anymore. He wants to rip back the veneers that people erect around themselves Anderson uses the accumulation of multiple stories to build and show us why they operate as they do. He wants to show us the Anderson—MAGNOLIA—8

choices that people make and how those choices affect their lives and Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, and Melora Walters everyone around them. all had starring roles in Boogie Nights. And John C. Reilly, Philip One character, Earl Partridge's male nurse, Phil Parma Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Melora Walters starred in (Philip Seymour Hoffman), is the one character in the movie who Anderson's debut feature, Hard Eight. isn't trying to clean up his own life. But his profession places him in In Magnolia, several new (but familiar) faces appear amongst the the role of helping others. When he attempts to locate Earl's long- usual Anderson troupe. Tom Cruise delivers one of the best estranged son, he sets in motion a stunning sequence of events. While performances of his career as a strutting, grinning womanizer who Frank T.J. Mackey sits down for an interview with an interviewer spreads his gospel through seminars where he gives away secrets who has definitely done her homework on Frank's past, Phil's such as "How to Fake Like You Are Nice and Caring." But Cruise telephone call is slowly passed from hand to hand, gradually coming lets us see past his bluster and smirks to the scars that mar his psyche. closer and closer to Frank. As Frank's assistant walks down a hallway This is Cruise's gutsiest performance yet. Jason Robards also makes to the room where the interview is being filmed, the interviewer's his first appearance in an Anderson movie. His role as a man dying questions begin to sting Frank's ego and rip away his cocky exterior. from cancer is much more low key than Cruise's role. Before working Meanwhile Jimmy Gator (Hall) struggles while hosting "What Do on Magnolia, Robards had just recovered from a near-fatal illness of Kids Know?" His illness and his personal demons have begun to tear his own. He uses this experience to create a flawless portrait of a man down his smiling exterior. During this same show, quiz kid Stanley struggling to make amends before he dies. Spector is suddenly refusing to answer any questions--making his Among the Anderson veterans that appear in Magnolia, father furious in the Green Room. Philip Baker Hall is miscast as a game show host. Mr. Hall is many Few directors outside of Robert Altman deal with groups of things, but he's not particularly charismatic--and he must be in order characters as large as Anderson does in Magnolia. If anything, for us to believe his character is a nationally loved celebrity. But he's though, Anderson has better instincts as a storyteller than Altman. It one of the few false notes in the movie. Julianne Moore delivers a would be difficult to imagine as lazy and unfocused a film as stunning performance as the young wife of Earl Partridge (Robards). Altman's Kansas City coming from Anderson's imagination. Her finest moment comes in a drugstore: after she turns in a handful Anderson loves the coincidences and unlikely occurrences that of prescriptions to be filled, the drugstore assistant immediately typically plague Hollywood movies. In Magnolia, he embraces those becomes suspicious and starts making snide remarks about all the contrivances and imbues them with nothing less than mystical partying she could do with the drugs. Linda Partridge (Moore) does a powers. Anderson even brings the movie to a conclusion by utilizing slow burn before erupting in anger. a phenomena of truly astounding proportions that must be seen to be If there was any doubt about Anderson's stature among believed. American directors, that doubt has been erased by Magnolia. This is a Also like Altman, Anderson has attracted his own stock magnificent movie. company of actors. Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Baker

COMING UP IN THE FALL 2012 BUFFALO FILM SEMINARS XXV: Nov 20 RUSSIAN ARK Alexander Sokurov 2002 Nov 27 WHITE MATERIAL Claire Denis 2009 Dec 4 Asghar Farhadi 2011

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