Magnolia

Reviewed by: Suad Bejtovic, Bosnian Movie Critic

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson ("Boogie Nights")

Starring: Julianne Moore, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Cruise, William H. Macy, Jason Robards

Precesto zaboravim da je film umjetnost, a ne puka zabava za siroke potrosacke mase. Filmovi sa puno eksplozija i specijalnih efekata i divljacki brzom montazom otupe nam druga cula, pa nismo spremni za filmove kakav je "Magnolia". Jednostavno, nisam uspio obuhvatiti sve nivoe znacenja na kojima ovaj film funkcionise. Nije lako otkriti "sta je pisac htio da kaze", kao sto ide stara poslovica, ali se odmah vidi da je ovo poseban film. Ne kazem to zato sto nisam razumio svaki simbol ili zato sto ga bolji kriticari od mene proglasavaju filmom godine. Poput "Eyes Wide Shut", ovo je film o kojem se razmislja i koji zahtijeva potpunu paznju.

Vise nego fabula, glumci su kicma "Magnolije", a neke od uloga su istinski izvanredne. Pocnimo od dobitnika Zlatnog Globusa, Toma Cruisea. Umjesto krotkog ali radoznalog doktora iz "Eyes Wide Shut", ovdje je Tom agresivni mega-zavodnik, predavac seminara za potlacene i slabe muskarce, koji zivi u iluziji o svojim roditeljima. Njegov otac na samrtnoj postelji je Jason Robards, koji drzi lekciju Denzelu Washingtonu ("The Bone Collector") o tome kako se cijeli film igra u krevetu. Robardsa pazi Phillip Seymour Hoffman, koji je uporan da pronadje odbjeglog sina, Cruisea. Robardsova druga zena, Julianne Moore, pravi je magnet za oci, a njena transformacija od trofejne zene do supruge zaljubljene u umiruceg muza je sjajna. Druga polovina likova vrti se oko televizijskog kviza kojeg producira Robardsova kompanija, i ta polovina mjestimicno paralelno odgovara prvoj. Tu je jos jedan grijesni otac, voditelj kviza, i njegova odbjegla kcer, narkoman i gubitnik. Zvijezda kviza je djecak ciji otac je opsjednut novcem, a William H. Macy je odlican u ulozi bivse zvijezde istog tog kviza, djecaka koji je postao zrtvom svojih roditelja. U ovako ovlas ispricanoj prici, primjecuju se teme koje se provlace kroz film, bas kao i fina muzicka nit pjesama koje izvodi Aimee Mann, ukljucujuci i jednu koju pjevaju svi likovi u filmu u vrlo dobro izvedenoj sceni pred kraj filma. A sam kraj i nije toliko apsurdan ako ste pratili suptilne reference na biblijsku knjigu Izlaska. Neprirodna prirodna nepogoda pokazuje svima da nista ne zavrsi onako kako planiramo, vec da su nasi zivoti, samo zrna pijeska u pustinjskoj oluji svemira.

Every so often, I forget that film is art, and not just mere entertainment for the average consumer. Movies with lots of explosions and special effects and savagely fast editing dull our senses, so we're not ready for movies such as Magnolia. Simply, one cannot grasp all the levels of meaning on which this movie works. It's not easy to discover the hidden message of the author, but it is promptly obvious that this is a remarkable movie. I don't say that because I didn't understand every symbol or because better critics than me announced it as the movie of the year. Much like Eyes Wide Shut, this is the movie to think about and that requires maximum attention.

More than the story, the characters make the spine of Magnolia, and some of the performances are truly outstanding, such as Golden Globe-winning one of Tom Cruise. Instead of meek, but curious doctor from Eyes Wide Shut, Tom is now an aggressive mega-seducer, the teacher and the preacher of the seminar for submissive and weak men, but he's in a state of denial about his parents. His father is on a death bed (Jason Robards, giving a lesson to Denzel Washington from The Bone Collector on how to act the whole movie in a bed). Taking care of Robards is Phillip Seymour Hoffman, determined to reunite the father with the renegade son. Robards' second wife, played by Julianne Moore is a true eye magnet, and her transformation from a trophy wife to a woman in love with her dying husband is excellent and worth the price of admission. Second set of characteds revolves around a television game show produced by Robards' company, and that set is often parallel with the first. There's another sinful father, game show host, and another renegade offspring, this time a drug-abusing loser daughter. Star of the show is a kid whose father is obsessed with money, and William H. Macy is his usual wonderful self as a former star of the same game show, a child that became a victim of its own parents' ambitions. Along with the recurring themes, a fine musical thread goes throughout the movie, mainly performed by Aimee Mann, including a song sung by all the characters of the movie in succession, in a great scene towards the end. The very ending is not all that absurd if you paid attention to subtle references to the biblical book of Exodus. Unnatural force of nature is showing to us that nothing can ever be the way we plan it, but rather that our lives are just grains of sand in the desert storm of the universe.