|
|
FILM-KUNST.COM DVD & FILM REVIEWS // +05 |
FK °° |
| < back MAGNOLIA | | |||||||
|
| film
talk | >>> |
kurzbeschreibung | Drehbuchautor und Regisseur Paul Thomas Anderson erzählt von Glück, Zufällen und bizarren Ereignissen im kalifornischen San Fernando Valley. In einem weitgespannten Bogen verknüpft er episodisch die tragikomischen Schicksale von neun verletzten Seelen auf der Suche nach innerem Frieden, Aussöhnung und Liebe - bis ein gewaltiges Naturphänomen alle Bemühungen relativiert... (moviedata) meine meinung | Lange habe ich überlegt, ein "Special" über diesen Film zu machen. Dann entschied ich mich allerdings dagegen, da jedes zuviel verratene Detail das Gesamterlebnis beeinträchtigen könnte. Ich sah diesen Film mit keinerlei Vorkenntnissen, was auch besser war. Man sollte sich auf dieses Meisterwerk einlassen, man sollte es über sich ergehen lassen, man sollte es "erleben". Dieser Film ist mitunter eines der besten Beispiele für Filmkunst. Das liegt zum einen an der brillianten Regiearbeit von P. T. Anderson, der mit "Magnolia" sein drittes Werk abliefert. Ansich bin ich kein grosser Anhänger von sog. Episodenfilmen. Das liegt wohl daran, dass es mir nicht gefällt, zwischen verschiedenen Geschichten hin und her zu "springen". Hat man sich an eine Handlung gewöhnt, werden einem schon die nächsten Personen "aufgetischt". Nicht so bei diesem Film. Anderson versteht es perfekt, einfach alle neun Hauptpersonen absolut interessant darzustellen. Jede Geschichte ist auf ihre Art und Weise etwas besonderes. Und alle zusammen werden stilistisch brilliant miteinander verknüpft. Unterstützt wird dies wohl auch von der genialen Arbeit von Jon Brion. Seine Musik untermalt den gesamten Film überragend, passt sich immer genauestens den Ereignissen an. Die Musik ist praktisch den gesamten Film über präsent. Gerade im Mittelteil spielt sie eine wichtige Rolle. Während am Anfang mit viel Ruhe die Personen vorgestellt werden, wird in der Mitte des Films die Handlung vorangetrieben. Man begreift langsam den Zusammenhang der verschiedenen Akteure. Die einzelnen Handlungstränge beginnen sich miteinander zu verknüpfen und so dem Gesamtwerk einen Sinn zu geben. Außerdem steuern wir quasi auf den Höhepunkt der Handlung zu. Die Ereignisse, bzw. die Erlebnisse der einzelnen Personen, spitzen sich zu. Ähnliches geschieht mit der Musik. Sie begleitet zu anfangs mit leisen Klängen und wird in ihrer Intensität fortwährend stärker. Filmmusik ist grundsätzlich dazu da, einen Film zu unterstützen, hier nimmt man dies besonders deutlich wahr. Auch die Kamera- und Schnittarbeit bei "Magnolia" ist fantastisch. Es scheint gerade so, als würden die Darsteller von Robert Elswits Kamera verfolgt, bis sie an wichtigen Stellen nur noch in Grossaufnahme die Gesichter der Personen zeigt. Gerade in oben erwähntem Mittelteil wechseln wir ständig zwischen den unterschiedlichen Erlebnissen hin und her. Doch die Kamera scheint immer an der richtigen Stelle zu verweilen, um uns den Eindruck zu vermitteln, wir wären ganz ganz nah dabei. "Magnolia" ist wie ein Mosaikbild zu sehen. Stehen wir ganz nahe vor dem Bild ist so gut wie nichts zu sehen. Entfernen wir uns von ihm, wird erst die gesamte Schönheit sichtbar. Nun gut, verglichen mit einem Film liegt dies natürlich in der Natur von Episodenfilmen. Doch ist mir keiner bewusst, der es annähernd schafft, dies perfekter zu vollbringen. Dankbar darf der Regiesseur nicht nur seinem perfekten Team aus Editor, Komponist und Kameramann sein, nein auch die Schauspieler sind fabelhaft. Viele haben schon in Andersons zweitem Film "Boogie Nights" mitgewirkt. Und es war eine kluge Entscheidung, diese wieder für "Magnolia" zu verpflichten. Es ist sehr selten, so viele hochkarätige Schauspieler auf der Leinwand zu sehen. Jede Person wird sehr gut verkörpert. Besonders zu erwähnen ist hier die Leistung von Tom Cruise. Ob man ihn mag oder nicht - egal, hier spielt er einfach überwältigend und hat den "Golden Globe" mehr als verdient. Aber auch alle anderen Schauspieler verbringen hier Meisterleistungen. Mir ist es vollkommen unverständlich, warum dieser Film so wenig Beachtung gefunden hat. Von den Medien wurde er mehr oder weniger vollkommen unter den Tisch gekehrt. Während sog. Blockbuster, wie z. B. "Der Sturm" (wohl einer der schlechtesten Filme der Kinogeschichte) hochgepuscht werden, wird ein Meisterwerk wie "Magnolia" einfach "vergessen". So kann ich wahrlich nur jedem raten, sich diesen Film anzusehen. Für mich bleiben nur noch drei Dinge zu sagen: Tom Cruise ist ein guter Schauspieler, Paul Thomas Anderson ist ein brillianter Regisseur und "Magnolia" ist einer der besten Filme, die ich je gesehen habe. dvd | code 1 Ich habe mich für die Code 1 Version dieses Films entschieden, weil "New Line Cinema" wieder einmal eine perfekte Verpackung für diese DVD-Edition veröffentlicht hat. Ähnlich wie bei "Se7en", bekommt man die beiden Scheiben in einem aufklappbaren Pappkarton, der wiederum in einem Schuber untergebracht ist. Ich finde es einfach schön, so etwas zu besitzen. Technisch unterscheidet sich diese Editon nicht von der deutschen Version. Auf der ersten DVD befindet sich der Hauptfilm in einer sehr guten Bildqualität. Ich könnte hier keinerlei Schwächen aufzählen. Gerade für einen Film von über drei Stunden Laufzeit wurde hier perfekte Arbeit geleistet. Auch beim Ton gibt es keine Kritikpunkte. Aufgrund der Thematik sind hier natürlich nicht viele Surroundeffekte zu finden, die Dialoge und auch die Musik wurden allerdings gut abgemischt. Die Extras erscheinen auf den ersten Blick zwar etwas mager, sind aber doch sehr sehenswert. Neben einem Musikvideo, verschiedenen Trailern, Outtakes (versteckt im "Testbild") findet man einen 74 minütigen Bericht über die Dreharbeiten. Und dieser ist wirklich sehr interessant und unterscheidet sich deutlich von den üblichen Making Of's bei denen lediglich die Filmemacher in den Himmel gelobt werden. Dieser Bericht gibt wirklich einen Einblick hinter die Kulissen. Insgesamt eine perfekte DVD. film talk | film analysis by bernd and harold. HAROLD | Thinking about twisted plots and crazy characters...What about Magnolia man? I've seen only two films that cover so much in so little, Magnolia and Nashville. Nashville with 24 characters, but a movie that many people hate, myself included, since it is about 3 hours of country music...and Magnolia, almost the same theme of breaking down how Americans have some screws loose in their heads. I really don't know if people like the characters of Magnolia really exist, I have not met any like them in my life, but something is true about the whole thing. Shit can happen any second, at any given moment, there is a guy hiding his identity to forget his past, there is a woman cheating his old husband whom she married for money, there are parents mistreating their kids, and there are people trying to start relationships with the wrong people in search of hope. Have you ever met anyone like the character that Tom Cruise plays in the movie Bernd? BERND | Sorry, I haven't seen "Nashville" - so I can't say anything about it. So lets talk about "Magnolia". The answer to your question - no I haven't ever met anyone like the charakters in this movie. But thats good. It would be really boring if the characters are like the people I know. A movie should entertain us. And if the people or the story is ordinary, why should we watch this film? As i say - it would be really boring... So lets start at the beginning. Looks like this will be a really long talk, because the movie is over 3 hours... First they show us little storys about the thing you say: "shit can happen any second". And the little storys are funny. I liked it. Then the charakters were introduced. A few friends of me saying: the first hour is too boring. I can't agree. I think not one minute of Magnolia is boring. Normally I don't like such "episodes movies". I want one interesting charakter and he should be there the whole film. But in this case, I think ALL charakters are interesting. And the introduction of the persons is necessary. We must learn something about them. Sure it looks like this introduction is a little bit boring, but it must take place anyways. HAROLD | Come on Bernd, the guy in Cast Away is as normal as you and I, [well, he doesn't write about films on the web, but that's irrelevant] and you were entertained. What is really interesting about all the characters and what they do, is that the bottom line is that they are all related to the television industry. A dying tv legend and his wife, his son, who now wants to purge his past by assuming the male dominant figure in front of the camera, a tv host and his daughter, two quiz kids, one young and another in his 40's, and finally some one who breaks all standarts, the policeman. Notice, that in that 'introduction' sequence the only who is not related to the tv world at all is the policeman, and he happens to be the one who is pure. He does not have that many controversies around him as a human being, regardless of the fact of being single and is way nicer that what he should be. He is such a swell guy, he prays and everything. It is interesting that in he is also the only one that speaks in this sequence, the only one that introduces himself to the audience, since others let their actions speak for themselves. And what about the way Thomas Anderson jumps from one character to the other aided by the background music? my God!...it is like watching a music video, where every single frame of action just blows you away in thinking, what the hell is going on!!! When we saw this film in class, one of my classmates was just shocked, to see so many screwed up things taking place in the same circle of individuals. Well, now that I think about it, Ive met a few people like the old quiz kid who wants to put braces so he could get with the bartender, but I have never even thought of so many bad things surrounding certain group of people man. BERND | Ok - it looks like you'll see much more things in movies than me man! But thats good for me, I will learn something from you! Thanks... So - you think the people in Magnolia are ordinary. Sure, this might be right. I never met such people, but thats not important... Now I'm trying to tell you some thoughts from me about the film. You will tell me if I'm right or not... There are nine different persons and their stories in the movie. And you are right, they all are related to the tv business. At the beginning all of them where introduced. But we are not knowing that they are all related to each other. I think the music in this movie is really important. It's always there, surrounding the actions of the characters. Just like the story begins slowly - the music is playing slow and silent. Then (in the middle) all stories find together... And then the music playes louder or better the music becomes more intensive... For me the middle of the film is the highlight. We are just jumping from scene to scene. There is a great suspense. It's hard to find the right words in english... Do you know what I mean? I think ALL of the actors are great! P. T. Anderson worked with most of them in Boogie Nights. And I think it was the right choice to cast them again for Magnolia. I really like the performance of Tom Cruise. I think he is just perfect in the role of the "sex guru". I'm really enjoying his performance. But all other actors are great too. I think the cinematography is really good with all those steadycam shots. I like to feel that the camera is always really near to the characters. The camera is always in the right place as it goes along with the people up to a important point - then stops right now in the face of the person. I think the cutting is really important here too... Magnolia is like a "mosaic", like a picture made with small stones. If you are really near at the picture, you will see nothing. But if you go a step beside and see the whole thing - all makes sense now. Do you know the classic music piece "bolero" from ravel? This reminds me to Magnolia... All is beginning very slow, will be louder and louder to come to the highlight. As I say the highlight of the movie is the middle. Then suddenly all is slowing down again. We now knowing all the characters problems. And then "peng" comes the frog scene? A long time I was thinking about this scene... What is Anderson trying to tell us with this??? I talked with a few friend about it and we came to the result, that it must be a symbol for the CHANGE. Every person gets another chance for his life... Is this right??? A lot of thoughts together... What do you think? Are my thoughts right??? HAROLD | P. T Anderson uses music as a cutting device. Notice the fact that there is a point in the movie that he visits the miserable lives of the characters by paying a song, and then cutting among them. On the other hand, as you say, and something that I had not noticed, is the true simbolism of the 'mosaic' you talk about. It is difficult to understand the movie by focusing on one character only, you gotta get back and see the picture as a whole in order to understand what really is going on. About the cinematography, every shot has a purpose of maximizing the feeling that characters are going through. He only uses tracking or movig shots mostly to create a sense of linearity in the cutting from one character's life to the other. The fact that he uses many close ups makes us sort of get in touch with the character's reality; what he goes through, what will be coming for him next, etc. Hey!...I thought you had known what the frog thing was all about. Well, it is a parallel. You see, this movie is about the a tv empire that is going down, the head of the empire is dying off, while his wife cheats on him, his son is confused about his life, the tv host is dying of cancer as well, at the same time he cheats his wife and his daughter is in drugs. Also, the quiz kids lives are messed up as the young one is abused, and the old one has to deal with inner sexuality problems. The frogs all come from the biblical passage of the plagues in egypt, where frogs came down as one of the plagues that marked the downfll of the egyptian rule of that time, over the hebrews. Frogs came in 'Magnolia' in the moment where every single thing was upside down, where there was basically no tomorrow but to have a fresh start and the characters had to understand face their problems before they could even think about solving them. See the paralell? BERND | First thanks for telling me all those things. Yes, I understand the frog scene better now. May I ask you a few questions now? I don't really know if you like the movie or not? Do you like the story? Do you like the charakters and the actors? Is the cinematography good? I often heard, the movie is too long - what do you think? Sorry - this FILM TALK looks like a interview now. But your are the film-student... You could analyse a film much more better than I can. HAROLD | Honestly, I was attracted to seeing the movie since there were so many people talking all sorts of things about it. Back when it came out I did not usually go to the movies to see 'serious' films, so everybody saw it before I went. I was concerned about the whole thing of parallels with biblical stories, and the harshness of how characters act on screen as my friends said...but I did not pay that much attention until I saw it. I believe that Mangnolia tries to cover up so much, in so little time [although the movie is 3 hours long] The director wants to deal with all kinds of traumas that the American society deals with...like one of my friends said....'It is so much shit going on together that either you love it to death or you hate it with all your heart.' The story is something that Americans are dealing with everywhere as we speak, this film is one of the few ones that attempts to flush all the bad things of this society down the toilet. Cinematography rocks, as I mentioned before, he is not aware of magnificent panoramic shots, but into the protrayal of each one of the character's feelings towards their lives. The movie is often criticized as TOO long, but let me tell you...it was about time someone sat down and ripped apart everything that sucks about Americans. I mean, they do it all the time, with the rest of the world...Did you see the movie BLOW, they just portrayed Colombians as pieces of shit. Everytime a Latin goes on screen he is a drug dealer or something of the sort, when an Italian is in a movie he is a mob, I mean...I am tired of being stereotyped, what about Americans? They are fucked up too you know? I think he could had gone for another three more hours and still not cover all he wanted I am sure. Did you find it long? Can you relate to what I am saying? BERND | Yes, I can relate to what you're saying. I don't think the movie is too long. For me - every single minute was interesting. I liked that movie very much. And I think P. T. Anderson is a good director. I also liked his second movie "Boogie Nights". Both movies are "dramas". It's about some really big and bad problems those people have. But there are some really funny scenes in it too! I think "Magnolia" is a very good and important film. I like it very very much. As I say before: good story, good music, good cinematography and good actors. What do we want more from a movie? What do you think? Are there some things we haven't discussed now? If not, it would be nice if you give me a final rating... Film:?, Cinematography:? Music:? HAROLD | I think we did it all, let's save the rest for those who have not yet seen the film. I love Anderson as a Director, he is just like Spielberg: He takes a while to make a movie, but he does such a fine deep job when he does one. My ratings you say? Film 9/10, I dislike long films, Cinematography 8/10, I think he could had played more wih film stocks to give even greater detail to the movie, and 10/10 for the music. I can't imagine this film without the tracks they chose, it is like if they had made the movie exactly to fit the songs. Any final thoughts about it? BERND | You're right, I think we say enough. I think Magnolia is a great movie and everyone should see it. And if I look at your ratings it looks like you agree with me... HAROLD | Nice man!...love to do this again for another film! Thanks once again for inviting me to your site :) BERND | I have to thank you!! Sure, lets do it for another movie!!! < top pictures © 1999 by New Line Cinema Productions |
