MAGNOLIA TRIBUTE

I watched this movie for the first time like 4 months before having the psychotic break and it didn’t cause me no paranoia, fortunately, in contrast to other movies that were stuck in my mind during that horrifying event. That’s a clear sign that it is a very positive movie. What did get stuck in my head in a good way was the ending of the movie, which made the 3 hours length of the movie worthwhile watching, without devaluating what happens in between. I will never forget how good that memorable smile at the end made me feel and how the Aimee Mann song Save me in the background made it even more beautiful. Later and according to what one of our scriptwriting teachers told us one day in class, I found out that the whole idea of the movie is based on and inspired by that singer, who participated in the movie by exclusively writing the songs that conform the soundtrack.

This movie is a must for any cinema lover. It got a little eclipsed by the release of American Beauty the same year, but despite the fact that both movies are great and unique in their particular ways, I still believe that Magnolia deserved more recognition. I feel very connected to the whole philosophical spirit of the movie. Lots of messages can be derived from the dialogues and that’s one of the things I like most about the main characters. They are brutally honest about their problems and explicitly express them loud and clear so that the inner voice of the writer gets very concise here. The beginning is also brilliant, with that voice-over explaining these different stories about those so-called coincidences that could be interpreted as something more meaningful and feasible.

A personal living almost obligated me to introduce the tribute video with the restaurant scene, in which Claudia talks about being honest in life and how white lies or silences are capable of killing people. The Leviathan song is highly inspired by that dialogue and it obviously could not be missed in the tribute video. 

THESIS

The thesis of Magnolia, just like in the Donnie Darko movie case, can be hard to determine because there may be more than just one. There are a lot of messages in this movie. One of the messages is clearly related to this idea of being honest and sincere about our feelings but, in my opinion, Magnolia is mainly about forgiveness. I remember that line in which one of the characters says that it’s not a bad thing to have regrets in life and that it’s ok to make mistakes because we’re all human beings and as long as we are conscious of those mistakes, we’re always in time to ask for forgiveness.

Thesis: It’s ok to have regrets in life.