Magnolia

(Paul Thomas Anderson, US 1999, 188 min., 35mm)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s third feature concerns twenty-four hours in the lives of a varied lot of Los Angelenos. Two dying fathers work to mend broken ties with their estranged children, while two whiz kids, one grown and one young, struggle with the pressures of their intellects. Their various family members, as well as a cop, a nurse, and a young boy, are all connected in unexpected ways—forecasting a climax of biblical proportions. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Phil Parma, a sensitive nurse at the home of Earl Partridge, intent on fulfilling a dying man’s wish.

Supported by James Declan Tobin on behalf of the Sumner Roy Kates Charitable Trust.