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Updated April 18, 2007

ENGLISH 114: INTRODUCTION TO FILM, Fall 2006

Section 2: Monday, 6:00-9:30 p.m., Professor Larsson

Week 12, April 9, 2007

6:00-9:10            View Magnolia

9:10-9:30            Brief discussion and pass in Extra Credit cards

                                      (Discussion of Magnolia and editing next week)

Magnolia (1999)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Script: Anderson; Cinematographer: Robert Elswit; Production Designer: William Arnold and Mark Bridges; Editor: Dylan Tichenor; Music: Jon Brion

Cast:

Tom Cruise (Frank T.J. Mackey)

Jason Robards (Earl Partridge)

Julianne Moore (Linda Partridge, Earl’s wife)

John C. Reilly (Jim Kurring, the police officer)

William H. Macy (Donnie Smith)

Philip Baker Hall (Jimmy Gator, host of What Do Kids Know?)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (Phil Parma, Earl’s nurse)

Melora Walters (Claudia Wilson Gator)

Jeremy Blackman (Stanley Spector, game show contestant)

Michael Bown (Rick Spector, Stanley’s father)

Alfred Molina (Solomon Solomon)

Ricky Jay (Burt Ramsey/Narrator)

Luis Guzmán (himself)

Henry Gibson (Thurston Howell)

Felicity Huffman (Cynthia)

Discussion Questions (for next week):

1. This film uses the numbers 8 and 2 often.  Why?

2. What kinds of problems do each of the major characters exhibit?  What are the causes of these problems?  Do they get resolved by the end?

3. How do the lives of these various characters intersect—or are they connected at all?

4. How does editing work to connect these characters in time and space?  If long camera takes are used, how and why do they occur?

5. What does the film imply about the direction of human lives and connections?

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