Opening and Closing Images: Magnolia

P.T. Anderson’s best film, Magnolia, is harder to pin down in terms of opening and closing images because it’s truly a multi-protagonist story. And even though each character has a particular opening and closing scene which summarizes his or her journey, I found it harder to summarize those scenes with just one screen shot. Nonetheless here are two attempts: (SPOILER WARNING)

Donnie Smith 

Opening Image: Donnie is prepped for the braces he’s getting in order to impress the man he’s in love with.

Closing Image: Mouth bloodied, Donnie returns the money he stole to pay for the braces.

Claudia Gator 

Opening Image: Claudia is about to be joined by a (nameless) man who is interested in just one thing. Lonely and hurting, she gives herself to the man for the night.

 Closing Image:

 This last shot of Claudia is the final image of the entire film. Both the opening scene and the closing scene begin with her being alone and end with a man sitting next to her wanting something from her. But the two scenes could not be more opposed. In this shot Jim (John C. Reilly) is genuinely reaching out to her in spite of both of their personal troubles.  As he speaks to her, she turns, looks right into the camera and smiles… Fade Out.