Licorice Pizza

Unlike the tense and broody masterpieces and dark character studies Paul Thomas Anderson has spent his career crafting to perfection, Licorice Pizza is a dream. A dream weaved from fact and fiction that Paul Thomas Anderson has casted on the backdrop of the hazy, washed out, sun-drenched San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. Its dreamlike quality stems from the fact that the film exists not as a tightly structured narrative, but as a loose collection of fleeting moments that come and go like memories. I have often been a big supporter of the so called ‘slice of life’ subgenre of films (The Florida Project being the greatest contemporary example in my opinion) and few cinematic outputs embody that spirit quite like this. It’s a coming-of-age tale that does not see either of our angsty and self-conscious young protagonists go on some grand journey or evolve into a new version of themselves, in fact they each remain remarkably unchanged by the time the film reaches its conclusion. Instead, it merely celebrates the unique and thrilling and equally confusing whirlwind of being young. It seems simple to point out but there are so many sequences in the film of our lead characters running. Stunning tracking shots of Gary and Alana breathlessly sprinting with and without each other that are such a transcendently beautiful encapsulation of the sheer urgency and energy of being a young person discovering the world around you, hurtling yourself from one moment to the next before they have already evaporated into memories.

The film is set in the fringes of Hollywood but unlike other stories which treat the industry with such a level of importance and impact, Hollywood is merely a playground for our young characters to breeze around. However, one of the more impressive aspects of Licorice Pizza is the way in which despite what I just said being true, sitting in the shadows of its youthful antics, is a thinly-veiled seedy underbelly of California and of the entertainment industry at the time. The film manages to keep its light energy by often having Gary and Alana be blind to this underbelly and portrays many of these moments comedically, however the danger still lies just within reach. We get a string of different broadly drawn funny caricatures of industry folk who are all based on real stars of the 70s. They each pop in for a standout scene as wild and over-the-top egotistical Hollywood elites, many of which feel like glorified cameos from stars like Sean Penn and Bradley Cooper. However, while these figures are presented comedically and are portrayed as buffoons, there is still an undeniable sinisterness as Sean Penn’s Jack Holden liquors up and seduces a young wannabe actress or Bradley Cooper’s Jon Peters jokingly threatens physical harm against young Gary and his friends. Gary and Alana may not always feel the underlying danger of these moments but we the audience do.

I find myself shocked that I haven’t yet delved deeper into Gary or Alana because this film is first and foremost a study on the two characters and their connection to each other is the centre of the entire narrative. Gary Valentine is a suave teenage hustler wise beyond his years who is absolutely dying to grow up and enter the adult world. Alana Kane is an angst-ridden, hot-headed woman in her early twenties who can’t escape her immaturity and clings to childhood, petrified of having to start taking part in the adult world. These two kindred spirits meet in an absolutely electric meet cute-eque interaction and from that point forward they are forever connected to each other for better or worse. Constantly gravitating in and out of each other’s lives, seemingly aware that their dynamic is in many ways not the healthiest and often asserting that they can’t be together, the pair ride the line between friendship and repressed romance. Despite their constant clashing and plentiful reasons why they shouldn’t be together, they can’t seem to stay away from each other. This mostly non-sexual but certainly romantically undertoned ‘friendship’ that neither seem to be able to explain or understand is one of the most absolutely fascinating dynamics I have ever seen put to screen.

I’ve seen some mixed opinions on the ending and I can perhaps understand why. For the most part PTA presents their relationship fairly objectively and trusts his audience to discern its quality, however the ending does see him tip more towards romance and indulge a little in the romanticism of Gary and Alana’s dynamic. However, I would challenge those who felt at odds with that to take a deeper reading as for me, the only thing I took from the ending was a celebration of human connection found in what can be such a confusing world. In my mind I don’t even necessarily consider it a ‘happily ever after’ and could very much envision it in the same tone as the bittersweet ending of The Graduate. In terms of performances, we are talking about two absolute knockouts here. Musician turned actress Alana Haim is so charismatic and emotive in her breakout performance and has masterful moments of silent evocations of emotion. However, my personal standout was Cooper Hoffman (son of the late great Philip Seymour Hoffman whose memory we will cherish forever) who in his own first appearance in anything has absolutely unbeatable screen presence. His line delivery and sheer charisma are so natural but so winning and I was immediately captivated by him. They are by far two of the absolute best performances of the year, perhaps even the best. Also, I just have to mention how refreshing it is to have movie leads who are not models and actually look like real people.

I saw a 35mm print of Licorice Pizza and was absolutely transported by the exquisite cinematography. The vivid way this looks just absolutely embarrasses the sludgy grey colour-palette of the majority of modern blockbuster cinema. I have also been blasting the soundtrack for days now which is just an eclectic mix of wall-to-wall bangers. Perhaps the biggest testament I can give of my love for Licorice Pizza is that I did something that I have never done for a film before. I saw it in gorgeous 35mm in the cinema and then was constantly thinking about it for the rest of the day and couldn’t shake my desire to rewatch it immediately. So, I got my laptop and for the first time ever I watched an awful cam link for the film online (yes like those ones that are literally just filmed by a person in the cinema). I honestly consider watching a film that way to be absolutely sacrilegious and not even a real movie-watching experience but I was so desperate to revisit certain scenes that I watched the entire film again that way. Paul Thomas Anderson lured me into a dreamworld and I couldn’t bear to leave it.