The latest film by acclaimed director Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza, is one of the lucky ones to have made its way into the 94th edition of the Oscars.
The Academy has nominated three of the most important categories: Best Feature, Directing and Writing (Original Screenplay).
The film guides the viewer through a refreshing Coming-Of-Age starring Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim, whose characters Gary Valentine and Alana Kane live a passionate and ambitious love story in 1970s California. This time and space full of the most extravagant contrasts of the era, are only the backdrop for some eccentric characters who conquer the screen with their mischievous adventures.
However, the essence of Licorice Pizza does not lie in the love that obviously exists between Gary and Alana, but in the childish and amusing path that the protagonists follow until they understand that they have been pierced by Cupid’s arrow. The more sentimental side of the director appears here, who builds a series of electrifying events that make the viewer want to see more, thus falling in love at the same pace as Gary and Alana.
Starting from a more than wise casting choice, Paul Thomas Anderson manages this time to bring the new generations closer to the big screen.
Despite being a film set several decades ago, the piece reflects the universality of love with Hoffman and Kane being the spitting image of Generation Z. The ambitions of the twenty-first century and the desire to conquer the most ambitious dreams without giving up in the face of the multiple crises that the new world leaves before them.
The film smells, as its title indicates, of pizza and licorice, but also of vinyl stores and vintage clothes and above all of freshly popped popcorn. That is why its magical universe captures the audience, who leave the movie theatres developing multiple continuations to the wonderful story of Gary and Alana.
We will have to see if Licorice Pizza manages to win any of its aforementioned nominations. However, it is already a film that will go down in history as a breath of fresh air with a taste of nostalgia that is more than necessary in a post pandemic world.
By Raúl Jambrina
Feature image: Paul Thomas Anderson/MGM