Liquorice Pizza Ending Explained: What Happens to Gary & Alana?

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In the States, Paul Thomas Anderson's new work was released at the end of November last year. Technically - under the award season, but it is more likely the wish of the producers. As in the case of "Phantom Thread", "Licorice Pizza" was not in Cannes, Venice or Toronto. The film community is used to thinking of festivals as the measure of independent pictures, but it was as if Anderson had outgrown them and stopped needing them. If his film did not participate in one of the big festivals, it means nothing. The name has long spoken for itself.


The very phrase in the title doesn't come off the screen once. "Licorice Pizza" is the name of a popular chain of vinyl record shops in California in the 1970s (the disc is round like a pizza and black like licorice). Vinyl, by the way, is also used to make the waterbeds Gary sells. Soggy Bottom (Russian translation: "Wet Place") - this was the name of Anderson's new film, and this is how the protagonist first called his innovative bed shop. The adventures of Gary Valentine are largely based on the adventurous and vivid memories of film producer and friend of the director Gary Goetzman ("Silence of the Lambs", "Philadelphia" and "News from Around the World").
And the film is full of other intriguing, but not very important for the main plot, documentary details. In 1973 America was really hit by an oil crisis, and therefore petrol stations were lined up for petrol (in this scene Bradley Cooper as stylist, producer, actor and Barbra Streisand's boyfriend John Peters). Sean Penn plays John Holden, the character's prototype is Hollywood star William Holden (he's the one lying face down in the pool in "Sunset Boulevard"). At one point, Alana takes a job volunteering at the campaign headquarters of politician Joel Wachs (Benny Safdie). He's also a real person and is now president of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts in New York, and was once really afraid to publicly announce his orientation. His storyline is one of the most tragic in the film. He's no Harvey Milk, he was never destined to make history.


The plot deliberately tries to stray somewhere away from the most important thing - Gary and Alana's confusing and emotionally charged relationship. Sexual tension is in the air, but Anderson masterfully and almost by the laws of harmless and innocent romantic comedies always stops halfway through. No, there are a couple of vulgar jokes. But where without them, when you are 15, you fell in love and hormones play?

The performers of the main roles are debutants. And this fact also adds vitality to the film. Cooper Hoffman (Gary) is the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, a master of episodic roles and owner of a great talent, which vividly manifested itself in many works of PTA. The acting dynasty continues. In the great future of Cooper can not be doubted. And 10 years from now, critics and audiences will be saying that Paul Thomas Anderson once discovered him. Another case in point is Alana Haim (Alana). She is a member of the band Haim (PTA has made more than one film clip for them). Her two sisters are in the film alongside her. They play themselves, only set back 50 years in time. Alana's real parents also appear in the film. Her mother once taught PTA drawing at a primary school in Studio City. And then liked to say, while watching his films, that she was the reason he grew up so talented.
"Liquorice Pizza Movie Ending Explained" successfully pretends to be a light-hearted comedy. But if you look closely, it's as complex a mosaic as "Magnolia," only the accents are slightly shifted and there are a couple of protagonists. It's also intoxicatingly shot: California sunsets, sunshine, rolling hills, and the camera can barely keep up with the characters running. Interestingly, the angle of view changes several times in the film. Gary is in charge of the adventures and dubious ventures, but more often we see the whole world through Alana's eyes. She's the one who doubts whether she should date a teenager and hang out with his friends, she's looking for someone older, she's trying out new places (acting, business, politics) while competing with Gary, the dodgy one.


Anderson's new film has nothing to do with the present tense. The director escapes to the era he grew up in and takes a sentimental look back at his hometown. In his career, he has already talked about the lure of power, post-war confusion and strange sects, confrontation with the system, loneliness and the desire to subjugate the other (including in relationships). Against this backdrop, the first strong feeling will seem like a trinket. But when the world is ablaze and the sky is covered with a dense fog, only a summer and airy film from Paul Thomas Anderson can save the day. If there's anywhere to escape to, it's California in the '70s, when you're 15 and trying to hit on an older girl.