Alexandra Pechman’s directorial debut takes place at a prestigious literary magazine during an era when office flirtation was fun and ambition came naturally. In an era when glamorous writing jobs have acquired the unreality of folklore, it feels fitting that Alexandra Pechman’s alluring and affectionate feature debut, “Magazine,” should portray its literary world as a fairy tale. Set in a faraway time — summer 2011 — when office flirtations were fun, ambition was a given and purses hung crossbody, the film follows Nora (Lily McInery), an aspiring poet who lands a competitive internship at Platen, a fictional literary magazine à la The Paris Review.
Nora’s time in the office, and the relationships that blossom — and one that withers — over the course of that formative span give shape to this earnest, appealing movie about idealism lost but innocence preserved. Pechman, who worked in magazines during the era she depicts, drew on her own experiences to write “Magazine.” But the movie — like “Almost Famous” for the n+1 crowd — is less interested in realism than in evoking the shiny, spiky atmosphere of that recent past. Stacked with pitch-perfect needle drops and nods to a sartorial moment, it overflows with warm nostalgia even as it shades its romantic outlook with a shrewd understanding of how it feels to be a young woman in a workplace that inspires reverence while courting disillusion.
That experience is evergreen and “Magazine” captures its thrills and anxieties with deep affection and sharp attention. The story opens on Nora’s first day of work, as she loiters outside the Platen offices, waiting for the clock to tick a few minutes forward. Thomas (Joshuah Melnick), an assistant editor, has told her to arrive a little after 10 a.m., and when she opens the door five minutes past the hour, she’s confident that the plum (yet naturally unpaid) position awaiting her will be her entry into a rarefied dream career.
At first, the bright, airy Platen offices seem to confirm the fantasy. As appointed by production designer Valeria De Felice, the workspace is a literary dreamscape, lined with Persian rugs and bookcases displaying a rainbow of magazine spines. Skipping inside, Nora joins a cadre of shambling interns whom the editorial staff regard with a mixture of bemusement and disdain.
Among them are the self-assured Tabitha (Lukita Maxwell), who, in heeled booties and smudged eyeliner, is clearly a soon-to-be pal, and the curmudgeonly Leonard (Daniel Zolghadri), who can’t resist pointing out that Nora must come from money if she can afford to move to New York for an unpaid role. Actually, Nora is living on scholarship funds she won from her unnamed college — but that detail hardly matters. In the mythopoetic world of “Magazine,” money is basically irrelevant.
When one coded-wealthy nepotism hire gets fired for neglecting work, the ousting occurs in a passing line of dialogue. And although Thomas — who, as Leonard bitterly notes, has been blessed with good looks and great taste in books — resides in a soaring Manhattan loft owned by his mother, his eventual caddish streak has more to do with his fragile professional ego than his privilege. Indeed, in her devotion to sparkle, Pechman declines to probe too deeply into any of the industry’s more hurtful or exploitative dimensions.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
