Boogie Nights marked Paul Thomas Anderson’s cinematic breakthrough with his pitch perfect observation on the porn industry in 1970s Los Angeles. We follow Eddie Adams (Mark Wahlberg), a high-school dropout who has a chance encounter with porn producer, Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) who propels him into the spotlight of adult film under the moniker, Dirk Diggler.

The film brings drama, light comedy, acting legends, newcomers, movie magic and gritty realism which is interweaved into a large spiderweb that is just as complex as the mind. It is a colourful insight into the human condition and the lengths that a person will go in order to retain their legacy.

The cast is as starry as the Hollywood lights with Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle and Philip Seymour Hoffman being the standouts for me (the number of standouts shows just how star-studded this film is!). Boogie Nights brought two of its cast, Reynolds and Moore Academy Award nominations and gave Anderson his first Best Original Screenplay nomination.

It would be easy for a film about the porn industry to turn into a gratuitous portrayal from a male gaze but Anderson is mindful not to fall into this trap.

The film is not made to be aspirational or shaming and provides a more factually based and neutral perspective. The wonderful thing about Anderson is that he doesn’t patronise his audience and encourages the audience to draw their own interpretations from the film.

Indeed, by viewing Boogie Nights a simple flick on the porn industry would be to miss the underlayer that explores tragic themes such as the American Dream as a lie, female oppression, misogyny and racism.