I'm still digesting "The Master", some films can still do that these days, those are the good ones, or at least the ones worth seeing. So yes, there you have it, let's get it out of the way so there is no misunderstanding, you should see "The Master", run to your local multiplex or arthouse (if you have one) and see it, why? Because it's worth the discussion, the dissection, the interpretation, and the criticism all things that I love about these types of movies.
It's a film that has already gotten love and criticism from various critics not unlike "Tree of Life" did last year. Although I'm not comparing it to that film, I'm just saying it brings out the same kind of passionate Love it/Hate it vibe..
But then I suppose there's the camp that appreciates it at a distance but can't openly say they love it. For me I don't think "The Master" holds a special place in my heart, I will probably at some point see it again, because I would say there is so much to take in and admire, but I don't see it as the sort of film I will come to love like I do with all my favorite films. I will see it again for the fact I am fascinated by its director Paul Thomas Anderson who has not made an uninteresting film and has flirted with greatness throughout his whole career. Anderson is a director of unique ideas, and bold choices, some seem to be right on, some seem to be a dead end, but he still takes risks, which is what I like about him. I for one found a certain catharsis in the ending of "Magnolia" with the raining frogs, it's one of those moments I can't really explain in words why it was the right choice, call it cinematic poetry in its highest form.
However I did have reservations about Anderson's last film "There Will Be Blood" which is commonly seen as his masterpiece. I found the film to be highly ambitious in theme, structure, and tone, but also something, I would argue that never reached its ultimate point, and the idea of who Daniel Plainview was supposed to be or represent alluded me.
"The Master" comes as Anderson' follow-up film, and it shares much in common with its predecessor, but I for the record found it more satisfactory. I can't really pinpoint why, but I find that with this film Anderson really hit a certain transcendence that he didn't with the more nihilistic feel of "There Will Be Blood".
I was more engaged with the story of "The Master" which centers on Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a World War 11 veteran who, when we meet him is suffering from some sort of mental shell shock perhaps left over by the war, or perhaps something he's had his whole life.
I would describe Freddie as a restless drifter, he is given a psychiatric test by an army doctor at the beginning the film, diagnosed with a disorder, and is put back into every day society without much fuss or being cured. We see Freddie later working at a department store in 1950 as a family photographer, he's still edgy, mixing drinks with paint thinner, and one day he attacks a customer for no apparent reason; this of course is not normal.
Freddie leaves and ends up working on a farm where he accidentally poisons a worker there with his alcohol mixture. He's able to run away and he finds himself on a boat owned by Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a strange man who introduces himself as a writer, doctor, a nuclear physicist...but above all a man. Dodd decides to take Freddie in, he feels a kinship with him, a connection that isn't really fully examined.
If you've read anything on "The Master" you would know of the Scientology angle "The Master" represents, in the film it's replaced as "The Cause" with Dodd its leader. Freddie takes up with Dodd and soon becomes his right hand man; and this is the basis for a rather unorthodox and unique relationship between the two men, which is indeed the heart of the film.
I suppose a film for me needs something to cling to, something to invest in, and something that is worth investing, and it's this relationship between Dodd and Freddie that does it. For whatever reason, they are two men who need eachother, almost as if to co-exist, it's deeper and more twisted than a father/son relationship, or even that of lovers. Freddie in fact becomes more of Dodd's pet than anything, in fact there are many instances he's given commands as if he were a dog, with Dodd often describing him as an animal. At the beginning this seems something that Freddie needs or is craving, Dodd represents answers and a meaning. In the film's best scene and one of Anderson's greatest in his entire career, Freddie is taken through processing by Dodd, where he is asked a series of questions. It's here where Freddie finally breaks and you can sense that Dodd has been the only one ever to get through to him in such a way.
But Freddie becomes more and more disillusioned as Dodd is made out to be a fraud and a fake to most people, and his ideal master is seen more as a man. This to me is the key to the film's final heartbreaking moments as Freddie comes to realize this. I felt sympathy for Freddie, he is the film's damaged character, mentally unstable, maybe insane, but Anderson, with the help of Phoenix make him completely believable and a human being.
As Dodd, Hoffman is less mannered than Phoenix, he sounds more down to Earth even though what he is saying most of the time seems out of this world, but he's able to tap in this man's humanity, and our sympathy leans towards him even.
I guess that's Anderson's main feat is going about this story as an outsider, looking into this world and these characters with a keen eye for detail and being able to hold back without being giving judgement. This might be viewed as a cold approach on Anderson's part especially contrasting this with his earlier ensemble pieces of "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" where the characters behaved like an extended family. But I feel Anderson's more objective view is a growing maturity and confidence, something I will give him credit for. He's asking us to look closer, and to make up our own minds, telling us it's not that easy to get in but can be far more rewarding.
The ending of the film might appear abrupt, but I didn't think it was anything compared to the bowling alley in "There Will be Blood" which left me bewildered and scratching my head. This ending is more subdued and in its own way rather perfect. There are sure to be arguments coming from people about certain questions not being answered, or things not being as well developed as they should've been. I think Anderson answers all the questions he wanted to, there isn't much hidden meaning, but the joy is getting something out that might be different for everyone, that's the magic of ambiguity, it gives the viewer much more power.
Come to think of it, this could be a film about not finding the answers we are searching for. One of the things about Freddie is how restless he is and how things are left unfinished with him, perhaps we are left to suffer with him, so is life sometimes.
"The Master" is full of great scenes and wonderful performances by Phoenix and Hoffman both of whom are no doubt reserving their tuxedos for Oscar night. This may not be your answer for great cinema, but it's worth searching for and seeking out, perhaps in time we will have our answer for its greatness.
