The Master Review

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master

The Master

A+

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Paul Thomas Anderson has quite the reputation. The director of Boogie Nights, Magnolia and There Will be Blood has had many successes over the last 15 years. Anderson’s fifth film The Master is a dark and stunning portrayal of a lost man and the cult that swept him up. Add The Master to the list of great Paul Thomas Anderson films, because in the realm of film making The Master is a true triumph.

Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lost man, after his deployment in the navy he struggles to keep a job and fit in with society. Cue an attempt to poison an old man and a drunken escape from a farm and Freddie ends up on a random cruise ship. Turns out that this cruise ship is run by the leader of a cult Lancaster Dodd or the Master (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his wife Peggy Dodd (Amy Addams) who along with the rest of their family travel the US and promote their “religion”. Dodd takes Freddie in because he enjoys the cocktail he makes (paint thinner is good apparently) and eventually attempts to “save” Freddie from his past life.

Plot in the Master is almost an afterthought; here it’s all about the Characters. The best comparison I can give to the style in which the film is told is to the Russian novel A Hero of Our Time. The arc that Freddie and Dodd have take center stage here and the film is more the better for it. These characters are so compelling and so amazingly developed that plot, while it is still apparent, is almost irrelevant compared to the interactions between these characters. There are a few scenes that are just simple conversations that are simply dynamite and beautiful it might not have mattered if aliens had suddenly invaded in the middle of the movie (ok maybe it would have but that’s beyond the point).

Also if you’re looking for straight answers this is not the place to look for them. Paul Thomas Anderson’s film has no need to answer questions or wrap up the story in a neat fashion, that’s actually close to the last thing on the list. The beauty of the film is actually that it leaves the audience wondering where the characters go from the ending point. The film had me thinking for days about these characters and their situations and was the one of the only films that I wanted to watch it again right after I watched it the first time. The film can be that maddeningly brilliant.

The other things that really make this film great are the performances. Joaquin Phoenix puts on an acting clinic here as he gives his entire self up to this character. It’s truly fantastic to watch especially when he gets into the darker parts of his strange and intriguing character. On the same plain of brilliance is Phillip Seymour Hoffman who is also stunning as his role as the authoritative and frustrated leader of the cult. The scenes shared between both Phoenix and Hoffman are some of the most brilliantly written and performed scenes of recent film history. There is one scene in particular, the first real questioning scene between the two characters, that is one of the most amazing exchanges I have seen in the longest time. From the flow and natural arc of the conversation to each actor’s sheer dynamite performance render the scene (and many throughout the film) to a near perfect exchange of the wits.

The rest of the Supporting cast works wonders as well. Amy Adams is hauntingly good as Lancaster’s pushy and demanding wife. It’s nice to see Amy Adams in a more mature role and allowing herself to tread new water. Jesse Plemons (Landry!) and Ambyr Chilers do fine work here as the distraught son and daughter of the cult leaders and add a dimension to the growth of the film. Overall there is nothing to complain about in the acting department that’s for sure.

Technically speaking this film is absolutely, positively gorgeous. Shot in 70mm (the first narrative film shot in 70mm since one of my favorite films of all time, Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 adaptation of Hamlet) the shots presented in this film are absolutely stunning, from the many beautiful establishing shots, to the tactical close ups used to accentuate conversations. Every shot in this film feels like it has been it’s had individual attention paid to it and the cinematography is one of the biggest highlights of the film. The score here is also brilliant and it adds to the creepiness and unsettlement seen throughout the film.

The final thing that needs to be covered is this film as an allegory to scientology. The cult contained within the film can definitely be compared to Scientology, its leaders, and beliefs. Does this affect the film in my mind? To be honest not all that much. As an allegory the film actually (through some research that I did and to a greater extent people that I have talked to have) does a fairly good job at being a hard hitting commentary of the development of the movement. Ultimately if I had no idea that the film had something to do with Scientology it wouldn’t honestly have lessened the impact of the character and cult study being presented. Paul Thomas Anderson’s writing and film making are the ultimate winners here.

The Master is a brilliant case study of a lost man experiencing the brainwashing effects of a cult. The writing, performances, and the direction all work together to create a brilliant film that deserves to be put amongst the great filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson’s absolute best. It also deserves its spot as one of the most important, and one of the absolute best films of this year. This fall season just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it!