“The Master”

 

Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson

With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams

 

“The Master” is a film that defies easy explanation. It is a disturbing epic tale of clashing personalities, obsession, delusion and the will to control. The acting of its main two characters, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, transcends anything they have previously done—and they both have won academy awards

It begins in 1950 when Americans are seeking the promise of new life. War veteran, Freddy Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), is a rootless troubled mess of anxieties and cockiness, probably suffering from Post Traumatic Stress syndrome. He can’t keep a job, his one success being able to make booze from paint thinner. Perennially drunk, he crawls onto a yacht anchored in the San Francisco Bay. When he wakes up, he is in world of wealth and privilege overseen by a self-help guru, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). 

Dodd is the charismatic leader of a Movement called “The Cause.” He is accompanied by family members and other swooning acolytes who believe he can take them to “an inherent state of perfection.” He uses mind control and hypnosis to get his subjects to relive past lives, some all the way back to millions of years ago. 

Somehow this activity is supposed to rid them of negative emotions. And it might also cure cancer.

Dodd takes on Freddie Quell as a “guinea pig,” figuring that if he can help this disturbed young man, he can cure anybody. Lancaster Dodd bears a close similarity to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, who used methods like Dodd’s “processing” to take a subject back to life in the womb. Like Hubbard, Lancaster Dodd is a confident, brilliant theoretician, able to talk anyone into anything. He is a snake oil salesman of the highest order. He is the opposite of the weak and unglued Freddy and “The Master” is mainly about the counterpoint of these two men, as opposite as any two could be.

The early 1950s are gorgeously brought to life in “The Master.” Every dress, every automobile, every hairdo, every skyline is faithful to that time. All the secondary characters are perfectly cast and cinematographer Mihai Malaimare films everything beautifully.

Joaquin Phoenix, hunched over, his face haunted and gaunt, gives the performance of a lifetime. His psychic pain is almost palpable. Philip Seymour Hoffman is superb as the powerful Dodd, a charming autocrat, winning in his ways.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson has created a very strange and dysfunctional world. His other films, among them “Boogie Nights” and “There Will Be Blood,” also depict often bizarre worlds with unforgettable characters. 

“The Master” has no real ending and defies the usual Hollywood narrative. It depicts drifting and searching for meaning. This film will exasperate many viewers who are used to more mundane entertainments, but it is an arresting and absorbing work of power and brilliance. Paul Thomas Anderson has hit the jackpot again.

‘Lawless’

 

Directed by John Hillcoat

Written by Nick Cave from “The Wettest County in the World” by Matt Bondourant

 

With Guy Pearce, Thomas Hardy, Shia La Beouf, Jessica Chastain, Jason

Clark, Gary Oldman, and Mia Wasikowska

 

The impressively executed “Lawless” tells the true life tale of three brawling brothers, Forrest (Thomas Hardy), Jack (Shia La Bouef) and Howard (Jason Clark), who were infamous during Prohibition.

It all happens in Franklin County, Va., where the three Bondourant brothers brewed and sold high-quality hooch. “Lawless” brings together just about everything you could want in a story:  corruption, avarice, family loyalty, envy, pride, revenge, outlaws and, yes, even a love story or two.   

It is based on the book, “The Wettest County in the World” written by Matt Boudorant, the grandson of one of the brothers and gives a graphic look at their dangerous lives.

In 1931, Franklin County, Va., was a major supplier of bootleg booze to the thirsty citizens of prohibition America. The Bondourant brothers made the best, even selling it to the local sheriff and his men. All is fine until Charlie Rakes (Guy Pearce) arrives, a federal deputy who comes to wipe out the trade, but really only wants a part of the profits. It would be hard to find a more detestable character than Charlie Rakes, a dandy who has spotless leather gloves, perfectly pomaded hair, and a bow tie.

A mobster, Floyd Banner (Gary Oldman), appears on the scene, also wanting a cut. The local deputies quickly join forces with Rakes and Banner.

The brothers decline to share their profits with Rakes. So begins the violence.

Terrifying scenes of shoot outs, raids, neck slashings and face bashings follow. The police become the villains and the outlaw brothers become the heroes. The oldest brother, Forrest, becomes involved with barmaid Maggie (Jessica Chastian) and Jack is besotted by Bertha (Mia Wasikowska), a Mennonite preacher’s daughter. There are delicate scenes of the tenderness of both couples.

“Lawless” is a superb character drama. The dynamic of the three brothers is explored. The stoic Forrest makes the decisions, Howard is quick to execute violent means, and Jack is more timid and emotional. Charlie Rakes is a true villain, a psychopath. Although both Maggie and Bertha are the supportive caring women, their characters are also fleshed out.

The production values of “Lawless” are simply outstanding. The rural Virginia scenes

are beautifully filmed. An interior shot of a hospital is all white and pure, a counterbalance to the mayhem of what is been going on outside in the Moonshine Wars.

Director John Hillcoat has impressively executed a film both of  great beauty and  startling uses of force. All of the violence actually fits into the story line, however, and “Lawless” has memorable characters, a story that pulses, as well as honeyed scenes of Virginia as it was in 1931. And it is based on true events, providing an absorbing and thrilling history lesson about the days of bootlegging.