“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.