By Spence Blazak
Why do
people actually join cults? It is a question that always lingers in our minds
whenever a cult is featured on the news or when Tom Cruise jumps on a coach
while talking about how pain doesn’t exist. There are plenty of answers: the
person could be sick, coming off a traumatic hardship, or hurt and in need of a
life line. Paul Thomas Anderson’s The
Master utilizes all of these motivations under a unifying and relatable
theme for all people: when life kicks you down, you need an answer, and
sometimes anything will do.
The
Master follows the story of Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a sex obsessed
sailor trying to make his way after the end of World War II. At first finding
work as a mall photographer, Freddie’s alcoholism, Hulk-level anger issues, and
mental illness soon get him fired and out on the road.
Freddie goes through a few odd jobs
before stowing away on the boat of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). A
doctor, writer, boat captain, philosopher, and scientist, Dodd has given
himself the nickname “Master.” He has written and begun giving out copies of
his book called The Cause, an idea
that can be as much or as little like Scientology as your interpretation
desires, and brings Freddie on board the crew of this new “religion” he is
trying to spark.
With the release of The Master, we have several interesting
exterior factors that are pumping up the hype surrounding its release.
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s last movie, 2009’s There Will Be Blood was considered by many esteemed critics to be
among the decade’s best films, and The
Guardian just ranked him as the best working director in the world. Also at
play is the anticipation of Joaquin Phoenix’s return to film after his highly
publicized stunt where he claimed that he was retiring from the acting business
to grow a beard and become a rapper. To each his own.
Anderson’s camera makes no mistakes
and doesn’t rely on any accidents for the beauty of its shots. In the opening
few shots of Freddie on the beach, the background is filled with sailors
wandering adrift on the beach, the hot off-white sand, and the lucid blues of
the ocean. His camera focuses in and out on multiple focal points within the
same shot, truly never wasting a single one. He retains his spot as one of the
most aesthetically pleasing art house directors in the business.
The acting throughout is
phenomenal, in particular by both Phoenix and Hoffman whose names will be
thrown around quite a lot this upcoming Oscar season, but the real mastery here
is how interesting the characters they portray are. The first moment you see
Hoffman’s Master on screen, he is dancing in the background of a shot focused
on Phoenix, yet the energy he gives off is so overpowering that it is really
the only fitting way to introduce a character so larger than life.
As far as the character of Freddie,
he is the key to interpreting the film. The last shot brings everything full
circle, and to get to the bottom of what everything means, walking in Freddie’s
shoes and throwing him a bone of empathy finishes off what is a powerful film
going experience.
The moment that keeps being flashed
back to is Freddie on the beach in the Pacific with a sand castle shaped like a
woman. For some reason, him with his arm around her keeps being shown again and
again, and that is where the film’s heart lies. What does Freddie want? Someone
to love him, respect him, and most importantly, tell him what to do. The cult
itself is his woman in the sand. When people point out the ideological flaws in
the cult’s structure, Freddie doesn’t know how to react and simply beats them
up. He doesn’t want to admit to himself how insane the cult is. He just wants a
purpose.
The
Master isn’t the reach of near cinematic perfection that Paul Thomas
Anderson’s previous works were, and its long run time can be a bit trying at
points, but all in all, once the Oscar season really gets going, The Master will be near the front of the
pack.
If Winter’s Bone is a two-and-a-half star-er, and There Will Be Blood is a four star-er, then The Master gets three-and-a-half stars.
