As most of you know, I'm in Oxford study at one of the colleges that make up Oxford University. As such, my ability to complete PTA Fest 2012 was a bust (I will pick up the remaining films once I return to the States and to my dvd collection). That being said, I did get to watch Anderson's newest feature, THE MASTER.
Starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, THE MASTER tells the story of Freddie Quell (Phoenix), an alcoholic World War II navy veteran with post traumatic stress disorder, and his struggles to adjust to postwar society. Eventually he meets the mysterious author, doctor, nuclear physicist, theoretical philosopher, man, and leader of a philosophical movement known simply as The Cause, Lancaster Dodd, an inevitably change each other's lives forever.
Now, if that seems like a vague, almost rudimentary plot, that's because it kind of is. And that's okay, because the plot of the film has to take a back seat in order to tackle the two most important elements of the work, those being the two main characters. Freddi Quell and Lancaster Dodd are two sides of the same coin. Both so completely different, but on such a scale that it makes them almost the same person. Freddie Quell is controlled exclusively by his Id. Whether it be drinking fuel from a bomb on a battleship or attempting to have sex with everyone women he comes in contact with, no matter how old or young, big or small, his only need is to satisfy the animalistic nature inside him. Lancaster Dodd on the otherhand is completely controlled by his Ego. Unable to take criticism or questioning without becoming defensive to the point of verbal, and near physical abuse, his need to be the smartest person in the room, to be the center of attention and the man with all the answers controls his every whim.
But both men are so controlled by these opposite parts of the human psyche that they are unable to change, whatsoever. Even though Lancaster takes Freddie under his wing, by the end Freddie is in the exact same dark place that he was when he originally got off the boat. And Lancaster, through all his trials and tribulations, though seeing first hand the inability of his philosophy to really change anyone, continues to speechify and profess the great powers that come from reading his work.
As such, THE MASTER becomes a fascinating look into the human psyche, the powers of cult-like organizations, the master and disciple dynamics, the idea of how perhaps who we are at our core is unchangeable even if we sincerely believe we want to change, and the overall American personality. It's an incredibly ambitious, breathtakingly gorgeous (I can't imagine what it looks like in 70mm) film with an amazing score (by Jonny Greenwood) and two of the best performances by leading actors that I've seen in quite sometime. Admittedly it's not for everyone. And if you don't invest deeply in the two characters then the film could probably begin to feel like quite a slog. It's purposefully opaque and mysterious, and the performances (and the film as a whole) are incredibly unnerving, but in the best way possible. It's not my favorite Paul Thomas Anderson film of all time (that's not a knock at all), but it is most certainly a worthy addition into the portfolio of one of the most gifted and important filmmakers in America today.
