Filmmaker
Paul Thomas Anderson does not make throwaway films. He has never taken a break
from making art films for the occasional blockbuster, and it would seem that he
is one of very few in Hollywood
The
film has many plot points which are worth mentioning, but at the heart of the
film is an examination of a single man returning home from World War II. The
post-war trauma which swept through the nation after the war was enough to
inspire an entirely new and exclusively American film genre, the film noir.
Although borrowing style from German filmmaking of the 1920s, film noir had an
attitude and mood exclusive to the post-war anxiety men had returning home from
the war to find they no longer had a place at home. Women had taken the jobs
while they had been away, and control was lost for many of them.
The
protagonist of The Master is one of these men, a drifter named Freddie Quell
(Juaquin Phoenix, returning the screen for the first time since his poorly
received prank). Freddie is more than an alcoholic, mixing booze with poisons
and gasoline to give it extra kick. When this disturbed and aimless man crosses
paths with a man named Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), he becomes
entangled in a movement known as “The Cause.” Details are slowly revealed about
this organization, which at times appears as more of a cult, but the film is
much more focused on how this would appeal to a man like Freddie.
Though
I don’t believe it comes close to being the masterpiece that was There Will Be
Blood, The Master only further solidifies my belief that Paul Thomas Anderson
is this generation’s Stanley Kubrick. At times he is ahead of audiences, but I
believe that historians will look back at him as one of the greatest films
working at this time. Though not always the easiest films to sit through,
movies like The Master offer rich complexities which beg for repeat viewings.
Spectacularly shot in 65mm, gloriously acted, and directed with precision, The
Master is surely one of the best films of the year. Unfortunately, most won’t
be willing to endure the unpleasantness in the plot to discover the
intellectual depths of the film.
The
Blu-ray includes outtakes and additional scenes, as well as a short film and
behind-the-scenes featurette. The highlight of the bonus features, however, is
a WWII documentary by John Huston, Let
There Be Light. This 1946 documentary seems a likely source of inspiration
for The Master, and opens the film up to even more understanding and analysis.
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