When I started this review I approached it disappointed in the challenges The Master presented. As I began putting my thoughts down I got to the end and realized what I said in the beginning had been proven untrue. This opening paragraph is proof I had to revise my statement.
The simple act of trying to wrap my head around this film brought out more than I expected. I left the theater impressed by the filmmaking and disappointed in the overall narrative. However, digging through the characters, examining their motivations and trying to put my thoughts together brought more to the surface. One of the quotes pulled from the film’s marketing has been “hopelessly inquisitive“, what an apt description for anyone that attempts to chew into a narrative that holds larger secrets than you may originally believe were even there.
The Master carries ideas of “power and healing”, “beliefs versus truths” and “friendship versus manipulation” as two men collide from polar opposite directions.
Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lost and troubled World War II veteran. Drunk and disillusioned, his travels ultimately find him in the arms of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), leader of a “movement” dubbed The Cause where he is generously referred to as Master.
Freddie is a wild animal without a leash and Lancaster is drawn to him. Hunched over, eyes half-closed and hands on hips, Freddie believes in Dodd he may have found what he’s looking for, or at least what he needs. We first meet him as he’s breaking into torpedoes to get at the grain alcohol. Later he’s working sugar beet fields and again concocting his own brew. Next it’s a bottle of Lysol. Anything to numb himself of his situation, a situation that runs deeper than simply being a war veteran. He’s driven by rage, sex, loss and the want to forget.
Dodd, on the other hand, currently sits at the top of the food chain with followers eating up his every word, but this is less about The Cause than it is about the man himself. Powerful, confident and intelligent, Dodd proclaims himself to be a writer, doctor and philosopher among other things and is just as much a leader as he is a paradox. Freddie will prove to be his one greatest test.
Something akin to a father-son bond forms as Dodd takes Freddie under his wing despite the fact all signs suggest this volatile creature is probably not someone you want to have too close to you. But Dodd’s teachings tell us humans are not animals and need not be ruled by their emotions. Freddie will prove to be quite the test of this theory, a test Dodd’s wife (Amy Adams), daughter (Ambyr Childers) and son-in-law (Rami Malek) question. The only other option, however, is to give up on him, something Dodd’s pride won’t allow. Then again, is it pride or is it compassion? Could it be both?
The Master is one of those films that in order to get something out of it you have to give something to it. I could just as easily argue it’s a film with no stone left unturned as I could say it leaves plenty up for interpretation. What’s it all about? Well, it’s about two guys that shouldn’t really be together and the result of that relationship. The reason anyone is compelled to look deeper than that and explore the narrative is because Anderson, Phoenix and Hoffman give these two characters so much life. It’s close enough to reality it’s believable, without giving you the answers most movies do. The question is, are you up to it?
I’m still entirely mixed on what I took away from this story and, more specifically, it’s characters. I initially didn’t have the want to examine the lead characters any more than I did while watching. Dodd is a man defined by his work and he’s struggling to remain relevant in the eyes of those listening and Freddie is a dog too old to learn new tricks, though he’s compelled to try.
Freddie can’t be tamed and he eventually comes to that realization, knowing he can only be who he is and in that he has to either find an inner calm or tear himself apart from the inside. Admittedly, to think about it from this perspective is far more interesting than I ever took the film to be while watching. Does that mean it’s any good? I’m not sure good, bad, great or any kind of judgmental adjectives necessarily work in this case.
What you can judge, however, is the filmmaking. The Master is an example of a filmmaker at the height of his storytelling prowess. It’s stunning and powerful and Anderson and the collective he assembled have created a film that will no doubt be studied for years to come. Shot in 70mm the image is thick and rich on screen with close-ups that simply simmer. Oddly enough, however, you can actually hear the camera in the film as the Toronto Film Festival plays their films loud. I think it was the first time I ever noticed something like that and while it was a bit distracting, I wouldn’t trade the quality of the image for anything.
Like his score for There Will be Blood, Jonny Greenwood‘s music is pulsing and compulsive and the cinematography from Mihai Malaimare Jr. will certainly earn end of year kudos as he should have for Francis Ford Coppola’s Tetro three years ago.
From an actors’ perspective, Anderson cast a perfect pair in the lead roles. Phoenix went method for Freddie and inhabited the character on screen and off. A tête-à -tête shot between Phoenix and Hoffman in extreme close-up is probably the best scene I’ve seen all year and a latter scene presenting a wide shot of the two in separate jail cells speaks to the divide between them. Both caged, one wild and destructive the other calm and exacting until his emotions are brought entirely to the surface. They are having an effect on one another, and not necessarily the one either expected.
This is what The Master does, just trying to write this review more and more came to the surface. Why did I like that scene so much? What was it about that performance? As I began to contemplate these questions answers soon came to me, and the film itself became more attractive.
I’m still not sure where I stand when it comes to an overall opinion. The grade at the end of this review is just as likely to change as my opinion was while writing it. I’m fine with that. I’m fine with not knowing, not everything can be explained and for a film to allow you to enjoy it and find comfort in the unknown without being frustrating is rare. For that The Master is a film that won’t soon be forgotten.
