The Master

[BillBrasky]

I think my main problem with this movie is the same one I had with "There Will Be Blood"- namely, that even though I recognize that they're really well-made, well-acted movies with terrific performances, exceptional cinematography, excellent score, etc., I still can't really say that I enjoyed myself much watching them. Then again, maybe you're not really supposed to "enjoy" this movie as much as just experience it, I don't know. I think I would have to say that I would even choose to watch TWBB again before watching this again, because TWBB had a more involving story than this movie did.

I found myself agreeing with this guy's review. I'll quote the relevant sections:

(comparing it to TWBB)"The Master" is more tonally secure, but just as narratively gap-toothed and unsatisfying, touching upon themes and figures without exploring them to any notable degree. With all in front of the camera standing at a chilly distance, there's plenty to ponder on the way out of the theater, but nothing to care about on a deeper plane.

In Anderson's first three movies (not counting "Hard Eight", which I haven't seen all the way through), he juggled many different storylines and characters and still made you care about everything that was going on. "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" were amazing at this, almost Robert Altman-esque. "Punch-Drunk Love" was a smaller-scale movie but just as emotionally affecting, able to be funny and dramatic in equal measures.

With his last two movies, the casts have been a lot smaller and the lighter moments that give you a break from all the intensity almost non-existent. Again quoting that themovieboy's review:

Anderson's last two efforts have been altogether lesser works—stuffier, not quite as ambitious, more scattered in their handling of characters, and in short supply of the go-for-broke electricity that his earlier films were conceived with.

I just kind of wish he'd make a movie like "Magnolia" again, although that may be asking the impossible. But similar to what's happened with Noah Baumbach, I think his movies have just gotten so into being Kubrickian and all about "look what a genius filmmaker I am" that he's kind of gotten away from the warmth and humanity of his earlier movies. I wasn't expecting this movie to be a laugh riot or anything, but some moments of lightness might have helped things a little bit (I guess the early scene where Phoenix's character takes a Rorschach test was somewhat funny).

I realize I may have missed the point of this movie. I know everyone will be falling all over themselves to talk about how great it was. Like Leonard Maltin said on this week's Doug Loves Movies, this is definitely going to be a movie that critics like more than the general populace.

[P-Dub]

Lacks a co-HEE-sive structure. Marshall McLuhan--

Loved it, couldn't disagree more that the last two were less ambitious. With each film he seems to be learning how to focus his crazy electricity like a laser, and he's gotten better at creating unforgettable characters that demand to be brought to life by some of the best actors on the planet.

[Weinerslave]

If you didn't think Joaquin Phoenix tooling around like a total douche the whole movie was funny, I don't know what to tell you, man.

TWWB and the Master are clearly more interested in evoking mood and historical period and character's headspace than in creating crisp narratives or rigorous themes (although the Master is orders of magnitude more abstract than TWWB). The questions is whether this intentional diffuseness is effective and provocative or just PTA lacking the vision or will to fully commit to any ideas. I thought TWWB was a fucking masterpiece the second the credits rolled: I left the theater fist-pumping like a champ. I stumbled out of The Master with absolutely no handle on the film at all. I'm not going to say it's a triumph, but it's lingering in my mind (and making me want to watch it again) in a way that makes me think that PTA is on to something, even if I don't know what it is yet.

[mezmorized]

I've seen it twice and loved it both times.

[TimBuktu]

I have no idea what PTA is doing, but the range of emotions his movies make me feel is nuts. The last two movies have made me incedibly tense throughout, even though not much is actually "happening"

The movie is still eating at my subconcious. I don't know what he's doing, but it has an impact on me. I think that's called art?

[Ian Brill]

I also have it spinning in the back of my mind. Certain parts coming back to me and making me appreciate it more and more. The way Freddy seems to only be validated when he is on water as opposed to the firm foundation of land, it reminded me of many depressive and alcoholics (as well as tendencies in myself) where you only feel "normal" during chaos (a.k.a. the choppy waves of the ocean). Even his job working for the Dodd is naval, with them traveling from city to city instead of having a definite home. It puts the song that ends the film into sharp focus.

Does anyone else think the phone call near the end of the film was a dream? We have other moments clearly from Freddy's subjective point of view (where he mentally undresses every woman at a party, and when Amy Adams' eyes go black). It's easier to believe he dreamed Dodd calling him than Dodd tracking him to a random New England movie theater. When he tells "The Master" you called me, I believe Dodd replies with "of course I did" in a way that suggests he believes it's all part of the metaphysical mumbo jumbo he's been talking about the whole time.

So much to think about. The way Dodd keeps referring to Freddy as child or an animal, I feel he was using him to be a proxy, that Freddy can express Dodd's impulsive feelings but in a way where Dodd isn't responsible. The movie is about these two men using each other as twisted reflections. And reflections = water.

Anyway, blah blah blah, I sound like a stoned first year film student. Good night.

[nathansmart]

I can't stop thinking about it either. Phillip Seymour Hoffman calling that skeptic dude a "pigfuck" made me laugh so hard.

BTW, how many scenes from those trailers weren't in the film?

[mezmorized]

Does anyone else think the phone call near the end of the film was a dream? We have other moments clearly from Freddy's subjective point of view (where he mentally undresses every woman at a party, and when Amy Adams' eyes go black). It's easier to believe he dreamed Dodd calling him than Dodd tracking him to a random New England movie theater. When he tells "The Master" you called me, I believe Dodd replies with "of course I did" in a way that suggests he believes it's all part of the metaphysical mumbo jumbo he's been talking about the whole time.

It was definitely a dream, he tells Lancaster that when he sees him in England.

I don't know if it was like this for anyone else, but it was dead silent in the theater when Lancaster tells him to close his eyes after he has kept them open. As if someone had taken all of the air out of the room.

Not a lot praise has been given for PSH performance, but I thought he was fantastic as Lancaster.

[TimBuktu]

BTW, how many scenes from those trailers weren't in the film?

I feel like almost everything from those trailers isn't in the movie. I think I read something that PTA was cutting the trailers himself from the un-used footage.

[nathansmart]

Not a lot praise has been given for PSH performance, but I thought he was fantastic as Lancaster.

Really? I am pretty sure I've been seeing a lot praise for him.

[davidd]

I thought that seeing this movie was a really singular movie-going experience. I feel like I don't even really have an opinion on it yet, even though it was viscerally very powerful and I could tell every moment was packed with care and thematic meaning. I have to see it again.

[kevin]

paint thinner moonshine?

and i mentioned this in the other thread, but--yes--a week plus later and "the master" keeps reminding me.

[Ian Brill]

It was definitely a dream, he tells Lancaster that when he sees him in England.

I need to stop putting paint thinner in my potion of secrets.

[Ian Brill]

Apologies for double post

[Weinerslave]

Also, Joaquin Phoenix totally looked like Dick Miller.

[Ian Brill]

What Is The Master Really About?: Five Interpretations

[drieux]

Saw this last night with my wife.

I loved it. I thought it was a pretty stunning portrayal of two extreme viewpoints trying to find structure and a future in post-war mid-20th Century America. Phoenix's character is sheer, unbridled chaos, a symbol of unfettered id and animal tendencies, jumping from desire to desire recklessly without concern for consequences. Hoffman's character has opted instead to pursue a strict structure in order to create logic within his world, even though the inevitable inconsistencies are always causing cracks that threaten to bring his structure toppling down. Both men see value in the other because of (a) the freedom within Phoenix's chaos and (b) the power available through that structure, but both men also see things they hate in the other. They want to be able to coexist in a middle ground but are both unable to make concessions to the other viewpoint without betraying themselves.

My wife thought it was pretentious bullshit and says I owe her three Gerard Butler/Katherine Heigl movies.

[TimBuktu]

My wife hated it too. Women be hatin'

[Toddler]

Haha, after I saw The Master yesterday, my girlfriend and I both agreed it was wise she didn't come with me.

I'm still trying to figure out what it's all about, and how I feel about it. Regardless, it's a wonderful piece of art, and as for film, I'll take great art with a tenuous hold on a clear narrative than a commercially viable but artistically shallow succinct narrative any day of the week.

[dorothy mantooth]

I love PTA and I thought this movie was more than "ambitious." I saw it the night it opened in LA and I'm still thinking about it. I have always been a huge fan of films that flesh out characters more than a specific plot/storyline. I want a movie to make me THINK and FEEL. To me, people are infinitely more interesting than some crazy story. No one draws characters quite like PTA.

The thing that really hit me with this one was the idea that everyone answers to someone/something. Everyone has a "Master." Dodd was was trying to "tame" and train Freddie like a dog and he wasn't able to do it. It seemed like, at first, he admired Freddie's ability to avoid any real consequences to his actions and maybe thought he'd unlocked the secret to living a life where you answer to no one. But later realized that even Freddie answers to his own "Master" (his addictions, etc.). Meanwhile, Mrs. Dodd is clearly pulling Lancaster's strings.

I loved the way you never quite knew what was real and what was a dream or hallucination/vision. He fucked with our timeline in every possible way -- flashing forward and backward, watching Dodd perform regression-therapy on people...made it feel like you were seeing things through Freddie's fucked-up eyes.

So much to love about this movie.

BTW -- if any of you are obsessive PTA fans like me, you should check out the site Cigarettes and Red Vines. Be forewarned: you will lose hours of your time there.