Review: The Master (2012)

More of an experience then a standard film, Paul Thomas Anderson’s sixth feature is a tightly wound, disturbing yet fascinating character study, while also providing one of the best examinations of the cult mentality put to film in recent memory.

Paul Thomas Anderson is an absolute master at his craft, creating an unsettling yet enrapturing aura throughout the entire film. Often letting his camera linger, and truly absorb the dynamics and ambiance of each scene, it many ways, the film becomes a meditative experience, where you’re drawn slowly and steadily into the increasingly disturbing environs of the characters and their psychologies and dynamics. On top of this extremely refined control that Anderson’s wields, is a color palette that is simply ravishing. Filmed in glorious 70 MM film, Anderson and cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr. create a film that is simply wondrous to look at, with every frame steeped in rich, deeply textured colors that fill the frame, giving the film a warm, immersive feeling.

The acting is, as always with Anderson’s work, absolutely incredible. The trio of Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams (all of whom earned well deserved Oscar noms for their work here), are absolutely astounding, delivering performances that serve as a benchmark for their careers.

In the case of Phoenix, he takes on an incredibly disorganized and broken aura, playing a man who is a complete wreck of a human being. Seemingly only driven by the most base impulses, Freddie Quell is a study in self destruction and decay, and Phoenix does it flawlessly. It comes to the point where you forget your watching an actor play a part, but rather becomes so that Freddie is an actual human being, who Anderson just so happened to film. Once more, the lingering camera work plays in Phoenix’s favor, as it allows him to completely boil over and deliver a performance free from editing of any kind, with the camera often watching him go through a complex series of contrasting emotions and expressions, all within one singular take. It’s fascinating, and disturbing to watch, but it also makes it so you can’t look away.

The late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman is equally immersed in his role as the charismatic, deceitful, controlling and magnetic Lancaster Dodd, who is very obviously a type-and-shadow of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Embodying a strange sense of hypnotic power, Hoffman contrasts Phoenix’s explosive destruction with a resolute and iron clad control, yet at the same time, underneath lurks a controlling egomaniac, who cannot take a single iota of criticism, and instead uses his force of personality to dominate and control Freddie in an increasingly disturbing way. Starting out almost as a fatherly type, as the film goes on, we slowly see the layers of Dodd’s personality be peeled away, revealing the dominating force underneath. And, as always, Hoffman is seamless and without parallel.

Amy Adams goes wildly against her popular ‘cute girl’ image here as the tightly wound, almost demonically controlling wife of Dodd, a woman who controls her husband in an almost Lady Macbeth type manner, using her sexual power over him to keep him loyal to her. Often using a glare that pierces right through you, Adams divorces herself from her previous waif types in a brilliant manner, and, like Phoenix and Hoffman, vanishes into the role.

The rest of the cast is all spectacular, but in many ways, this film is about the complex dynamic of control, domination and exploitation that Phoenix, Hoffman and Adams have. This film is a character study first and foremost, and so it’s focus remains very much on the central trio. But shout outs still go out to the rest of the cast, who provide ample supporting for Hoffman, Phoenix and Adams.

Jonny Greenwood’s score is another fascinating work. A taunt, disturbed flow of strings that runs under the whole film, often taking on an increasingly off-kilter and disconcerting aura as the film progresses, contrasting sharply with the more romantic and melancholic moments of the score. It’s a work of art, and stands as a fascinating piece of music even when heard separate from the film.

So yes, The Master is an incredibly thought provoking and fascinating character study, but is also one not for the faint of heart. Unflinching in it’s depiction of the darker, deviant corners of the human psyche, it’s a film that challenges you in a variety of ways, and complex and multi-faceted.

5 out of 5 stars.