Early whispers promised a brave and unflinching look at the mysterious world of Scientology amid reports of celebrity storm-outs at screenings and uneasy tensions with friend and Anderson collaborator Tom Cruise. Those rumours can largely be laid to rest, for while Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd is unquestionably a thinly veiled riff on L. Ron Hubbard, the ambiguity of cult…sorry religion, definitely not cult, on show can be traced to a number of ideals formed on the early basis of Dianetics. That established we are free to focus on what is on show in this markedly heavyweight, award-baiting film.
Joaquin Phoenix - last seen drinking, sniffing and rapping his bearded way through the uncomfortable mock-doc I’m Still Here - turns up shaved, but no less addled as Freddie Quell – a sailor alone and adrift following the end of WWII. He drifts, via fleeting fumbles with females and an abundance of homemade moonshine, into the path of Lancaster Dodd entertaining a boat full of his congregation all following the mysterious path of ‘the cause’. The two instantly embark on a kinship, Quell taken by the charismatic and charming intellectual showing him time of day while Dodd sees in Freddie something that inspires him greatly, taking him under his wing and doting on him to a near romantic degree.
The stormy relationship between the two carries much of the film, through Dodd’s attempted ‘curing’ of his violent protégé and the staunch defence by Freddie of all comers daring to challenge the legitimacy of ‘the master’s call to arms. It is this compelling tête-à-tête and not the religious overtones that propel The Master into greatness with two central performances that cast a shadow over all others vying for end of year accolades.
Anderson has a noted quality for getting the very best out of his actors; it was he who gambled on Mark Whalberg’s ability to hold a lead while still suffering from his Marky Mark moniker, he who gave his returning star Seymour Hoffman his big break and he who so memorably oversaw the larger than life Daniel Day-Lewis shout something about milkshake to terrifying effect, not to mention produce wholly unrecognisable and likeable turns from Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler. However it is that he goads these performances from his leads he’s extremely successful at it and he’s repeated the trick here, toning down the near-panto levels of oil slicker Daniel Plainview to draw career-topping turns from both Phoenix and Hoffman. Their sparring characters couldn’t be further apart but the pair are an equally enthralling on screen presence, understandably sharing the best actor award at the Venice Film Festival. Phoenix excels as the tightly wound raging bull slipping from sexual deviant and alcoholic to believer and campaigner and back again all the while maintaining an air of a man lost and on the edge but offset by a very real tenderness. His hands-on-small-of-back stance alone somehow portrays his curiousness and childlike mindset. At the other end of the acting scale is the controlled Hoffman, channelling every powerful speaker and business leader possible to deliver us Dodd, a man adept at holding a crowd but alone suffers the nagging doubt and fears of us all. He possesses Dodd completely, every glance, voice change and public address is done with utter conviction and realism while his song and dance number I’ll Go No More A-roving is nothing short of show stopping.
So the importance and greatness of spectacle of The Master are without question, apparent to all who gaze upon the opening shot and are taken in for the ensuing two hours. It does however leave you with a lost feeling of your own, quite different to that of its protagonist Freddie but a sense that at some point something loses its way, the master less masterful, the yearning without the spiritual element sets in. Hard to pinpoint or criticise specifically, just an acknowledgement that, much like ‘the cause’, The Master cannot alone answer all of our needs at once.
Matthew Walsh
Rating: 15
Release Date: 16 November 2012 (UK)
Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix , Amy Adams
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