In The Master (2012) the
story follows a young former soldier named Freddie Quill played by Joaquin
Phoenix, who is struggling to settle into a normal routine life after the
torments of war. Because of this he has become a kind of vagabond, a drifter
and loner unable to settle in any one place. That is of course until he comes
across the mysterious stranger Lancaster Dodd played by Phillip Seymour
Hoffman. Dodd is a leader of a small group of quirky fundamentalists that feed
Quill when they find him after he had drunkenly stowed himself away on their
cruise ship the night before.
Dodd soon befriends
Freddie and allows him to stay for his daughter’s wedding. After a while Quill
and Dodd have a heart to heart and Freddie is forced to confront his recent problems.
In doing so Freddie becomes reinvigorated and joins the cult of Dodd within
which he finds a stable place for himself and a channel for his displaced emotions.
Yet Freddie is still haunted
by his past. His past regrets and mistakes make him galvanize his loyalty to
his newly found family. But with his unpredictable behavior and because of the
way he violently acts out he remains an outsider to many.
What’s strange here is
that Phoenix chooses to play the role so open. From the subtlest facial
expressions to the larger emotional scenes, you can see this pain in every
frame featuring the hurt and broken man.
Hoffman also stands out in his portrayal of Lancaster Dodd. Through out the film he remains
charismatically drawing whilst being experientially hard to read. He seems to
remain calculatedly in control of situations and yet is still able to come
across as genuinely endearing. There is something quite mystical about him
really as he is able to lie to cult members and somehow still give the
impression of being a loving figure to his cult subjects.
In a way, through out the
film the audience themselves can become endeared by this character’s cult of
personality. There is a definite similarity between this character and real figures
like L. Ron Hubbard or Joseph Smith. Just like these real life leaders, Dodd’s
followers observe his teachings in a way to deal with or understand problems
that they lack the knowledge or ability to understand. In his claim to the
knowledge they seek, he provides a charismatic leadership and a murky, somewhat
logistical guide to others.
In terms of the script
here the story is masterfully crafted. Sequences (although on occasions
surreal) never feel unnecessary or forced into the narrative. In a way the film
follows a quite loose and novelistic structure that really gives the audience
(and the story in general) room to breathe.
To be really truthful,
the craft of the movie in general is wholly well handled. From the
cinematography, to the acting, to the direction, there isn’t any part of the
film that is really a let down in a craftsmanship sense. In fact through out
the entire viewing of the film there isn’t one particular example of any faults
I had with it. That’s not to say the film is perfect, it was enjoyable and well
put together of course but it isn’t a movie I would come back to on repeated
viewings. Ok maybe that is a little hypocritical, as I have viewed it twice to
this date - but what I believe I’m trying to say is that, once you feel you
have fully grasped the story there isn’t really any enduring factors that will
bring you back to viewing this film on a consistent basis.
In summary, The Master attempts to profile
how someone may become involved in a cult and how they would react to it’s
positives and negatives. With the final conflict coming from a confrontation
between the ideas of submissive conformity in hope of the possibility
redemption, and the freedom for someone to choose what is best for them - no
matter how rational or irrational that person may be. It successfully examines
and confronts all of these things, however, I don’t believe that this is the
sort of film that will keep viewers coming back for more after full comprehension
of the story aspects of this work.
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