THE MASTER (2012)

Genre: Drama
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Joaquin Phoenix, Laura Dern, Rami Malek, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, Lena Endre, Josh Close, Fiona Dourif, Ambyr Childers
Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Rating: M18 (Nudity and Sexual References)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.themasterfilm.com/

Opening Day: 24 January 2013

Synopsis: A striking portrait of drifters and seekers in post World War II America, Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER unfolds the journey of a Naval veteran, Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix), who arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future until he is tantalized by The Cause and its charismatic leader, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Amy Adams plays Dodd’s wife, Peggy.

Movie Review:

It’s difficult to sum up Freddie Quell, and even harder still to sum up the reasons for how he came to be who he is.

Erratic, wilful, restless, violent, sex-crazed, amoral—and above all, primal—he cannot look at another straight in the eye, or sit still for more than a few blinks. In Singaporean terms, he is your average Ah Beng, so to speak. Displaying all the symptoms of a socially retarded adult, Freddie is an enigma. To say he is a little disturbed—a little out of sorts—is to put things very mildly. His only link to better days is memories of an ex-flame named Doris (played by Madisen Beaty) who is the Rosebud of his mysterious past.

Impossible to diagnose, and incorrigibly damaged, Freddie is the living guinea pig for the unorthodox cognitive experiments and “processing sessions” of Lancaster Dodd (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman). A self-proclaimed wearer of many hats, Dodd is the titular “Master” of the story, an institution in his own right. His claim to fame lies in being founder of “The Cause,” or a movement devoted to The Secret-type thingamajigs, and espouses the self-help ideas of tapping the powers of the subconscious and unlocking past memories to achieve one’s true potential and raison d'être.

In a role that is both highly emotionally and physically demanding (it’s hard not to get phantom shoulder aches just watching him in character, and you’ll only get what I mean once you’ve watched the film), Phoenix delivers a valiantly authentic and incredible performance that more than warrants an Oscar nod.

Together with Hoffman’s equally strong onscreen presence, the two are a powerful force in the film. Hoffman is magnetic and often hilarious in portraying the charismatic Dodd. It is a marvellous revelation that Dodd’s cult-like proclamations are parodied as erratic and flawed as Freddie himself, alongside hints that Dodd is perhaps the one true person who can help Freddie help himself.

Revered for pushing aside many staid rules of filmmaking, auteur Paul Thomas Anderson fashions yet another work of art in The Master. The bold strokes of his camera-stylo paint the inexpressible, through a vision that is atmospheric rather than linear; where montage, stylised mise-en-scène, and oftentimes surreal sequences are the preferred weapons of mass engagement.

There are numerous beautifully-shot scenes and lush, vivid motifs in The Master, scenes which deserve places in the great cinematography halls of fame, such as when a track shot follows Freddie as he runs through a door and the frame opens out into an extreme long shot of the character emerging onto vast, empty land, or the scene of a garden party that starts with a low-angle, off-centre shot from the patio of a house and the camera slowly pans to the right, capturing a moment of endearing and heartfelt interaction between Freddie and Dodd.

It takes a really skilful director with exceptional vision and a thoroughly deep understanding of how soundtrack, visuals and dialogue can play on each other to achieve ironic juxtapositions and often wonderful filmic possibilities. In showing us myriad ways of telling a story, and in the minor key to boot, The Master is a varied masterpiece.

When a director makes you confront your average movie-goer blind spots in viewing and appreciating a film, or when it chooses to reward you differently—not through neat plot closures, or eye candy starlets or mandatory climaxes; when you can’t even begin to predict the very next move the director is going to make, you know you’re in for a real treat.

Can one create a film that’s so rogue yet tempered, so raw yet elegant? Or a film that stirs up some of the deepest, most intense emotions in a manner so thoroughly distant and Brechtian? Anderson is the master of paradoxes, and The Master tells you he can. Uncompromisingly grey, The Master will have you leave the theatre with doubts aplenty; doesn’t even scratch the surface of many questions it so ruthlessly thrusts onto the audience; and yet, is satisfyingly complete.

Here,I am compelled to cite Bazin, who once said that “the screen is a mask whose function is no less to hide reality than to reveal it.” After all, it must be the hunt that counts.

Movie Rating:

(You’ll either really love or hate The Master, but it will be the most intriguing film you see this year. Meaningfully avant-garde and fearlessly in a league of its own, The Master is a visual, cerebral and emotional feast)

Review by Tay Huizhen