Sunday, September 30, 2012

Cult of Personality

Movies: The Master

Paul Thomas Anderson directs horror movies in which no ghosts, ghouls, werewolves, or vampires appear. Instead, the monster haunting his films is humanity itself. When I saw Boogie Nights for the first time in high school, it disturbed me so much that I vowed never to watch it again. However, when a friend in college proclaimed his love of the scene in BN where Alfred Molina uses a blowtorch to smoke crack, I gave the film a second chance (that scene is pretty classic, btw). I was still disturbed, but I was older and more able to feel uncomfortable while also acknowledging greatness in movies, books, and art.

Years later, P.T. Anderson's movies still disturb me, but I am up for the challenge. His 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, is a true masterpiece and a total gut-punch of a movie ("I'm fiiiinnnished!"). It shows the complete obliteration of empathy and decay of the soul in the character of Daniel Plainview, especially after his one tie to humanity--his adopted son--is damaged. It's a terrifying film, but it's also a brave one. It acknowledges that monsters do indeed walk among us. And sometimes, they drink our milkshakes.

In The Master, Anderson once again turns a brutal eye on humankind. And it is beautiful, unsettling, and kind of...disappointing.

The Master has been hyped as a movie that's about Scientology, but not really, but yeah kind of is. Officially, Anderson denies any connection between his character Lancaster Dodd (played grandly by Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. However, the fictional character and the real life man do share a similar timeline, and "The Cause"--as Dodd refers to his religion/cult/lifestyle--has similarities to Scientology.



But these connections are beside the point. Dodd creates The Cause as a way for human beings to rise above the animals and perfect themselves. According to The Cause's followers, humans can mentally go back in time to past lives and correct mistakes and illnesses in an attempt to perfect themselves in the present. It all sounds like mumbo jumbo of course, but Dodd has a gentleness and warmth that lulls new followers into a sense of security and belonging.

A place to fit in is exactly what troubled WWII veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix, in a performance that will make us all forget that unfortunate "rap" career) needs. Quell is violent, shell-shocked, and an alcoholic whose addiction is so extreme, he turns to Lysol and paint thinner in a pinch. Phoenix plays Quell with a mush-mouth that would put Marlon Brando to shame. I could barely understand what the man was saying (and could hear all the other characters perfectly). Quell seems so out of it that I wondered if he was supposed to be brain damaged. It's an excellent performance, but it's not relatable in any way. It was hard to feel anything for Quell except a mild, consistent sense of disgust.

Quell stumbles into Dodd's world purely by accident, but he's accepted by the man immediately. It's clear that Dodd wants to use Quell as an experiment of sorts: can he cure this broken man? And Quell, although eager to fit in, proves more slippery than Dodd expects.

The Master is an ambitious film. It's a visually beautiful film as well, shot in 65mm film, which has an extremely high resolution. Indeed, you can see every crinkle, freckle, and imperfection on Hoffman and Phoenix's faces (which are often shot in close-ups). There are also wonderful scenes of oceans and deserts. I felt like I was watching an IMAX film in a regular theatre.

As I mentioned above, the performances, particularly Phoenix and Hoffman, are just wonderful. This really was a great choice for Phoenix in the aftermath of the I'm Still Here dumbassery. Phoenix, like Daniel Day-Lewis and Marlon Brando, is a hell of a method actor. His agony and anger is palpable. Phoenix really becomes Freddie Quell. And Hoffman once again blows a performance out of the water. He's the perfect fit for the serene, yet self-righteous cult leader.

Despite all my praise, I didn't really like The Master. There was something missing. Boogie Nights had dark humor, Punch-Drunk Love had sweetness, and There Will Be Blood had brutality. All The Master seemed to have was weirdness. Weird bordering on alienating. Granted, pretty much all of Anderson's movies are alienating, but in the case of The Master, it just didn't work. I don't know. I think Anderson really, really wanted this movie to be a great masterpiece--and it shows. It tries too hard. From the interviews I've read about Anderson, he seems like a pretty pretentious and prickly dude. I think he is very aware that he is a great artist, and perhaps this self-knowledge is his achilles heel. The Master has a studied self-consciousness that holds it back.

This is a hard movie to grade. On the one hand, it's got so much going for it. On the other hand, it's too cold and clean to truly be a masterpiece. It's solid, it's good...but it's not great.

3.75 out of 5 stars

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