The Master will be screened exclusively at the Odeon West End from November 2nd on a 70mm print, before going nationwide on November 16th.
It’s been five long years since Anderson’s extraordinary There Will Be Blood, so his follow-up had better be worth it. Thankfully it is. The Master is an extraordinary work which will linger long in the memory, just like its predecessor, and will also take about as long to reveal what it is really about. It’s an enormous puzzle, but one that will almost certainly dominate the Oscar nominations, and for once the hype is worth it.
It’s impossible to avoid the comparison with the fictional story and the life of L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, so I won’t even try. Philip Seymour Hoffman is Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a cult-like group who believe the earth is trillions of years old, that he can cure cancer by his subjects getting in touch with their last lives, and other completely loony theories. His books are rambling, pseudo-scientific nonsense. He is also charismatic, likeable, energetic and a paradigm of American life with his lovely wife (Amy Adams) and obedient children.
His nemesis arrives in the form of Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix), a former US Marine who fought in the Pacific theatre and survives the war an utterly broken man. He is an alcoholic, brewing his own lethal potions, as well as being an appalling sex addict, even becoming aroused by a sandcastle his fellow marines construct on the beach in the shape of a voluptuous woman. They see it as a huge joke, he appears to take it far more seriously this is a damaged man with a strong body but shattered mind.
After drifting around various manual jobs he stows away on a boat, which turns out to be where Dodd is hosting his daughter’s wedding. The two very different men seem to bond, and Dodd’s procedures a cross between hypnosis and mental bullying appeal to Freddie, who gets himself deeper and deeper into the cult.
While Dodd is, on the outside, a confident fraudster, cracks start to appear that Freddie refuses to acknowledge. Dodd’s own son admits he’s making this shit up as he goes along’, while his bored daughter places her hand on his knee. Freddie however is fiercely loyal, beating up anyone who dares to doubt the master’s teachings and letting Dodd walk all over him despite his physical superiority.
To say any more about the story would spoil it. Suffice to say it plays out in a way that is never predictable and always exhilarating, and the actors can take a huge credit for that. Apparently Hoffman improvised many of his speeches, and it works Dodd and Freddie have a series of hugely powerful scenes, almost physical in their intensity, with both men wary of the other but seemingly desperate for what the other can provide. Dodd is a fraud and a trickster, apparently charming but losing his cool when challenged, especially in a key scene early on with a sceptic.
It’s a performance of enormous depth and subtlety, with Hoffman using all of his powers when losing an argument he simply shouts louder than his accuser. It is easily matched by Phoenix, who gives a simply breathtaking portrayal of a broken man, almost child-like but capable of terrible physical violence. His treatment of the women characters is appalling, yet he is still clearly likeable, such is his inner pain. Watching his scenes with Hoffman is like watching a heavyweight boxing match, each man bringing out the strengths and weaknesses of the other, and it’s also very intimate. One theory of the many that are sure to emerge about what The Master is actually about is sure to be it’s a homoerotic tale between two men who cannot live without each other, but equally cannot understand what makes the other tick.
Huge praise should go to the cinematographer and designer, the film looks utterly superb, filmed on the rare 65mm stock and transferred over. The colours shimmer and shine, the clothes are fantastic and each frame is spot-on. Jonny Greenwood, who wrote the jarring score to There Will Be Blood, also provides an equally unsettling aural world here, which fits in perfectly.
Overall verdict: An epic masterpiece which will bore itself into the subconscious and stay there for a very long time. Superbly played, wonderful to look at and genuinely creepy, it’s sure to dominate the awards ceremonies around the world, and deservedly so. It will reward multiple viewings for years to some.
Reviewer: Mike Martin