The Master

Director:  Paul Thomas Anderson

Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams

Studio:  Annapurna Pictures

Release Date:  September 14, 2012

The Master approaches the audience as therapist to patient. The posters displayed the actors in symmetrical patterns as a Rorschach test. One repeated shot of the wake of a ship is like living inkblots; the water and foam swirls into ever-new patterns. Indeed, the film will continually leave interpretation up to the viewer and rarely provide answers. However, the frustration isn’t in its ambiguous silence, but how the Freudian monsters of the inkblots have been replaced with less inspiring images.

Freddie Quell (Phoenix) returns home from World War II as a violent, sex-obsessed alcoholic who has trouble assimilating back into society. He meets Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), leader of pseudo-Scientologist religion The Cause. Dodd believes he can cure Quell of his animalistic nature and befriends him as they spread Dodd’s new religion.

The acting is the high point. Phoenix is convincing as a sociopath. Quell never seems very disturbed by his own behavior, whether it is humping a sand sculpture of a nude woman or passing out drunk in the middle of a date. Hoffman captures the charisma that the most successful cult personalities embody. His voice is forceful, yet in control. He remains cool even when challenged about his doctrine.

As to why these very different characters are friends is a mystery. Dodd enjoys the bootleg liquor Quell makes from household chemicals. Perhaps those most devoted to a cause harbor the darkest desires. Maybe Dodd’s destructive loyalty to Quell in hopes of curing him is commentary on the futility of religion in changing human nature. When Dodd finally bans Quell from The Cause, he serenades him with a song. This moment raises a homosexual undertone to their friendship. Or maybe these interpretations are just the patterns I’m seeing on screen.

The film’s silence concerning its meaning allows one’s mind to veer off to numerous places. Yet, the over abundant ideas on religion, human nature, freedom, and the state of post-war America make it difficult to devote too much time thinking about any single idea. Furthermore, the problem with The Master’s devotion to ambiguity is like a dry college professor that wants to challenge the student with a number of questions but has no opinion of her own. Ultimately, the problem isn’t the lack of opinion, but in the dryness of the presentation.

While the cinematography is beautiful, many scenes drag on past the point of effectiveness to exhaustion. Dodd rides a motorcycle very fast in a very straight line for a very long time to demonstrate focusing on a goal.  Dodd is shown taking the entire journey to and from his destination as the motorcycle zooms through a brown, dreary desert landscape. Then Quell does the same, though he uses this as a chance to escape and the viewer doesn’t have to endure the return trip in the same monotonous style. One wonders if director Paul Thomas Anderson plays the scene so long as to have the audience empathize with the long suffering and frustration Dodd must feel when trying to help Quell.

The Master’s ambiguity will delight some and frustrate others. The film receives a faint not recommend because of its inability to focus its ideas and keep the viewer engaged through long, flat scenes that needed judicial editing. The film dances around the intriguing mysteries of Scientology and human nature, and yet only presents the most mundane images in the inkblots.