Actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Note: Spoilers below
For as much respect as I give Paul Thomas Anderson, I realize as I sit down to write this that the only one of his films that I both really liked and understood upon first watch was There Will Be Blood. Hard Eight was entertaining but (as I recall) a trifle. Boogie Nights I saw well after the hype had died down, and while I now recognize that as an amazing accomplishment, I didn't quite get it then. I hated Magnolia, and mistrusted Punch Drunk Love. I'm not a P.T. Anderson fanboy, even though he is on my very short list of directors whose films I will see in the theaters without qualification.
The Master has the problem, at least upon first watch, of both of its main characters being inscrutable. Having one's motivations or goals be unclear is fine, but neither seems to quite know what they want. The Master is a charlatan, attempting parlor tricks to woo potential donors to his newfound religion, the Cause. His favorite subject, Freddie Quill, is exactly what The Master rails against - pure animal instinct. If Freddie isn't fighting or fucking, he's drinking so that he will end up doing one or the other. He's anger and sex mashed together, with a tinge of regret. What I at least never quite ended up understanding is what The Master wanted out of Freddie. The easy answer is that in seeing Freddie as a man like himself, maybe he can get Freddie to move away from his impulses. But where in the film have we seen that some sort of nobility is the goal of this religion? Indeed, The Master's religion is not even do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do. We don't hear a lot about moral codes. Perhaps that's the goal of the new religion - self-actualization rather than moral refinement. We need to become a better person through a greater understanding of ourselves, not through the perception of a God or of his teachings.
I suppose the conclusion of the film is that Freddie realizes that the Master cannot cure him of his regrets. The Master himself can't be cured of the things he finds necessary - popular music and American cigarettes. Freddie remembers lying down next to the false woman he's constructed, an avatar of womanhood, inscrutable and implacable. Does he ultimately choose that? I don't know. I guess I need to see it again.
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My read on Dodd's motivations was that the Master believed that if he could cure Freddie, or at least whip Freddie into shape, that he would no longer be a charlatan. That, past-life reincarnations and medical claims aside, Dodd's techniques would have a real material effect that was not induced by the wishful thinking of his disciples.
ReplyDeleteWhat attracts Freddie to the Master is a need for order and rehabilitation after having fought in a brutal war. He was always an unruly individual, as is evidenced by his pre-war relationship to the 16 year-old. He is also his own man, though fierce loyalty keeps him bound to the Master even as his common sense catches up to the nonsense the Master feeds him.
ReplyDeleteWhat attracts the Master to Freddie is complex. He sees something of himself in Freddie. Both characters have a tendency to lose their temper when challenged albeit to different degrees (the Master yells vulgarities while Freddie physically assaults people). My theory is that the Master preaches anti-animalism but is naturally drawn to it. He also enjoys having power over people, and he holds a great deal of power over Freddie. In a way, Freddie is a willing hostage to him.
I believe it is also suggested that Freddie is the single greatest debunker of the Cause, as his fanatical adherence to the Master actually serves to unveil the lunacy of it. No one, not even the Master's own son, really believes what he's preaching, but Freddie pushes himself further to believe it than anyone including the Master himself.
I read that about the war, Huntronik, but it sure seems like the Master is at first the only person willing to listen to him. Their first session is powerful - it exposes that Freddie's parents are lost to him, and we don't see any evidence that he would have anything like a friend.
ReplyDeleteIt was hard for me to get a sense of whether or not Freddie believed the Cause or whether he was merely devoted to Lancaster Dodd. I mean, that's where a lot of small religions get their strength, right? It's the personal magnetism of the guy at its head. Religious ideas are always a bit wonky, but if the guy (or girl, I suppose) believes in them and has that force of will to capture others, that can get the engine going.
I don't know if someone like Freddie is capable of believing in the Cause or really anything else, at least not at this point in his life. The Master doesn't back off his animal impulses, like you say, and Freddie just follows suit. I think the rigorousness of what Freddie sees in the UK is what keeps him out of the Master's clutches - it's young, good-looking people taking these teachings seriously. It's not where Freddie fits in - he's an inner circle kind of guy. He was in it for the attention, but I think he realizes that he can't hold the Master's attention like he could on the boat or in New York or Philadelphia.