The Master (**** out of ****)

I know I'm not alone in the cult of Paul Thomas Anderson. The Master is his sixth feature film and continues the director's amazing track work. He might be the best working director of his generation. The Master is a challenging film and one that Anderson does not take lightly. He throws all of himself in it to create a true classic. All directors work their hardest when making a film, but the quality they put in varies. Anderson's best is revelatory stuff. It's the work of a master restoring faith in cinema as an art form one scene at a time.

The Master is based off of Scientology and it's controversial leader L. Ron Hubbard. The film version group is known as The Cause and is led by Lancaster Dodd played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Dodd it is widely interesting man who is both a philosopher and psychologist of a new age. He pictures himself like Socrates and Freud, one of intelligence who will awaken those around him through his beliefs. He laughs, sings, and teaches his followers in a sincere matter. It is throughly convincing to his followers and even comes across onto the film's audience. 

The film is mostly about Freddie Quell played by Joaquin Phoenix. Returning from war, Freddie is a man unhinged. Mumbling through psychological tests, the man comes off as insane or at least unstable. He can't bring himself to face the world and drinks his sorrow away while running away from a girl he left. He stumbles across Dodd and the teacher gladly brings him in. This will be the guinea pig Dodd has been looking for. A person so broken that if his teaching can reach him, it could reach anyone. The two form an odd friendship that is ever changing. They switch between the role of hero and villain, a power game of unusual circumstances.

The Master is a work of art if the highest order. It manipulates the audience into a strange place. By the end of the film the audience likely will feel empty. However this seems to be the intention of the film. People's love crumbles and their trusts are betrayed in the film, they leave with a empty hole, this reflected onto those watching.The film deals with several different themes and ideas all of which are on the surface, there's no need to hide anything here. There is the idea of greed, power, mind games, son vs father and master vs student. Freddie behaves like a mad animal and Dodd acts civilized, the complications of human behavior is ever present. The Master is gorgeously shot in 70mm, it might be the best looking film of the year. Johnny Greenwood also creates a luring yet dangerous score. Everything in the film is firing off on all cylinders. Perhaps the most striking contribution is the acting. Philip Seymour Hoffman is is utterly convincing in his role as Dodd. Ranging in emotion and intensity he lives and breathes the role. It's easy to lose tract on where the actor ends and where this character has just come to life. Playing Dodd's wife is Amy Adams, a strong and curious woman with many haunting scenes. Adams is devastating in the role, first rate work from her. Then there is Joaquin Phoenix, it's his Academy Award to lose right now. The man is so imbedded in the rage and confusion of his character it's impossible to look away. It's the performance of his career and some of the best acting I've seen in years. The Master might just be the film of the year, but there is still time. I look forward to any film to any film that might top the list, it will be a masterpiece of the highest quality. Regardless The Master is unforgettable, an American classic.

**** out of ****