Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 165)

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Disclaimer: All reasonable comments are welcome, including reasoned disagreements. You will be banned for foolish talk, harassment, and hate speech on sight; it's a tremendous waste of life. I believe in freedom of association and, by extension, freedom of dissociation from you.

[@michaelcooley4553]

Just a footnote: the yacht Freddy first encounters Wadsworth on is the USS Sequoyah, a former Presidential yacht. I am very fond of this film and a Navy vet. The torpedo coolant Freddy consumes is a wood alcohol and actually killed or brain damaged many sailors in WW2.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@RanBlakePiano]

Tried to,look on line and after a couple of your titles ,videos shift to others at 87,not iPad savvy I’d like to start at your earlier sjows

[@tyke2026]

Watched it for the fourth time recently. It’s one of my all-time favorites and I could talk about it for hours.

[@clumsydad7158]

Precisely 👍

[@Morphed626]

I rewatched this film before this review so i could compare what was seen, and the contrast between sea and land along with the magician charming his way into the kingdom analogies/symbolisms missed me completely. But now "seen", adds more layers to this film to appreciate. This is one of those rare films where all of the elements come together brilliantly into a masterpiece

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@Xylus.]

I love the opening of this film. It was one of those moments where I realized I hadn't heard a single word of dialogue, but I was already engrossed just by the visual storytelling.

[@davidcote5637]

Boy, you sure show a lot of depth in your reviews, Josh. I've been so impressed with your reviews, I joined Letterboxd because of you. No doubt, The Master, is a very well crafted film, and I love the three main actors. But this movie was very uncomfortable for me and I'm not sure I can get past that to watch it again.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@clumsydad7158]

There is a lot going on ... 'master'ful balance b/n Joaquin and Phillip (my fave performance by him) ... Greenwood score for sure (just like There Will Be Blood), awesome! ... so interesting you mention Best Years of Our Lives, one of my absolute favorites, never made that connection! I've seen this movie 3-4 times and I always find it so captivating that I really even haven't broken it down/conceived of it in its cinematic elements. Rivals TWBB as a film experience. Your analysis of the sea and travel in this movie is fantastic, and yes one can assess the Scientology element, but i've frankly never considered it, in the sense that there's so much depth in general here about religion, psychology, and human experience (not to mention addictions) that specific identification wasn't needed. Great association with Clockwork Orange, never occurred to me neither. I think the overall odd or absurd ongoings and discussions in the movie is intoxicating in itself; inhabiting the strange worlds and perspectives of these characters in a cult-like envelope. The relationship between Freddie and Dodd and how they mirror secret sides of themselves in this post-war, religious, and the complex and evolving sociological setting of 'America' seems nearly bottomless for interpretation. Again your analysis is absolutely fantastic and the choice of movies you've brought in as references and comparison points is brilliant - you've certainly got me excited to view and live in the world of this film again!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@57Carlibra]

It was so interesting for you to connect this movie and the Thin Red Line because both of these movies probably had the strongest cinematic impact on me in the last twenty years. Both movies are the tops, masterworks imo. Hoffman and Phoenix were incredible. I became a Joaquin Phoenix fan because of this movie. I will go see anything directed by PTA.

[@alopradocai]

Great deep analysis really liked it! I loved the movie.

[@lorcan545]

You looked at this film from a lot of different angles, with many references which I'd never considered before. I agree that the film 'synchs up a lot with film history'. You mention both classical and New Hollywood films. The narration in The Master's trailer, which mentions that the veterans have a 'condition' that other people will not understand, and that they also have a responsibility, and they might open a filling station or grocery store or raise chickens, is taken from an actual informational film commissioned by the US war effort, directed by John Huston. Huston is a director who both made films that define classic Hollywood and, in the sixties and seventies, films that reflect the vernacular of New Hollywood, with Under the Volcano and Wise Blood each having themes, such as alcohol and living as an extroverted 'character', and religious fanaticism and mental instability and drifting, that resonate with The Master. Huston was a big adapter of literature, and PTA has been described as a particularly literary American director. Since I read the novel The Moviegoer I have associated its protagonist's idea of what he calls "the search" with that of "the cause" in The Master, even though they don't have much specifically in common. One thing that PTA has spoken of as a theme in The Master is how, in the post-war moment in which it takes place, there was simultaneously so much interest in outward-looking, expansionary technology, summed up by the space race, and in inward-looking development, as seen in the ascension of psychoanalysis in America, and also in a phenomenon like Scientology. To me, The Master resembles a Jack Nicholson seventies road movie more than an actual mid-forties Hollywood movie. But, as you say, it is a difficult film. Everything I mentioned so far is more so something that glancingly reflects what The Master itself actually is like. It's a very memorable film, but I don't think it actually works that well. Licorice Pizza seems to have disappointed some of PTA's fans because it is so much less memorable a film than The Master, but I think that on its much more simple terms, it is a film that works, while it's less clear that The Master does.

[@clumsydad7158]

Wise Blood is a fantastic movie - great reference. The Moviegoer, fascinating, just looked that up, never had heard of it. ... It's hard to say if a movie works well, in a certain sense, that it's ultimately in the viewers interpretation based on what they bring to the experience, and in The Master's case how readily they want to inhabit/dissect a strange world. Interestingly I haven't seen Licorice Pizza yet, as investigating that 70s retro world seems a bit pedestrian from the trailer/info I've seen on it, but I could be completely wrong.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@prilljazzatlanta5070]

Love the comparisons to classic Hollywood films. Hadnt thought of Citizen Kane

[@user-ru4yg2qp3c]

I think that one of the strongest moments in the entire movie is its ending (Freddy's dialogues with Master and the prostitute). It shows that Freddy is finally cured and he doesn't need a master anymore. Thus, the question the movie asks is: Why and how did that happen?

[@LearningaboutMovies]

great question. I am not sure that he ever needed to be cured; to me, he looked somewhat like the same old Freddy, yet perhaps there was some change too.

[@danielradcliffe9256]

I think Freddie's healing is about capacity for connection. Freddie in the beginning of the movie is traumatized and fears he is sick and "needs to be alone, away from people." Through his relationship with Dodd, Freddie grows his capacity for connection. He has a warm connection with the woman at the end of the movie, and then we see him somewhat at peace cuddling with the sand woman (who used to represent his devolved/unhealed sexual self), symbolizing his growth and his healing and his ability to be connected to people in the world. @@LearningaboutMovies

[@jonathanfoster6502]

​@@LearningaboutMovies it brings to mind East of Eden, at least in the book. I haven't read it for 8 years.

[@moviegoer0657]

Love The Master.

[@mirellavasileva2038]

I guess might point of reference might be laughable, but watching this movie (years ago) I thought that it best captures the energy and duality of the Sagittarius sign. Both male figures represent the different sides of this archetype, one being the philosopher (higher self) and the other being the savage/free man (lower self), but also magician. What I like about how they are represented is that Freddie is supposed to be the shadow side of the archetype and Dodd, the brighter side, but the film gives them equal shades of light and dark.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I think this is an excellent path to tread down. I know nothing about the Zodiac but I bet it's been a part of a whole lot of movies/scripts, and what you are saying seems reasonable.

[@mirellavasileva2038]

@@LearningaboutMovies Also the Sagittarius is the half man/half animal archetype, so it matches well with the two characters, as well.

[@clumsydad7158]

this is intriguing as they each have a bit of the other hidden inside them, a secret mirror of sorts. when you mention higher self, lower self, and magician it reminds my of Orson Welles at the end of his life, in F for Fake and The Other Side of the Wind; a master of cinema, yet a regular man craving Oja Kodar, and a magician as well... kind of bringing together the illusion of it all - of life, and being at one with the higher and lower elements, and the joys and deceptions we bring ourselves in between.

[@jfh1741]

Hi, I love your content! It would be great if you would do an Inherent Vice review. Like most people, I think, I just can’t figure out what is going on with the film.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thanks. yeah, I did an abrupt written review of this on letterboxd after I watched it.

[@clumsydad7158]

yeah, i think i stopped watching it about 1/3 of the way thru... was just reading a little about it again, as a pynchon work it's not supposed to all add up ... i'm thinking it's just not my cup of tea and I really wasn't into the whole drug vibe either

[@bjacobs9199]

Thanks so much, Josh. I really love this film, and you have given me many more things to consider. I like your approach. First video of yours that I have seen. Subscribed! Looking forward to more. The intelligent comments being added here are a tribute to your insightful approach.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you, and welcome to the channel!

[@patrickkelly5004]

Yet another movie I overlooked on release that I have added to my list of movies to watch... soon.

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I hope it's meaningful to you.

[@heerkumarraja2841]

Please make one episode of There will be blood

[@LearningaboutMovies]

I might, though I have a much lower opinion on this one than everyone else. One of the reasons is that it violates my Movie Law: "Do Not Watch a Movie that Features Your Vocation or Former Vocation." I might elaborate on this eventually.

[@clumsydad7158]

@@LearningaboutMovies ... intriguing

[@AlonsoRules]

Can we all agree that Joaquin Phoenix might have just a little bit of talent

[@MatheusOliveira-fy1gk]

Masterpiece, for me same level of There Will be Blood

[@clumsydad7158]

I agree

[@Noproblem396]

A

[@aklcraigc]

I had mixed feelings on this one, it's undoubtedly very well made, beautifully photographed film with a lot of allusions to various things. I never felt it transcended the sum of it's well made parts, it just kind of spluttered to a halt. I know I'm going to be in a class of one here, but I found Phoenix's (and to a lesser extent Seymour-Hoffman's) constant scenery chewing irritating, no nuance at all, you always know they are ACTING!

[@LearningaboutMovies]

thank you.

[@LeoCannotPark]

I think you might prefer Antman and the Wasp to this kind of movie. Give that a try.

[@jonathanfoster6502]

​@@LearningaboutMovieshahahaha, not to spam your comment section, but this movie is a rumination on human animalism. Commenter nails it-chewing on scenery, spluttering to a halt... life is a mental fantasy, a cult, that "comes" spluttering to a halt. One take of mine, likely influenced by the "we'll go no more a roving" scene.

[@johnsteele5295]

The movie is metaphorically LRH, 100%. Russell Miller's 1987 unauthorized biography, Bare-faced Messiah, provides reliable context (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bare-faced_Messiah). Joaquin Phoenix's character shows how unstable people can be, and are, ruthlessly exploited.