Author Topic: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)  (Read 24389 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #10 on: September 21, 2012, 08:27:20 PM »
It is a great ending. It is not nearly as great as the end of TWBB.

Alan Smithee

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #11 on: September 22, 2012, 03:43:38 PM »
Something about it felt a little Clockwork Orange to me. I think the don't blink process scene might be one of the best things ive seen on film in at least 3 years. I also felt i was being a little bit hit over the head with the life adrift references.


FLYmeatwad

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #12 on: September 22, 2012, 04:55:00 PM »
Yo, I'm going to write about this in my longer spoiler post probably (you know, if it ever happens), but I remember reading a few places after watching that the jail sequence is meant to suggest the juxtaposition of the id with the ego. I read Freddie and Lancaster in similar ways (though hardly as the definitive way, since I think both men can represent many diametrically opposed forces. Either way, going with that I really don't find Lancaster to be the ego. He seems to clearly be the superego, which leaves Amy Adams as the ego force that mediates the two of them (and I reckon this lines up with her behavior in the film).

You have the id, as I understand it, working for instant gratification and to fulfill base desires at all costs, while the superego is like a Superman figure concerned with the ideal. That's what that jail sequence suggested to me, anyway. I found Adams, while underused, still a Hell of a presence and an important character. This reading, I believe, gives her a little more importance in the grand scheme as well.

EDIT: She even appeals in ways that placate the id and superego. When she attempts to get Freddie to stop drinking she makes appeals to his sexuality (though only lightly) and she always speaks rationally when she wants Dodd to behave a certain way.

Devil

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #13 on: September 22, 2012, 05:05:13 PM »
I enjoyed this film immensely, i'm letting it stew for a bit before really composing my thoughts on it but think it is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Hoffman and Phoenix deliver incredible performances, the latter particularly stood out to me. His portrayal of Freddie was delivered with a fuming sense of repressed aggression in almost every scene(though obviously less repressed when he lets that aggression out at times) yet at the same time with this child like vulnerability. I didn't find it be as scathing a portrayal of Scientology or religion as a whole, perhaps not flattering but nothing to get in arms over.

Two crazy bits of serendipity for me watching this film. One was the last song I listened to on my Ipod before entering the theatre was a Radiohead song, lo and behold the composer for the films score is Radiohead guitarist Johhny Greenwood. And the second after I left the theatre and was walking down the street without realizing it the path I took lead me past the Church of Scientology building here  :o
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #14 on: September 23, 2012, 12:35:00 PM »
It strikes me as odd that this thread isn't more active this weekend.

Junior

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #15 on: September 23, 2012, 12:51:19 PM »
Here's what I was thinking at various points throughout the movie. It's kind of There Will Be Blood's mirror image. That movie, while it is a character study, has about 10 times as much plot in it as this one did. This is a simmering movie. It comes close to boiling over but never does. There are some scenes that are absolutely brilliant (the processing, the methods montage, the meeting in England). If DDL doesn't win best actor here or at the Oscars, Phoenix will. PSH has supporting locked up, but a case could be made for co-lead there, I guess. It's hard not to see the id, ego, superego thing, but like someone (FLY?) said, the two could be any number of opposing forces. Chaos and order could work. Also, this might be the best looking movie ever. Glorious compositions. Almost continuously striking. Great use of addressing the camera directly (or semi-directly), and the shallow focus for Phoenix vs the deep focus for PSH fits their respective character traits. Impulse vs. contemplation. And Greenwood improves upon his work in TWBB for a score that suits perfectly.

What did you guys think of Adams' eye change? I didn't know if he would actually show it or not? What implications does it have?
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Lobby

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #16 on: September 23, 2012, 12:53:13 PM »
It strikes me as odd that this thread isn't more active this weekend.

I'll return here and give my two cents at some point in the winter or spring 2013 when The Master - possibly - will open in Swedish. ATM we're not sure it will get any distribution at all.
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FLYmeatwad

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #17 on: September 23, 2012, 01:08:28 PM »
I'm not sure if it's the best looking film ever (or, you know, even better looking than TWBB), but PTA does amazing things with the camera. As for the score comparison, I think they are on equal footing, but only because I was so taken with the juxtaposition of a much more modern musical aesthetic and the period piece setting. I listened to this score last night though, which I never did for TWBB, so there is that. Regardless, both are fantastic. Hope Greenwood gets recognition. In a way I think this will be a situation where PTA and company, like people said about the Coens and Scorsese even though I didn't agree, clean up at the Oscars as a means of apologizing for not properly rewarding his previous great work even though this is still a great work in itself. Who knows though, maybe Tom Hooper will win everything, I guess that doesn't matter.

As for Adams and her eyes, I liked it. Felt a bit like Black Swan, and by extension a very little bit like Perfect Blue, to me. Kind of works to either show that Freddie is able to delude himself/control his mind or there is some truth to the system. I'd need to see it again and think specifically about the implications in a larger context, but it mostly seems to add to the ambiguity and open up the readings of the film and characters. Iser would approve, probably. I think it comes right around that scene where we're seeing all the naked women and clothed men from Freddie's perspective.

It strikes me as odd that this thread isn't more active this weekend.

I'll return here and give my two cents at some point in the winter or spring 2013 when The Master - possibly - will open in Swedish. ATM we're not sure it will get any distribution at all.


That's too bad. The way international releases are handled is upsetting. Though I usually get to see the films I'm interested in around their release, I know how it is to want to see something and have to wait because it's just opening in Japanese theaters or something and it won't make US shores (or even the internet sometimes) for quite a while. 4.3.2.1, which was even a film in English, just got a DVD released this year (and with 'Noke gone it's lost the only other voice of support I can recall around these parts) without any theatrical run. I imagine, come the year's end, it will be completely forgotten and any sort of discussion is lost anyhow because of release strategy.

Junior

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #18 on: September 23, 2012, 01:21:36 PM »
It's much more understated than TWBB in terms of its look, but I think it's better looking. That shot of Phoenix going down into the bowls of the ship to get the ingredient for his drink was jaw dropping.
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Devil

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Re: The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012)
« Reply #19 on: September 23, 2012, 03:12:16 PM »
Agreed it isn't as immediately beautiful or eye catching as TWBB. But there was something to the composition, framing, etc that makes this one of the best looking films i've seen recently. PTA and his cinematographers always work wonders with the camera. The main reason I still want to see The Bourne Legacy is because it's DoP was frequent Anderson collaborator Robert Elswit(though he didn't do this film).
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