From the director of There Will Be Blood comes The Master. This psychological drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film centres on Freddie, a World War II veteran, who is unable to deal with the post-war society. However, when he comes across a religious movement known as The Cause, he finds solace in it.
In December 2009, it was first reported that Anderson has been working on a script about the founder of a new religious organization (based on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology). According to an associate of Anderson stated that the idea for the film had been in Anderson's head for about twelve years. The idea for the film came to him after reading a quote that periods after wars are productive times for spiritual movements to start. Unsure of the direction the script would take, Anderson began writing it as a collection of disparate scenes, rather than one coherent outline. He combined unused scenes from early drafts of There Will Be Blood (2007), John Huston's Let There Be Light (1946), elements from the life stories of John Steinbeck and from Thomas Pynchon's novel V., and stories Jason Robards had told him on the set of Magnolia (1999) about his drinking days in the U.S. Navy during World War II (including the draining of ethanol from a torpedo). Anderson conducted research about Dianetics and its early followers. Anderson has stated that he wanted Hoffman to play Lancaster Dodd from the film's inception, and that he also had Joaquin Phoenix in mind for the part of Freddie Quell. While writing, Anderson sought Hoffman's feedback on the script, with Hoffman suggesting the film focus more on Freddie's story than Lancaster's. After the film was dropped by Universal and failed to pick up a distributor, Anderson did several months of rewrites. By early June 2011, Phoenix and Hoffman were confirmed to star with Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, and Jesse Plemons rounding out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early September. Filming took place throughout California and in O'ahu, Hawaii. The film was shot on 65 mm film using the Panavision System 65 camera in the 1.85: 1 aspect ratio. It was the first fiction film to be shot in 65mm since Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1996).
The film stars Phoenix, Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Ambyr Childers, Rami Malek, and Jesse Plemons. The performances by the cast, especially by Phoenix and Hoffman, are a mesmerizing meditation on the American spirit in all its maddening ambiguities: mean and noble, angry and secretive, hypocritical and more than a little insane in its aspirations.
Widely touted as a masterpiece, this sparse and sprawling epic about the underhanded 'heroes' of faith boasts incredible performances by leads Phoenix and Hoffman, and is director Paul Thomas Anderson's best work to date. It is one of the most wholly original American movies ever made. The film was so good that it's making me rethink those last four PTA features.
Simon says The Master receives:
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