The+Master



Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is the archetypal Paul Thomas Anderson protagonist, a deeply troubled man. He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his time serving in World War Two. After returning to California, he finds it difficult to people around him and make meaningful and healthy emotional connections with them. Many of Paul Thomas Anderson's characters suffer from a sense of alienation. He is often preoccupied with sexual fantasies and satisfying his own sexual impulses. Consequently, he lives a hedonistic lifestyle which centers on gratifying his own desires. Displays of hedonism are often seen in Paul Thomas Anderson's films (e.g: Boogie Nights). He mixes his own cocktails with paint thinners and gasoline. Substance abuse is a common thematic element in Anderson's films, as well as being a problem that many of his characters struggle with. Anderson's protagonists frequently try to escape their own realities in search of new ones. Freddie Quell does so by actually getting on a ship and leaving his home behind. There, he meets the charismatic leader of a philosophical movement who takes a liking to him, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd's relationship with Freddie comes to carry a heavy father-son dynamic, as Dodd becomes a father-figure to Freddie. This is a very prominent recurring theme in Anderson's films, as many of his characters have "daddy issues" and subsequently look to another father figure in their lives in order to replace their absent fathers.

Anderson's most distinctive and commonly seen stylistic choice in all of his films is perhaps his use of relatively long, uninterrupted camera shots. The Master is no exception. One scene shows a salesgirl walking around a shopping mall, trying to sell a coat. This is taken in one continuous tracking shot that lasts about 90 seconds. In a scene where Freddie is imprisoned and has a violent emotional meltdown, the camera follows Freddie from entering the prison block, to being locked up in his cell, and remains stationary for the remainder of the scene as Freddie proceeds to bang things around. This one take lasts approximately 100 seconds.

Anderson's films are known to have very conspicuous music choices, in particular, for their diegetic music. For example, in Magnolia, Aimee Mann's "Wise Up" is featured in its entirety when the entire cast takes turns singing the song which becomes part of the diegetic soundtrack. There is actual singing in The Master, too, when Lancaster Dodd serenades Freddie Quell with "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China". Additionally, the non-diegetic original score for the film is composed by Johnny Greenwood, who also composed the score for Anderson's There Will Be Blood. This makes both films display very similar musical influences because they share the same composer. Greenwood's compositions for Anderson's films are also very similar to that of the original score for Punch-Drunk Love, in terms of its musical style.

Part II

The opening scene of Boogie Nights lasts 2 minutes and 45 seconds. This is one of Anderson's longest takes to date. This shot begins outside the club and sets the scene for the movie. It sets the movie in Resada, San Fernando Valley, California. Then, it follows Luis Guzman's character around his club and introduces the audience to Jack, Amber, Rollergirl, Buck, Reed, and finally Eddie Adams. Anderson's ability to direct his actors and cinematographer with such impeccable timing and precision shows his exceptional skills as a director.
 * MOST ICONIC DIRECTOR'S CHOICE: Ridiculously long steadicam shots**
 * //Boogie Nights//**

At Jack Horner's pool party, this elaborately orchestrated take lasts almost three minutes before it cuts to another shot. The camera moves inside and outside the house, following different characters, and stopping at different places as if to “listen in” on the conversations that are taking place among the partygoers. Because of its large ensemble cast, the long take enables the viewer to gain quick but effective insights of the different characters and builds on their complexities. During this take, many of the characters’ insecurities are revealed through dialogue and their interactions with the other characters. Anderson’s use of continuous long takes enable him to emphasize the overall connectivity of the characters and the roles that they unknowingly possess in each other’s lives.

//**The Master**// In one of the early scenes, Freddie Quell's favorite salesgirl walks around the mall trying to sell a fur coat. This continuous tracking shot lasts about one and a half minutes. This continuous take is effective in showing the overarching futility experienced by the salesgirl in her failure to sell the fur coat, as she moves from one disinterested customer from the next, and it can be inferred that she has to deal with this nonsense every single day on the job. Although the salesgirl does not outwardly show it (other than a "I hope so" to the question "Do you have a break after this?"), this shows the gradual disenchantment faced by the post-war generation of middle-upper class America, as her failure to sell the fur coat inadvertently causes her disappointment on some level.

Freddie Quell's meltdown is documented in this single take that lasts approximately 100 seconds. Instead of cutting back and forth between Freddie and Lancaster Dodd, Anderson has chosen to keep the camera stationary and placed strategically to keep the two men's cells within the same frame. This is important in conveying the deteriorating relationship of the two men, as it emphasizes both the literal and figurative "distance" between them. The literal prison that contains the two men also serve to demonstrate that despite their differences, the two men are inherently prisoners of their own impulses, desires, and convictions, or lack thereof.

Paul Thomas Anderson's use of distinctive diegetic music choices is exemplified in this scene, where the cast of Magnolia take turns to sing Aimee Mann's "Wise Up". This was a very risky director's choice on his part, one that even some of his actors initially had a problem with. This effectively portrays every character as being part of each others' lives, whether they know it or not, which supports of the film's overarching theme of fate vs. coincidence. In this scene, each of the interwoven vignettes come to its lowest emotional point for each character. The final outcome of Anderson's decision is a powerful one, one that results in being the film's emotional climax. This scene also exemplifies Anderson's ability to make things that shouldn't work... work.
 * ICONIC MOMENT #1: The cast of //Magnolia// sing Aimee Mann's "Wise Up"**


 * ICONIC MOMENT #2: Daniel Plainview drinks your milkshake**

//"Drainage! Drainage. Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I’m so sorry. Here: if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw, there it is, that’s the straw, see? Watch it. My straw reaches across the room, and starts to drink your milkshake. I drink your milkshake!"//

This scene exemplifies Paul Thomas Anderson's impressive aptitude not only a director, but as a great screenwriter. Here, Daniel Plainview's vitriolic attack on Eli Sunday embodies his character's complete disregard and lack of empathy towards other human beings. Also, this serves to solidify his character's misanthropic qualities which remain throughout the entirety of the film. Anderson's refusal to allow Daniel Plainview's character to experience growth or change in any conventionally "positive" way breaks cinematic conventions and in effect, creates something shocking and highly original in terms of cinematic power. Paul Thomas Anderson's ability to make ridiculously good choices in casting actors are shown in all of his films, but perhaps one of his most powerful and haunting characters is Daniel Day Lewis' uncompromising portrayal of Daniel Plainview.

Once again, Anderson proves his ability to make things that shouldn't work work. He does this by casting Adam Sandler in the lead role of Barry Egan, an angry, emotionally volatile salesman who buys a lot of pudding. Adam Sandler. This is a man who turned down a role in Inglourious Basterds to star in Funny People. Not that Funny People wasn't a good movie; I wouldn't know because I haven't seen it, but anyone who turns down a role in a Quentin Tarantino film needs to get their priorities straight. The point is, Adam Sandler shouldn't work as Barry Egan. But he does, and now no one can think of anyone else that could have been cast better for the role than Sandler. Think of all the crap Anderson must have gotten when he announced that he had cast Adam Sandler in the role. Then watch as Barry Egan rips a phone off its hook and storms into a mattress store in Utah and gives Philip Seymour Hoffman a stern talking to. Adam Sandler says, //"I have so much strength inside of me. You have no idea. I have a love in my life. It makes me stronger than anything you can imagine. I would say "That's that", Mattress Man."// And Mattress Man does as he is told. It is glorious. Anderson displays his ability to turn Adam Sandler, slapstick comedy actor of //Waterboy// fame, into a character with "darkness, obsession, and power" (Roger Ebert). This was one of Paul Thomas Anderson's big "I told you so" moments.
 * ICONIC MOMENT #3: Barry Egan rips a phone off its hook and carries it to Utah**