The Master
(2012/Anchor Bay/Weinstein Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
A-/C+ Sound: B/B- Extras: C+ Film: B
In his
best film since Magnolia (1999),
Paul Thomas Anderson takes a hard look at society, post-WWII America, sexual
oppression, white nationalism and cults in The
Master (2012), his epic look at the state of individual man and masculinity
that asks us many questions about self-worth, existence and what it is to be
human. In one of the biggest comeback
performances in decades, Joaquin Phoenix rises again as he leaves behind his
horrid public appearances of self-destruction and transforms himself back into
one of the best actors alive, playing Freddie Quell. Quell worked for the U.S. Navy and was always
a alcohol drinking, womanizing, wildman who did his job well and now wants to
get back to peacetime fun.
However,
he crosses paths soon after with a philosopher and book author Lancaster Dodd
(Philip Seymour Hoffman, in the L. Ron Hubbard/Scientology mode but also
mirroring cult leaders to come and a few corrupt leaders of “legitimate”
religions as well) who already has a following of people who think he is some
kind of genius with an “understanding” of pain, power, the mind and how our
past affects us as well as questions we need to ask ourselves to figure out the
future.
At first,
he seems like a decent guy and convinces Quell to get involved with him, but
the more Quell hangs with him, the odder things become. At first, Quell the drifter is convinced he
is his friend and might be a man with innovate thinking, but as things
progress, twists and turns follow that make Quell reconsider if he really is
the “dirty animal” Dodd portrays him as and that something much more is going
on than meets the eye. As their
relationship becomes accelerated, what will the consequences be for both?
A
critique of the rollback 1950s (and in effect, the rollback 1980s) about how
vulnerable any culture and its people are when sex and sexuality is taken out
of living and the consequences, it is a film that will recall Kubrick and Lean
among the giants of cinema. I don’t want
to give anything away, but Anderson
has written a script more original than There
Will Be Blood (the book adaptation it was notwithstanding) and more
realistic than Magnolia in his most
realistic work since Boogie Nights. This is a film by mature sexual adults for
the same and that is a cinema we rarely see, so this is a bold, honest,
sometimes shocking and even wild film with the two male leads giving very
intense performances. I knew Phoenix was capable of
such work still and I am thrilled to see him back in action.
Amy Adams
is particularly chilling as Dodd’s wife and watch for the small but important
turn by Laura Dern here that will give you more clues as to the complexity of
the film. Though it is not a perfect
film, The Master is one of the most
brutally honest films of the last few years and that is why it has not received
the commercial success it deserves. I
hope the Blu-ray, DVD and overall video release of the film changes that permanently
because Anderson
is one of the best filmmakers around and for him, it is a personal breakthrough
that makes me hope his next film is as daring as this one.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer comes from a film whose
majority of scenes was shot with Panavision Super 70mm equipment on Kodak
Vision 3, 65mm film negative by Director of Photography Mihai Malaimare Jr. (Youth Without Youth, Tetro, Twixt) whose work with Francis Coppola on those films noted has
made him one of the best new names in motion picture visual arts. Though some shots were lensed in 35mm film
(also from Kodak’s superior Vision 3 series), this is impressive with only a
very slight styling down to reflect the late 1940s – 1950s period. Like the Criterion Blu-ray of Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell To Earth (reviewed
elsewhere on this site, but sadly out of print), the larger the screen you see
this one on, the better it gets. An anamorphically
enhanced DVD is also included, but it is no match for the Blu-ray, but is
included just the same. Like Samsara (also reviewed on Blu-ray on
this site) and the 70mm IMAX shots in Dark
Knight Rises (not covered, but highly recommended), The Master is a stunning large frame format triumph that is one of
the best-looking films of the last few years, including the few digital
productions (the ones that will hold up in ten years) that are pure visual
cinema.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is also impressive throughout from a
consistent soundfield even in quiet scenes and dialogue-driven scenes, but in
the underrated score by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, one of the greatest music
bands of all time. Anderson,
Greenwood and
company are fully aware of sound and its value, coming up with one of the
smartest, cleverest and most complex sound mixes of any film in the last few
years and one that knows it has a big screen film to accompany. Fidelity is top rate and its overall
character is terrific. The lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the DVD is good for what it is, but no match for the DTS-MA.
Extras
include Teasers and Trailers including some for 70mm screenings that raised
funds for the exceptional Film Foundation, Unguided
Message, an 9-minuites-long loose look behind-the-scenes making the film, Back Beyond featuring Deleted Scenes,
Outtakes and Additional Scenes set to more great Greenwood music and the great
John Huston’s 1946 documentary Let There
Be Light about WWII Veterans (58 minutes) that shows how chillingly
accurate Anderson and company were in recapturing this moment in history.
The Master is an underrated gem that even
the smartest people I know who have seen it are missing subtle, key points on
though they are there in full. A bold,
challenging film that demands repeat viewing and has its moments of brilliance,
it is the most underrated film of 2012 and I hope it is discovered and
rediscovered in the years to come for the great piece of pure cinema it
is. See it!!!
- Nicholas Sheffo
