Reviews, Interviews , News, Commentaries, My Top 5 Movies, Best-Of Lists, Filmmakers of Faith, Film ForumThe Master
"If you figure out a way to live without a master, any master, be sure to let the rest of us know, for you would be the first in the history of the world." These are words spoken by one character to another in a pivotal scene near the end of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master, and they represent a key idea in the film: Do we flourish more when we are completely free and self-directed, or when we are subject to a master (or a mastering narrative/philosophy/religion)?
The Master—sprawling, cryptic, masterfully made—raises this question in provocative fashion, under the guise of a film about the early days of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the Hubbard role—a character named Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a pseudo-scientific, self-help program called "The Cause." Dodd is known by his adherents as "Master," and indeed, "mastering" oneself is the primary doctrine that he teachers. Like Scientology, The Cause teaches that human spirits (in Scientology: Thetans) are trillions of years old, reborn repeatedly in various "vessel" bodies. Through a therapy-type practice they call "processing" (in Scientology: "auditing"), these beings are able to purge themselves of the traumas, baggage and animal behavior that keep them from progressing to their perfect state. The goal is complete self-mastery, where "psychological" issues and even health problems are cured through focused mental processing.
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lancaster Dodd
Hoffman's Lancaster Dodd is meant to represent Hubbard in the earliest days of Scientology, during postwar America in the early 1950s. In the film he is a charismatic, wealthy, ascot-wearing family man with a supportive wife (Amy Adams) and children, with the exception of one skeptical son (Jesse Plemons) who believes his dad is "making all this up as he goes along." Dodd is a man of confidence and the life of the party, prone to raising glasses in toasts and saying things like, "We fought the day, and we won!"
The audience sees Dodd mostly through the eyes of the film's protagonist, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally unstable Navy veteran who stumbles across a "Cause" cruise ship and becomes something of a protégé (or project) to Dodd/Master. In stark contrast to the calm, collected, dignified Dodd (at least on the surface), Quell is a wild man—an animalistic, sex-crazed itinerant scoundrel. As played by Phoenix (very physically, sometimes cartoonishly), Quell feels like a prehistoric Neanderthal: low-hanging arms, shoulders hunched, with appetites only for sex and survival. As the film starts, he is a jobless drifter, having been fired or chased out of low-wage jobs due to fighting or other escapades. He's a vulnerable, impressionable man when he meets Dodd and gets sucked into The Cause, and the question at the heart of The Master is whether this self-help system really can help him take control of his life.
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Jane Still
Given that research by the church of Scientology indicates that more than half its American members are regular attenders at Christian churches, I think it imperative that we open our eyes. Added to that is the explicit aims of the church of Scientology to indoctrinate children via schools and organisations such as SUNDAY SCHOOLS (Hubbard article printed in I think 1954 entitled 'Child Scientology') and their focus on anonymously (ie keeping their scientology secret) offering training and life coaching. I am in no doubt at all that the church of Scientology has heavily influenced much of Western society as it has had a focus for 60 YEARS on controlling opinion makers such as media and politicians, not to mention police and the law! We might not like it and what it does, but attempting to claim the moral high ground by sticking our heads in the sand is letting Satan run riot.
Sheila sandoz
Joel's review was terrific and extremely insightful. I believe it was a good choice to review this movie, to ascertain its benefit to Christians. Personally, I believe "The Master" will warn those who have gone astray about the trappings of man-made religions and has an overall theme that tells us that the answers do not lie in any of these supposed gurus. We each have our own paths and destinies. Unfortunately, for those who are lost or at a crossroads in life, conmen and others see them as easy prey. I appreciate Joel's review and believe it was one of the best I've read anywhere. Thanks, Joel.
Roger Agness
The cult... er... "Church" of Scientology is a dangerous brainwashing group. Yes, IT IS A CULT: it is banned in sevreal foreign countries, practices forced abortion for members and "disassociation" (excomunication & family breakups for those who leave), was behind the biggest infiltration of the U.S. government ever (see "Operation Snow White") and requires one billion-year contracts for its adherents. CT ware right to review this new film, as it will help to bring the truth about this organization to the general public. Ignorance is dangerous... THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. - - http://www.xenu.net/ has full information about Scientology, its pop psychology predecessor Dianetics, and their inventor L. Ron Hubbard... failed hack science fiction writer and college dropout who was expelled from the US Navy who ended up a drug-addicte psychopath. - - Or just WIKIPEDIA "Scientology" or "Dianetics" or "L. Ron Hubbard" and LEARN FOR YOURSELF. - - RELIGION IS FREE. SCIENTOLOGY IS NEITHER