After learning about
New Religious Movements for my degree I have always been interested in
Scientology (among other groups). The charismatic
leader, the evolving dogma, the intense recruitment strategies and the secretive
inner-narrative have in turn led to a fascinating movement – one in which we
will be forever ignorant of unless you join the inner circle, something that I
am not willing to do. The new P.T.
Anderson film then is a thought experiment to what it might be like to join
such an organization (much like Martha Marcy May Marlene
explores what it must be like to leave…)
The plot of the film
follows WWII veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) as he returns to America
from the pacific and tries to find stability.
He has discovered a unique skill in creating his own alcoholic drinks
from household ingredients (prescription medicine, paint stripper etc.) and is
forever running from his drunken misbehavior – until he meets the enigmatic
Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) on his party ship. His alchemy skills impress ‘the master’ and
Freddie begins to slowly learn the ways of the people on the ship and begins to
agree with The Cause, Dodd’s philosophical teachings. As they land in New York and form a
tight-knit community, Dodd tries to help Freddie through his anger and
alcoholism with his hypnotic ‘processing’ until they both get thrown in jail –
Dodd for fraud and Freddie for disturbing the peace as his master gets
arrested. After some persecution Dodd
moves to England and sets up a school for his teachings and Freddie is given a
final chance to fix himself up or leave forever.
Firstly, the
similarities with Scientology are undeniable – shocking even. It was clear from the discussion around the
film that it was loosely based on the phenomenon but there are so many direct
links to the organization: the e-meters,
the navy, the billion-year contracts, the processing, the discussion of
past-lives and trillion year anxieties.
I was amazed at how overtly the film was referencing Scientology and
Dianetics. This is a brave film to make
and as a person with a very close interest in L.Ron Hubbard and his merry men,
I was impressed with the boldness of The
Master.
Secondly, the
performances in the three main roles (Phoenix, Hoffman and Amy Adams) are
fascinating. Hoffman perfectly nails the
enigmatic leader, and Adams is incredibly freaky as his loyal wife Peggy. I must admit that this film scared me in
places that no horror film has done in years.
The way in which both of these characters convince the people around
them to follow their ideas and rituals reminded me of the infamous Stanley Milgram
experiments where volunteers had to electrocute people in order to test
their obedience. Two particular moments
that stood out for me was the calm authority that Dodd shows as he is first
seen in his cell as Freddie is freaking out, and the second is when Peggy is
staring straight into the camera as she commands Freddie to mentally change the
colour of her eyes as she is staring at him.
The fact that Freddie
has left the war and found a job as a portrait photographer has an interesting
resonance with his fate thereafter. He
at first has to capture other people’s images when they are at their most
pristine and insincere, then later on he is made to take pictures of ‘his
master’ – at this point I thought he could have had a profound moment when he realized
that it was all a façade, but instead he tries his hardest to protect the image
and continue the myth.
The soundtrack of the
film is very cool, as you would expect from P.T. Anderson, but there is one
particular choice that I thought was very interesting. Early in the film we hear the song ‘Get thee
behind me Satan’, which stuck with me throughout the whole narrative. By the end I couldn’t help but wonder whether
this referred to Freddie’s alcoholism, his time in the war, or his time spent
with Lancaster Dodd.
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