It has been a very long time since cinema has been graced with anything quite like “The Master.” Everyone must concede that whether or not Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film works for them on a personal level, as a piece of cinematic art, it is one of the few films of our time that deserves to be called truly iconoclastic. It answers to no man, no convention, and no expectation. It boldly sets sail into uncharted waters, and even if that ride isn’t one of unparalleled brilliance, it’s one of true unfamiliarity.
If you are looking for the film to entertain, you’re likely to find yourself disappointed. “The Master” is an extremely challenging watch, particularly on a first viewing when you expect to feel the plot building towards some sort of a decisive climax. It really doesn’t. Anderson, who writes all the films he directs, takes a very unique approach to this story by really just letting the characters marinate on screen. They have very little forward momentum and just seem to sort of let themselves be blown around by the wind.
Which means that if you want to enjoy “The Master,” or get anything out of it, you are going to have to engage with it on a much deeper level. Namely, I highly recommend that to even begin to extrapolate some meaning from it, you need to see it twice. You are going to have some snap judgements on the film that may be incorrect due to the assumptions and the expectations you carried in with you. Absorb the basic chain of events, ruminate on them for a little while, and then go back. Without worrying about the outcome of events, you’ll be able to start seeing how many levels Anderson’s script is working on.
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