The Master is one of the most honest, melancholic movies ever made. I think there's often a lot of confusion about what the point of the movie was or what it was trying to convey, but I think most people are just looking too deep into it.
For me, the basic subjects were about being lost, being without love and yearning for some meaning. You can see this most plainly in the processing scene and in the ending scene between Dodd and Freddie. Freddie tells him about his loss in Doris, how it didn't work for whatever reasons, due to his own misguided or misunderstanding of life and who he was. He is otherwise wandering in life, but this was the one thing he could recall to when he just closed his eyes for a moment to think. As the movie goes on, his relationship of sorts with Dodd grows but Freddie leaves again. He goes to see Doris only to learn she has been long gone. It's difficult to say if that would have anchored him down again anyway, but he comes to terms with it and finds himself back at Dodd again. Dodd tells him he can go on and be free, truly free the way Dodd always envied him for, or that he could stay. Freddie replies to him, "Maybe in the next life," before cracking a faint and sad smile. Dodd is seen as a masterful manipulator throughout the movie through the Cause, and while some say he was simply manipulating Freddie with ill intent when he replied back to him that they will be sworn enemies in the next life, I truly do think that PTA wrote that the way he envisioned a lot of people in actual relationships behaving. They want them to stay. They do something that is ultimately seen as poor behavior, but they're not manipulating to hurt them intentionally. They're telling them don't go. But Freddie is a sailor of the seas, and just like how he went off to Shanghai when he couldn't stay with Doris, Dodd sings him off and wishes him a slow boat to China. It's a movie about being that feeling of being lost in this world and isolation of it.
I honestly see myself in Freddie, which is disappointing
Tyler Bennett
not bad.
Anthony Allen
brevity is the soul of witty
Connor Scott
I do too. I think most anyone who is honest with themselves can. He represents that longing for more but still indulging to your most base level desires or emotions, even if it only hurts you more.
Hunter Hernandez
Should they stop making movies? like is this it? is this the highest we will ever reach and this will never be surpassed?
Joseph Allen
it can never be topped
Daniel Thomas
>or you could stay That part really got to me when I first saw this, but it hits me harder now considering PSH's death. I really liked him as an actor.
Camden Sullivan
Anderson has a new film with Daniel Day Lewis out next year :)
Nolan Clark
The Master is PTA's attempt at outing poseurs by making something utterly disjointed that vaguely resembles a narrative feature just enough that it confuses them into praising it out of fear for being labelled a pleb.
An intentionally terrible movie carefully emulating a masterpiece. A true work of genius. Why do you think the plot of the film involves a cult leader who feigns insight and brilliance but is secretly full of shit? It's a metaphor for the film itself.
tl;dr if you think The Master is actually good you're a "pleb"
Jack Barnes
>if you like the master you're a pleb >accompanied with a picture of bela tarr
how many levels of irony are you on right now, my guy?
Look at his expression. That is fucking the best acting you can do. God damn what a beautiful scene.
Jordan Hill
>spending $30 million of the Weinstein's money and five years of your life just to call out plebs what a madman
Parker Martinez
>that processing scene holy shit
Liam Barnes
I kind of did as well in the sense that he was looking for a cure for his mental problems with this guy but as time goes on he has that nagging thought that maybe there is no real solution, at least a complete one. Maybe I should watch it a second time.
Isaiah Parker
I showed it to my ex long after we broke up. We had the deepest love I think I'll ever have again, and when the highs were good, they were so incredible. But our toxicity and lows were incredibly destructive. In the end, after many months of being apart, I learned a lot about myself, my flaws and my shitty ways. And when she came back to talk to me, and during the few weeks we hung out again, she made it understood that she just hadn't gotten there yet. That she was actively doing wrong when she knew better but she was just couldn't change. She hates herself for it. I think she was just too young. But when I showed her this video during that period when we came to realize again that it wouldn't work, she cried when she saw the processing scene again (we had watched it early in our relationship because I have loved this film so, so much, and while she was almost disgusted when she first saw it she grew to really like it over time):
I agree. This movie helped me out after graduating from high school feeling like I don't know what to do or where to go. 10/10
David Bailey
>furyroadthatsbait.gif
Jose Parker
but I'm serious. Master is one of my favorite movies. Favorite PTA movie, maybe tied with Punch Drunk Love.
I'd give Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Hard Eight an 8.5, think Inherent Vice sucks, and haven't seen There Will be Blood
Lucas Murphy
>for once Sup Forums doesn't shit down Anderson's throat good times, keep it up
Brayden Morales
Think I might give Magnolia a go tonight
Easton Cruz
watch there will be blood, one of his best.
Kayden Diaz
you're going all out, my man.
Cameron Richardson
Phoenix - Hoffman 1 on 1 scenes are fucking RIDICULOUS on acting merit alone
Cooper Martinez
yeah it's one of my favorite movies so it's good to see some actual discussion
Asher Ross
Damn, sounds like you lost your true love.
Christopher Cox
Sure you're right. There's a lot of humanity. You don't need to look very deep. The same goes for all of PTA's films. People try to analyze deep themes, but I think his film's just want to capture a bit of humanity.
That said, The Master didn't grip me the way I wanted it to. It has everything I want, including the story and characters, but I still got tired of it.
Landon Reed
I watched it drunk af but still remember it being crap.
Adrian Mitchell
I think I did too. I don't think I can have a love that deep for anyone again. She indicates the same to me, and while an issue with the both of us was a lot of trust issues and deceit, I really do believe her on that.
Caleb Wood
>not having seen it at least 5 times by now
Mason Reed
Inherent vice is great. There will be blood>Magnolia>Inherent Vice>The Master>Boogie Nights>Punch Drunk Love. I havent seen Hard Eight yet.
Carson Mitchell
It's supposed to be about the collision of the absolute individual, versus the absolute collective. Neither of them work completely on their own, but they can't even really be combined either. Eventually everyone just goes their separate ways, but maybe is a little better for the experience, or maybe not.
I don't know. I didn't like it. I thought it was long, boring and pretentious.
