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I saw it this weekend, hiding from the heat, in the Arclight Dome, in 70 mm.

 

Aside: years ago I was unemployed, and spending a lot of time by myself. I would walk up to my local library, look through the magazines, etc. One day I sat down and read a couple of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald. After I was done, I felt a wave of embarrassment. I'd forgotten how good literature could make my brain feel. "Oh! That's what good writing is like." The embarrassment came from the acknowledgement of how much mediocrity and also-rans I invite into my life. This is a serious movie, made by a guy who doesn't apologize for being challenging.

 

This first bit is very broad discussion of the movie.

 

 

I don't know if the 70mm made that big of a difference to me. In the last third of the movie, particularly, I thought the screen looked dim, and the images weren't particularly wide vistas. The composition, colors, etc. are beautiful. I don't know how much story there is--this movie follows a spiritual life of a man. There's not a gotcha moment, but the audience does get to see two charismatic, smart actors do their best together. I think Boogie Nights and Magnolia could be seen as companion pieces, and The Master definitely goes with There Will Be Blood. But in The Master, the lead character and the religious messenger have a more level playing field. (Paul Dano is everything I could ask--but he is wholly eclipsed by Day Lewis.)

 

 

This next part is a spoiler...

 

The movie repeats part of its structure. The beginning beach scene with the wonderfully awkward sand woman bit, there's also a wrestling sequence, then eventually you see Quells in the department store almost burning his photography customer. In the last third of the movie, when Freddie Quells comes back to the house, he and the Master have a wrestling match. Then, you see Quells set up a formal portrait with the lighting rigs clearly featured in the shot.

 

I was trying to remember what else had happened in the beginning of the movie, but I'm assuming the movie repeats back on itself to the sequence in the beginning, when Quells joins up--compared to the sequence at the end, when Quells hops on the bike and doesn't stop.

 

 

General PTA question:

 

 

Quells stands in an exaggerated stance, almost looking like a human comma. There are a couple of shots when he's got his hands on his hips--it struck me as very Daniel Plainview. I only saw TWBB once or twice--am I remembering correctly? Maybe it's not acting, but directing?

 

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It won't be showing in 70mm here in Chicago until Christmas, but I'll see it in 35mm this weekend.

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I saw it again this weekend.

 

 

This time, it felt much more like a story of a rot gut alcoholic, and less of a Mann's religious journey.

 

I did not see Hoffman, Phoenix, or Adams act once. Everything felt organic.

 

Stuff I still don't have (ahem) clarity on: what or who is Adams warning the Master about when she jacks him off in the sink. I thought the naked musicians were a figment of Phoenix's drunken state. (In general, I really liked seeing this depiction of married sex. It's weird and a little disturbing, but doesn't feel like one of the characters is getting exploited.) Unless Adams character thinks Phoenix and Hoffman have a symbiotic relationship.

 

And what do the colors red and blue signify? They are in so many scenes, specifically the costuming, along with a secondary character wearing a shade of purple.

 

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I saw it again this weekend.

 

 

This time, it felt much more like a story of a rot gut alcoholic, and less of a Mann's religious journey.

 

 

 

 

 

I think it was a combination of both. Or rather, I think it was an examination about how difficult severe alcoholism and mental illness is to treat in general, and how useless a pseudo scientific/religious cult is at treating it. IE how useless Scientology is at treating it.

 

 

 

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it was really good, obviously. i'm not entirely sure what was happening. i'll need to see it again. very much a personal story about freddy, with tones of a cult thrown in. a lot of homoerotic undertones. not sure what to make of that.

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  • 2 years later...

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