tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post5766043226449905218..comments2022-03-24T16:11:50.124-04:00Comments on The Man From Porlock: To Those Who Serve (The Master)Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-48119465806473718962012-09-29T20:27:36.455-04:002012-09-29T20:27:36.455-04:00One more thing, about Dodd: Yes, he has the charis...One more thing, about Dodd: Yes, he has the charisma and confidence of a leader. No argument there. My point, though, is that we mainly see other characters expressing deep misgivings, both publicly and privately, about his teachings. They don't seem under any kind of spell, and not just Freddie. Dodd's own son thinks he's a sham, and his wife simultaneously jerks him off and cuts him down. It isn't like Jesus's disciples in <i>The Last Temptation of Christ</i>, where he keeps changing the message but they're committed enough to following him anyway. They know Dodd's path is bullshit, so why bother?Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-28966960409691327512012-09-29T20:19:20.965-04:002012-09-29T20:19:20.965-04:00Great response, Jason. One thing, for now, on J-Ph...Great response, Jason. One thing, for now, on J-Phx: What I was getting at is precisely what you point out via Jones: that the bigness of the performance would work <i>if</i> Freddie was a larger, more symbolic character, the way Daniel Plainview is (which is why Day-Lewis's outsized turn works). Freddie Quell, however, is very specific and quite small, and for me that doesn't jibe with what Phoenix is doing.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-9427741019309528792012-09-29T20:02:05.883-04:002012-09-29T20:02:05.883-04:00Some thoughts ...
* "Even non-fans of the mo...Some thoughts ...<br /><br />* "Even non-fans of the movie have been wowed by this more-ness, enough to make me wonder: Why? More precisely, what is it about this performance that believably conveys an emotionally scarred war veteran who falls in with a fringe religion?"<br /><br />My response would be, what doesn't? And I don't mean that to sound snotty. I've almost always enjoyed Phoenix, so I'm the wrong person to convert a nonbeliever, simply because I can't relate to not believing a performance like this. It's big, it's fully committed, it's awesome, but unlike Cage, it never feels like "more" to me; in fact it feels like "less" to me than Day-Lewis in THERE WILL BE BLOOD in that specific respect (although Daniel Plainview is a far more interesting character on the whole).<br /><br />* "Why then, other than intimidation, and an appealing openness to laughter (as long as it's not directed at him), do people follow this man?"<br /><br />In short, he has charisma and confidence. One need only look at our current presidential race to see how compelling that is, and how that makes up for extreme deficits, on both sides of the aisle. The lack of explanation here would bother me if I thought THE MASTER was actually about The Cause, or if I thought Freddie represented Everyman. But I don't think either is true. When we discover Dodd, he already has a flock, and I'm fine trusting that they follow him for a reason without fully understanding that reason. To the degree this movie is about the authenticity of The Cause, it's that Dodd has a crisis of confidence when The Cause doesn't do for Freddie what he thinks it should.<br /><br />* "'I'm skeptical of a line of argument that the movie is not aimless but rather, in sum, "It's about aimlessness.' ... I'm finding it too easy, too convenient to say that a movie is reflecting its substance deliberately through its style. So I'm afraid an unbeliever is in your midst. I need more proof. I don't have enough faith."<br /><br />I'm skeptical, too. I'm even more skeptical about the reading I've seen in several reviews that goes something like this, to quote Jones:<br /><br />"You could say that The Master picks up where There Will Be Blood leaves off. By the Forties, long after the great religious revivals and reforms, after the land has been tamed and settled, the railroads and cities built, the gold mined, the oceans of oil tapped and the fortunes of the Carnegies and Dohenys and Vanderbilts made and ensconced in legend, a mounting standardization, desperation, and rancidness has set in, and another war has left men shattered. The only conceivable frontier is within."<br /><br />Look, that all sounds deep and dandy, but every single moment we see of Freddie suggests that the man is Just Not Right. We see no evidence he was ever meant to be special or that he's an accurate representation of Everyman. No evidence he has vision. No evidence he's anything but a drifter and would be a drifter in ANY era. That, in fact, is the point of Freddie: he has no future. Not one he sees, at least. So to make him reflective of an entire era seems like an extreme leap.<br /><br />Which leads me back to your skepticism: I'm seeing the film again on Thursday. I'm keeping my mind open to the possibility there's more structure/depth/purpose here than I'm seeing. Still, if THE MASTER is one of those films so imprecise that one can read almost any interpretation onto it, for me, that's a letdown, even while there will still be much in the film to enjoy.Jason Bellamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18150199580478147196noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-63875860798765279392012-09-29T16:12:25.563-04:002012-09-29T16:12:25.563-04:00So much has been said about the film's visuals...So much has been said about the film's visuals that I felt a push was needed in the other direction. Also, as I indicated, I think the visuals - or, in a broader sense, the "style" - ill-serve the movie in some ways. For instance, I'd be willing to buy that Freddie joins The Cause just to get laid, except that the film's many nude scenes are about as unerotic as nude scenes can get. The same weekend I saw <i>The Master</i> I also watched Kleber Milanca Filho's <i>Neighboring Sounds</i>, which incorporates a surprising amount of sensuality into the film. I wish Anderson's film had even half of it.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-90390232630231265622012-09-29T14:29:21.221-04:002012-09-29T14:29:21.221-04:00Interesting points, although it still seems to me ...Interesting points, although it still seems to me that you neglect many of the movie's artistic qualities (especially its shot by shot brilliance) in the midst of examining some of its weaknesses. I can defend <i>The Master</i> this way--it provided the inspiration for Kent Jones' amazing review, and that's justification enough. The Film Doctor https://www.blogger.com/profile/03073505923746994988noreply@blogger.com