“You are the bravest boy I’ve ever met.”
My favourite PTA changes day by day, but to me this is the one that only he could have made. Like many of his movies, it’s a love story, but it’s also an indictment of how we treat veterans and the long term effects of war on the individual, an opprobrium of not only Scientology but all hero worship and idolatry, and an exploration of the way men find ways to relate to each other when so many kinds of emotional expression are completely off the table.
It’s beautiful to look at, of course, but more important is its cast of complex, vulnerable characters, all of whom genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing, even as that pursuit spirals further and further into chaos. And then there’s Freddie, pure id, looking for salvation wherever he can find it.
The Master offers us the perspective that all of us are guided by one faith or another, and that all relationships are dictated by power dynamics. The one between Freddie and Lancaster is exaggerated, of course, but there’s a kernel of that relationship in every mentor, teacher, authority figure, or even in any friendship. Freddie has seen things that no one should ever have to see, and it leaves him broken and helpless. Lancaster takes advantage of this, but we see that he’s looking for someone to complete him, too, and that Freddie represents a freedom that he grasps at but can’t quite reach.
What I like most about this film is that it defies easy answers. It would’ve been simpler to make a movie about Scientology, or even a crazy cult leader, but that’s not what this is. In pre-production, Hoffman suggested to PTA that not Lancaster but Freddie should be the focus of the movie, and I think that’s crucial — Freddie is a sort of Biblical figure, subject to forces beyond his control, constantly tempted and challenged. The Master doesn’t moralize Freddie or Lancaster’s decisions. It’s a story about two men looking for meaning, who happen to find it in each other.
“I’d love to get you on a slow boat to China, all to myself, all alone.”
This article was originally written for Letterboxd.