“The Master:” Seafaring Messiah and Broken Vet

David Begelman

Film Critic

Don’t feign surprise when someone tells you that Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film “The Master” is a riff on Scientology. The movie, about a cult leader, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and a World War II veteran swept up in his zany world, Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), bears too many similarities to L. Ron Hubbard’s brain child to prevent us from drawing parallels.

Scientology makes for headline news in the media these days, primarily because of the split between Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. And in the film Freddie encounters Lancaster, a guru peddling a consciousness-raising system called “The Cause,” by jumping aboard a yacht. The ship is only too reminiscent of the original flagship of Hubbard, the “Royal Scotsman” (later renamed “Apollo”) of Sea Org fame.

Lancaster Dodd’s convictions also include a belief in reincarnation, a staple of Scientology, as well as such a mixed bag as the Hindu faith, philosophers Protagoras and Nietzsche and Shirley MacLaine. And Dodd’s conflicts with the law in Anderson’s 70 mm film have him winding up in jail for financial irregularities. Hubbard’s career was similarly peppered with legal problems, including getting kicked out of countries like Morocco, Greece, Spain and England. These were euphemistically dubbed “disconnection cruises” by Ron on transoceanic trips in his flagship Apollo.

In “The Master,” Freddie is a veteran of war in the Pacific. It left him a person of turbulent emotion, violent mood swings and impending violence. He is also a raging alcoholic given to frequent drinking binges. In the eyes of Lancaster Dodd, Freddie becomes a test case for the power of The Cause. The guru first attempts to meet Freddie on the latter’s own terms. He quaffs a toxic brew concocted by Freddie to show his new acolyte he can mix it up with the best of the guzzlers.

Anderson’s film is expertly directed, with some dazzling cinematography. But its chief attraction is the riveting portrayals of its two leads. Hoffman turns in a charismatic performance as Lancaster Dodd. Is this star even capable of mediocre acting?

But the real surprise is Phoenix, whose very name is apposite for an actor risen from the ashes of several past second-rate scripts, not to mention a brief and useless stint as a rap singer. In “The Master,” Phoenix’s portrayal is the most accomplished one of his film career—even if his sagging shoulders and disjointed ambulation in the role are a bit over the top for his character.

Mention should also be made of Amy Adams’ portrayal as “Peggy,” Lancaster Dodd’s wife. The actress radiates a steely reserve, marking the resoluteness of her commitment to her husband’s philosophy. She maintains an unflinching dedication to The Cause even when Dodd loses his cool. On one occasion, he suddenly erupts in anger when questioned by a follower, Helen Sullivan (Laura Dern) about a change of doctrine. His revisionism calls for replacing the memory of true events with the creative play of imagination.

The change, once commemorating a similar modification in L. Ron Hubbard’s system of Dianetics—not to mention Freud’s psychoanalysis—was broached by an early Scientologist, Dr. Joseph Winter. He speculated that aspects of “prenatal engrams” might have been “imagined” rather than being “true memories.” Of course, once you entertain the possibility that fantasy might replace what you once deemed to be reality, the collapse of your conceptual house of cards is just around the corner. There’s nothing like getting real to tarnish a theory’s fondest aspirations.

The subtext of “The Master” is Dodd’s faith in the spiritual rehabilitation of Freddie under his tutelage. But Freddie’s wayward path through alcoholism and his sex-obsessed interactions with women clash with the devotional path charted by The Cause. Yet from another angle, these frailties might be considered advantages. After all, they are stumbling blocks to a “religious” conversion that is only another form of slavery in disguise. Or is there something else percolating in Freddie that resists Dodd’s version of the true calling? 

At the end of the film, Dodd forewarns Freddie that the next time they meet, he will show no mercy. It’s an expected apostrophe for a leader whose world view demands nothing less than a mind-set confusing purity with mindlessness.