History Film / TheMaster

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Freddie leaves The Cause, but not before Dodd says that he will be his enemy in another life, followed by him singing "Slow Boat to China" to a crying Freddie. After coming to terms that he'll never see Dodd again, he picks up a girl at a bar. Then after they finish having sex he asks her questions from his first session, then it cuts to him sleeping with the sand woman from the opening scenes.]]

* IHaveNoSon: Implied with Dodd and his daughter Elizabeth. In their last meeting, Freddie asks where Elizabeth is and Peggy says "DCF". Freddie responds with a surprised "Really?". The movie does not explain further but this may be inspired by the Scientology practice of declaring individuals who are perceived to be anti-Scientology as "Suppressive Persons" (SP). Such persons are shunned by everyone in the church, which is called "Disconnect." This is likely part of what "DCF" stands for.
* {{Irony}}: At the beginning of Freddie's time with the Cause, Dodd's daughter Elizabeth is fervorously devoted to it while his son Val is openly dismissive, even telling Freddie that Dodd is making it up as he goes along. By the time Dodd sets up shop in England several years later, Val is still with the Cause while Elizabeth has apparently been expelled from it.

* TheMaster: Apropriately enough, Dodd is this to his adherents, who sometimes address him as "Master".

* ShellShockedVeteran: Freddie receives therapy for shell-shock after the war, though it's left ambiguous as to whether his problems are pre-existing. All we see from his war days are him lounging on an island and a ship, while he admits to having a sexual relationship with his aunt as a youth.

-Alternately, DCF stands for Department of Children and Families, which may imply that their daughter has been taken from them by the authorities.

* ShoutOut: The scenes of Freddie in a psychiatric hospital were inspired by the famous Creator/JohnHuston documentary ''Film/LetThereBeLight'', with Anderson going so far as to lift bits of dialogue from the Huston film.

Also, this film is significant for being the first visual narrative production shot entirely on 70 millimeter film in nearly 16 years, the last being the 1996 film adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix (in his first film role after a two year hiatus) as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman and his wife Peggy played by Creator/AmyAdams. From there on, the film becomes a character study between Dodd and Freddie as their relationship varies between "Leader and Follower", "Teacher and Student", "Father and Son" and "Master and Slave".

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix (in his first film role after a two year hiatus) as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman and his wife Peggy played by Creator/AmyAdams. From there on, the film becomes a character study between Dodd and Freddie as their relationship varies between "Leader and Follower", "Teacher and Student", "Father and Son" and "Master and Slave".

* LadyMacbeth: Dodd's wife Peggy (AmyAdams) is this in a big way.

* KavorkaMan: Freddie has no trouble getting female attention, despite being a drunken weirdo who's clearly suffering from mental health problems.

* KavorkaMan: Freddie has no trouble getting female attention, despite being a drunken weirdo.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/themasterposter_2602.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:No, not ''[[Series/DoctorWho that]]'' Master.]]

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix (In his first film role after a two year hiatus) as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman and his wife Peggy played by Creator/AmyAdams. From there on, the film becomes a character study between Dodd and Freddie as their relationship varies between "Leader and Follower", "Teacher and Student", "Father and Son" and "Master and Slave".

* PopStarComposer: Jonny Greenwood of {{Radiohead}}, who also collaborated with Anderson on ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood''.

->'''Freddie''': "I don't know what I told you but if you have work for me to do I can do it."
->'''Dodd''': "You seem so familiar to me."
->'''Freddie''': "Yeah. What do you do?"
->'''Dodd''': "I am a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist and a theoretical philosopher. But above all, I am a man, a hopelessly inquisitive man, just like you."

''The Master'' is the long-awaited sixth feature film of director Creator/PaulThomasAnderson. It was released on September 14, 2012.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: After building - and briefly humping - a sand sculpture of a woman, Freddie masturbates into the ocean.
** Peggy gives a hand job to Dodd, after making him promise he'll keep any marital indiscretions...discreet. See FanDisservice.

** A super-creepy scene where Dodd is singing at a party and Freddie visualizes all the female guests naked.
** This is immediately followed by the least sexy hand job in history.

Also, this film is significant for being the first visual narrative production shot entirely on 70 millimeter film in nearly 18 years, the last being the 1996 film adaptation of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.

-->'''Freddie''': "I don't know what I told you but if you have work for me to do I can do it."
-->'''Dodd''': "You seem so familiar to me."
-->'''Freddie''': "Yeah. What do you do?"
-->'''Dodd''': "I am a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist and a theoretical philosopher. But above all, I am a man, a hopelessly inquisitive man, just like you."

** Peggy gives a hand job to Dodd, after making him promise he'll keep any marital indiscretions...discrete. See FanDisservice.

** A super-creepy scene where Dodd is singing at a party and Freddie and/or Dodd visualize all the female guests naked.

* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: Freddie leaves The Cause, but not before Dodd says that he will be his enemy in another life, followed by him singing Slow Boat to China to a crying Freddie. After coming to terms that he'll never see Dodd again, he picks up a girl at a bar. Then after they finish having sex he asks her questions from his first session, then it cuts to him sleeping with the sand woman from the opening scenes.]]

* TheLostLenore: Doris acts as this to Freddie. [[spoiler:Near the end, Freddie and the audience find out that she moved to Alabama and started a family.]]
* TheMaster: Apropriately enough, Dodd is this to his adherents.

* TheOneThatGotAway: The teenage girl that Freddie ditched--his one big regret, as he reveals to Dodd in processing.

* AllJustADream: The final shot could be interpreted two ways: Either Freddie's passed out on the beach and just made the movie up...
** OrWasItADream: Or it could be him reflecting on comparably better times.

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix (In his first film role after his seven year hiatus) as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman and his wife Peggy played by Creator/AmyAdams. From there on, the film becomes a character study between Dodd and Freddie as their relationship varies between "Leader and Follower", "Teacher and Student", "Father and Son" and "Master and Slave".

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman and his wife Peggy played by Creator/AmyAdams. From there on, the film becomes a character study between Dodd and Freddie as their relationship varies between "Leader and Follower", "Teacher and Student", "Father and Son" and "Master and Slave".

The movie is a [[SceneryPorn lushly filmed]], deeply complex portrayal of a broken man and the person who offers to redeem him. [[CriticalDissonance Like all of Anderson's previous films]], ''The Master'' received positive reviews from critics with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Actor for Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor for Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Adams.). Audience reactions were more [[LoveItOrHateIt divided]], with many complaining of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, and [[AcclaimedFlop failed to make it's money back]]. For cinephiles, the film's still worth watching at least once if only just to see what you get out of it.

* IHaveNoSon: Implied with Dodd and his daughter Elizabeth. In their last meeting, Freddie asks where Elizabeth is and Peggy says "DCF". Freddie responds with a surprised "Really?". The movie does not explain further but this may be inspired by the Scientology practice of declaring individuals who are perceived to be anti-Scientology as "Suppressive Persons" (SP). Such persons are shunned by everyone in the church.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Freddie assaults some police officers coming to arrest Dodd, and gets arrested himself. Dodd gets sentenced and released, but we don't see how Freddie's was resolved, he simply turns up at the house. It could be he was just out on bail, but nothing more is shown, and it's quite unlikely charges of assaulting police were simply dropped, as those tend to get taken ''very'' seriously.

The movie is a [[SceneryPorn lushly filmed]], deeply complex portrayal of a broken man and the person who offers to redeem him. [[CriticalDissonance Like all of Anderson's previous films]], ''The Master'' received positive reviews from critics with an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and was nominated for three Academy Awards (Best Actor for Phoenix, Best Supporting Actor for Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress for Adams.). Audience reactions were more [[LoveItOrHateIt divided]], with many complaining of DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, and [[AcclaimedFlop failed to make it's money back]]. Take that as you will.

The film stars Creator/JoaquinPhoenix as Freddie Quell, a misguided young man who, after demobilizing from WorldWarII, falls under the sway of charismatic cult leader Lancaster Dodd, played by Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman. Creator/AmyAdams plays his wife, Peggy.