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The Master (2012)
In Paul Thomas Anderson's well-crafted, visually-compelling,
intelligent, R-rated psychological drama, that spawned considerable
controversy for its similarities to the leader of the Church of Scientology,
L. Ron Hubbard:
- the gripping scene of an informal technique called
"processing" proposed by the "Master": Lancaster
Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the opportunistic, charismatic cult
leader of "The Cause," to be used on sex-obsessed, rogue
drifter Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) - a series of lengthy, free-association
sessions (that required one not to blink) to help relive past traumatic
events and eliminate toxicity, negative emotional impulses, and inner
turmoil; the series of disturbing psychological questions seemed
to conquer Freddie's past traumas and exorcise his demons in a frightening
way
- the startling scene of Freddie's twisted, zany, hallucinated
sexual dream-fantasy - of Dodd singing and dancing among many naked
(full-frontal) female disciples at the Philadelphia home of one of
the Master's devotees
- the concluding scene between Dodd and Freddie, when
Dodd offered an ultimatum to Freddie - to remain and be devoted to
"The Cause," or to leave it forever and never return; Freddie
was silent - an implicit answer that he would leave; Dodd also added
that if Freddie could figure out a way "to live without serving
a master" - it would be a first: ("Free winds and no tyranny
for you? Freddie, sailor of the seas. You pay no rent. Free to go where
you please. Then go. Go to that landless latitude, and good luck. For
if you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then
let the rest us know, will you? For you'd be the first person in the
history of the world...If you leave here, I don't ever want to see
you again. Or you can stay... If we meet again in the next life, you
will be my sworn enemy, and I will show you no mercy"); before
Freddie left, Dodd serenaded him with the 1948 popular song: Slow
Boat to China
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- in the final scene, during sex with Winn Manchester
(Jennifer Neala Page) whom Freddie had just met in an English pub
- after asking her "processing" questions, Freddie told
her part of a line he had earlier heard from Dodd: "You're
the bravest girl I've ever known. (pause for laughter) Now stick
it back in, it fell out" (the film's last line of dialogue)
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"Processing" of Freddie by The Master
Freddie's Hallucinated Sex Dream-Fantasy of Dodd
The Final Scene
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