the master & the magician.

"The Master" is the new movie out this fall by Paul Thomas Anderson. I probably didn't have to tell you that. I was very excited to see it. Ever since "Boogie Nights" seared my soul, I always get excited to see a new PTA movie. And I'm always let down. "The Master" was no exception.

Don't get me wrong. There were some great elements to this film, but they just never came together as a fully realized and satisfying experience. It was too damn long, and every scene was overly drawn out with the the director's hyper-awareness of his film making technique, his artistry bloating the story rather than enhancing it.

The tale itself is only special in that it is (very) loosely based on the rise of L.Ron Hubbard, but this knowledge is more interesting than what actually plays out in the film. That, and the complex relationship between father/mentor and son/innocent that PTA is always exploring in his work. He's really got the dynamic down pat.

 
What I did appreciate about "The Master" were the performances. They were amazing. Joaquin Phoenix, who normally makes me so uncomfortable I can't even go into it, was riveting and captured the nature of the soldier adrift in society after World War II. And given the CoS influence, I couldn't help but draw some parallels to what we know about Tom Cruise and his beginnings with Scientology.

But the movie, of course, belongs to Philip Seymour Hoffman in the titular role. He has a blast with it, and if he didn't, I don't know if I could have sat through the whole film. You can tell Anderson gives Hoffman a lot of freedom with the part, and he runs with it, bringing just the right amount of scoundrel-ness (not a real word, I know) to the character. He's the opposite of Daniel Day-Lewis in "There Will Be Blood"--and every other film he takes himself so damn, damn, damn seriously in (I'm looking at you, "Lincoln" trailer).

I have a friend who played supporting roles in both "TWBB" and "The Master," and he reports that PTA is excellent with actors. I'm not trying to be all L.A. name-droppy and obnoxious. It's simply a fact. And it was one of the elements I appreciated about an otherwise forgettable film.



The other thing I thought was really cool was the final line uttered by Hoffman. SPOILER ALERT: "If you figure out a way to live without a master, any master, be sure to let the rest of us know, for you would be the first in the history of the world."

This, I have to admit, left me with chills. Because in one sentence, it sums up man's inherent search for God and how he attempts to fulfill it by worshiping other men (or ladies, if you will). At least, that's what it said to me.

Which leads me to...

The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham. I knew nothing of this book until I recently came across the title in something about Aleister Crowley. I was fascinated to learn that Maugham was inspired to write a novel after meeting (and detesting) the modern Prince of Darkness.

Again, The Magician isn't a terribly great work. The story is less than provocative, and the portrait Maugham paints of Crowley ("Oliver Haddo" in the book) is rather sophomoric. Haddo is grossly corpulent, foul and despicable--a caricature of evil. With his mysterious powers of "magick," he woos away the beautiful (bland) fiancée of a handsome young (blander) doctor to a gruesome (and absurd) end.

What is interesting about the novel is that even though Maugham attempts to dismiss Haddo as a grotesque freak, clearly he was affected enough by the figure of Crowley to not only write a novel about him, but grant the character the power to ruin the protagonists' lives (I'm not giving anything away).

It's well-documented that Maugham even plagiarized Crowley's writings in the book--which Aleister was all-too-delighted to point out in a newspaper editorial. The Magician didn't make me want to read more Crowley...but this did. And the fact that the Beatles put him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's twice and that Jimmy Page bought his home and that Kenneth Anger was his disciple...and lots of other stuff make me want to read more Crowley. His books seem complex and arcane, and I think there's a lot more to his work than the stereotypical occult crap everyone attributes to him.

Even though I wasn't much a fan of this particular volume, I am looking forward to reading more of Maugham, crotchety old bastard that he was. I read Of Human Bondage in college, but it's definitely time to make another go-round of it. Also, Cakes and Ale. And for sure The Razor's Edge. And perhaps even The Painted Veil, as I adored the film version.

I was also intrigued to discover the Maugham wrote a handful of short stories about a spy named Ashenden. Have to check that out. I should be able to get around to all of this some time in the next 20 years.

But wait!



In the smattering of research I did for this blog entry, I was absolutely thrilled to learn there is a 1926 silent film version of The Magician. A must-see! For an overview, check out this article on one of my favorite blogs. There is also an interesting piece here.

Worshiping masters. Hypnotized by magicians. It all brings me back to my most favorite words:

"The passive master lent his hand to the vast soul that o'er him planned." --Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Problem.