VISUAL ARTS

A film that sparked an unprecedented move in this age of digital cinema – its initial release was abetted by special runs of 70mm film prints – THE MASTER is the newest film by Paul Thomas Anderson, undoubtedly one of the great American filmmakers of today. In this intense and epic character study, Joaquin Phoenix plays an aimless WWII veteran who simply can’t find a place in the post-War world. A chance encounter brings him into the orbit of a charismatic religious leader (Hoffman) and a curious bond is formed.

(2012) dir Paul Thomas Anderson w/Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams [144 min, Screens on 35mm]

“In just five feature films, Paul Thomas Anderson has commanded a position at the very pinnacle of American cinema. His work is debated, studied and adored for its narrative innovation, its dynamism, and most of all for its sheer cinema. To watch the work of Paul Thomas Anderson is to watch movies at their most alive.” – Cameron Bailey, Toronto Int’l Film Festival

“????! Nothing as big and strange and right as “The Master” should feel as effortless as it does. That’s not the same as saying that it’s light. It’s actually heavy. It weighs more than any American film from this or last year. It’s the sort of movie that young men aspiring to write the Great American Novel never actually write.” – Wesley Morris, The Boston Globe