Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh until Thu 13 Dec
Paul Thomas Anderson / USA / 2012 / 144 min
Like the media behemoths who strain to convince us their particular angle on a story is correct, Paul Thomas Anderson’s hypnotic character study depicts the process of corrupting someone’s thoughts with unlimited access to them and calculated wording. After failing at civilian life, WWII veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes enamoured by the compelling but dubious teachings of Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).
The majority of scenes are exquisitely crafted, with lingering close-ups of silent faces forcing second-guesses to their exact thoughts, or aesthetically balanced frames depicting simple actions with careful consideration (an arrival in Philadelphia). The fastidiousness of the cinematography compliments Hoffman’s unrelenting self-belief and appropriately feels like a style The Master would have approved of. This is supported by a superb Phoenix whose cambered bulk swaggers through the sequences with a disdainful sorrow. Hoffman too deftly swings from pontificating messiah to inebriated companion always oozing the self-assurance of a corrupt bookmaker.
Disappointingly however, other than preaching to the willing (and clobbering the less so), the narrative lacks a significant story arc and would benefit from more input from the sceptics; also during the lengthy run-time the unsubstantial plot soon eclipses the beauty of the camera work. While the film is ultimately about manipulating the suggestible, like Hoffman’s questionable rhetoric, the delivery’s captivating but there’s little substance to grasp.
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