The Master is one such film that I’d love to deconstruct over and over again to watch it from different perspectives. The film reiterates the hidden layers of one’s cognitive functioning veiling the boundaries of emotions. It’s a spellbinding film intended to introduce the concept of Scientology to those totally unaware of it. The concept of the “knowing” of knowledge. As vague as that sounds, the film makes a good show of it.
The movie has plenty of cues - elements if you will - that demonstrate an idea or a consciousness. Such as the motorcycle, the sand sculpture, and the intoxicating scene where Freddie Quell is made to walk to and away from the glass window. The film is coarse, imaginative, and persistent. But is it real? That remains a mystery - a reflection of its own inevitable path.
The Master is experimental and profoundly attached to its personality - which is nothing short of inventive and extraordinary. To watch it is to see the universe in a flux of fears, desires, emotions, and feelings. The pull of consciousness that separates a dream from reality as soon as you are caught in the wake. But is that necessarily an awakening? This is where the depth of the sea of limitations of knowledge runs the deepest.