As awards season approaches, Paul Thomas Anderson and the team behind The Master have been screening the film to select audiences to generate buzz. It’s been getting generally positive – if occasionally confused – reactions, and the new trailer is likely to provoke similar emotions, as it once again focuses on Philip Seymour Hoffman’s charismatic Lancaster Dodd and Joaquin Phoenix’s Freddie Quell. Take a look below.
It’s easy to see why Anderson and the marketing bods might be focusing on those two; from the looks of all the promos so far and especially this one, they appear to be giving virtuoso performances. Hoffman is the calm, collected, intellectual but driven Dodd, a man who believes he has figured out the secret to happiness in life and wishes to share it, but who also seems to be building a cult-like following. Phoenix’s Quell, on the other hand, is an animalistic, out of control war veteran looking for guidance but also unable to control his urges. The clash between them promises to be something special.
US audiences get to experience The Master on September 14. We’ll have to wait until November 9 to see it.