The Master

Started my PTA rewatch a couple months ago and finished last week with Magnolia, only to find out SIFF cinema is screening his whole filmography in their awesome Cinerama theater. Couldn’t pass up the opportunity to dip back in and see one of my favorites on the big screen for the first time. “If you figure a way to live without serving a master, any master, then let the rest of us know, will you? For you'd be the first in the history of the world.” I always switch between this one and Magnolia as my favorite PTA. Its lush, dark, subdued complexities are a great contrast to the straighter, indulgent melodrama of Magnolia. Is it about how easy it is for a broken mind to get sucked up by the black hole presented by a cult of personality? Or about your addictions, vices, trauma and how they rule your existence? Or about giving yourself to your art, being drawn into and consumed by it, thinking it’s all that can save you, until you learn there’s more to life? Or simply about living life on your own accord, with your own freedom, not tied to the tyranny of those who wish to exert control … I think it’s about all those things and more. Always love diving into the rich, absurd, texture filled waters of this film.