Joaquin Phoenix "Returns" to Acting in First Trailer for The Master
Posted 05.21.12 by Ryan
It's been a while since either director Paul Thomas Anderson or actor Joaquin Phoenix have made or appeared in a movie — 2007's There Will Be Blood was Anderson's last, while Phoenix's was the 2010 faux-documentary I'm Still Here. The upcoming The Master will see them back on the big screen in a collaboration that emulates both of their unique careers.
Anderson, who became a sensation with 1997's Boogie Nights, has never been one to speedily churn out movies. He's been working on The Master for some time. A version of the script was leaked over two years ago. Then known as "Untitled Scientology, the movie follows Phoenix as a former Navy soldier who becomes the right-hand of a family man (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who happens to be the leader of his own cult-like religion (reportedly thought to be based on Scientology). The trailer offers no sight of Hoffman, instead focusing on a surreal Q&A between Phoenix and a Naval officer.
Not that it will help in your understanding of the trailer, but here's the official synopsis of The Master.
Set in America in the years following World War II, a charismatic intellectual (Hoffman) launches a faith-based organization and taps a young drifter (Phoenix) as his right-hand man. But as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the onetime vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor.
Written and directed by Anderson, The Master co-stars Amy Adams and Laura Dern.
Next Showing: The Master opens October 12