Written by: Juan Valenzuela

One of the things I love most about some of our current wave of American filmmakers working at their peak today like Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, and P.T Anderson, is that even if you’re disappointed over all with one of their films, you are guaranteed a unique cinematic experience. P.T Anderson’s films in particular have a scope similar to many of the works of Stanley Kubrick and Terrence Malick. It seems as though as a director his last film, There Will Be Blood was larger in scale to films like Boogie Nights and Magnolia, while at the same time it told a story that was actually very intimate. His next release The Master looks to have some of the same qualities as There Will Be Blood, and this time with an even more incredible visual style.

As with the other two teasers, we get a closer look at the character played by Joaquin Phoenix, and the growing influence Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s Lancaster Dodd has on him. The score and the period costumes are similar to There will Be Blood, but the visual style of this one looks like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This is post World War II American brought to life in a sharp and beautiful manner, and the fact that he shot the entire film in 65mm is going to make the look even more unique. Now from my non-techno point of view, 65 mm has an image close to Imax in height, but even wider on the screen. The fact that he is making a film in this ratio that is not a “special effects” movie can hopefully inspire other directors to shoot regular dramas and comedies for the big screen rather than just for home entertainment. If that then becomes the trend, it might even boost theater ticket sales. I for one am really looking forward to Anderson’s latest artistic statement and eager to see how it may affect how other filmmakers choose to tell their stories.