I wanted to sit down and write about the first time I saw The Master. It was the first thing I thought about when I heard the news about Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death this morning. I remembered – or so I thought – that I watched it on the plane coming back from New York in 2012, but a quick IMDb and Wikipedia search showed that it wasn’t released until after I returned to Australia. It must’ve been on DVD.
Let me be clear about one thing first: I didn’t enjoy The Master. It was brilliant, yes, but tough in the way Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies can be, because they demand commitment from an emotionally intelligent audience. Here’s arguably the most famous scene, it will give you a taste of what I’m talking about if you’ve not seen it.
But then, ‘enjoy’ is a wrong word to pair with The Master, perhaps. It’s easier to associate enjoyment with The Big Lebowski or Boogie Nights – two of my favourite movies – and he’s in both. In Boogie Nights he’s pale, flabby and with a puppyish desire to be included and accepted that anyone who’s ever felt like an outsider can recognise. His chameleon abilities has been lauded by practically everyone over the years, the number of awards won and nominations garnered is further testament. He was surprising with his characterisations; you felt like he was there, testing their skin, pushing, but so well, so naturally, you forgot instantly. I even Tweeted in 2010: “My but Philip Seymour Hoffman is a slippery, slippery sort of man in Doubt.”
I also put this remark up over at Facebook. It got an immediate reply from a friend who I hadn’t seen since we were teenagers, and our Facebook interactions had been minimal, if active at all. She replied something along the lines of “Yes! What amazing performances.”
I believe it’s the mark of a performance, and of a truly great actor, who can touch an audience in such a way to then go on and talk with others in the most basic, but lovely, ways we consume art for in the first place: to connect. Think of all the movies that come out every year, how many other actors can claim the same and so consistently?
It’s one of the reasons why I’m very sad today. For him, for his poor family. Vale Philip Seymour Hoffman.
