The first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master has hit, and it is brilliant, beautiful, and powerful.

If this wasn’t on your list of films to look forward to this year, put it near/at the top now. Right now. Because it looks exceptional.

We caught our first look at the poster yesterday, and have seen a handful of teaser clips/trailers in recent months, but this is our first full-length look at the film, and it shows a lot of promise.

“Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Paul Thomas Anderson (the acclaimed director of, There Will Be Blood, Magnolia and Boogie Nights), this story stars Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) and Academy Award-nominee Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line). 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 one time vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor. A truly one-of-a-kind drama, which promises magnetic virtuoso performances, the film marks the fifth collaboration between Anderson and Hoffman, following Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love.”

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix star in the lead, with strong support coming from the brilliant Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, and David Warshovsky, and music coming from Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood, We Need to Talk About Kevin).

Alongside everything else that’s brilliant about this first look, it also reveals one of the scenes that Tom Cruise is said not to be particularly happy with, regarding the idea that Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character is making things up as he goes along.

Is it about Scientology? Is it not about Scientology? We may never officially know for sure, but it’s going to be very interesting to see it unfold.

The Master will be released in the USby The Weinstein Company on 12th October, followed by a UK release on 9th November. The odds are good that it will be heading straight towards the Oscars when the nominees are announced early next year.

 

Source: Yahoo Movies.