When the first teaser trailer emerged for Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master a month ago, it didn't feature a single frame of the titular character, the L. Ron Hubbard-esque cult leader played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Instead all the focus went to Joaquin Phoenix, who we see comes from a troubled background and who eventually falls under the wing of The Master, eventually becoming his right-hand man. Now a longer trailer for the film has debuted online, and it finally gives us our first look at Hoffman as the title character, possessing the kind of calm confidence and charisma that makes you believe in his potential cult almost immediately. Take a look below.
It's also our first look at Amy Adams in the film, who we've been told is playing Hoffman's character's wife, but we don't' really know much of anything about this movie for sure. All the same, the focus is still on Phoenix's character, from that excellent extended scene of him climbing out of a river bank to his outburst in a jail cell. Hoffman commands a lot of attention with his calm demeanor, but Phoenix is the one bringing all the fire, and it's going to be fascinating to see those two performances thrown together in a scene.
Probably my main takeaway from the trailer, though, is the percussive score from Jonny Greenwood, who was robbed blind of an Oscar nomination for his work on There Will Be Blood to arcane rules, but seems to be doing similarly spare and haunting work here. Let's face it-- there are a million reasons to be excited for The Master, which is set to come to theaters in October. Let us know your own reasons in the comments below.
