20/02/2023
film screening and discussion
The Master
Od–jazd Film Club meeting
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The Master
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directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, USA 2012, 144’
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- The most ambiguous film of one of the most fascinating contemporary filmmakers Paul Thomas Anderson.
- After the war, ex-sailor Freddie cannot find his way in the new reality. A sense of insecurity drives him into loneliness and alcoholism. Everything changes when he meets the mysterious writer and philosopher Lancaster. Fascinated by his charisma, Freddie joins a group of Lancaster’s followers, gradually succumbing to the Master’s influence…
- Anderson proves once again that a nuanced cinema – full of understatement, narrative ellipses and intriguing contradictions – is the most powerful. The Master’s power lies not only in a striking story about the darkness of the human soul, but above all in a masterful psychological performance by Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
- Who is the eponymous Master?
- What is the film’s unusual narrative style?
- What are the main determinants of Paul Thomas Anderson’s style?
- We will try to answer these and many other questions together with our club’s expert Sebastian Smoliński. We invite you to the screening and discussion, during which you will be able to ask questions and share your ideas on how to interpret the film. What do you think The Master is about? We want to hear your opinion!
- Sebastian Smoliński
- Film critic, American studies expert, lecturer at the American Studies Center of the University of Warsaw and the Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He publishes in the magazines EKRANy, Tygodnik Powszechny and in the Filmweb portal, he is a regular guest on Hrapkowidz (Polish Radio 4) and Kino mówi (Ale Kino+ TV channel). Together with Michał Oleszczyk he hosts an English-language podcast Foreign Correspondents: Deeper into Hitchcock. Fellow of the Kosciuszko Foundation Poland (he taught classes on Polish cinema at the Cleveland State University in 2020), collaborator of the New Horizons Festival, winner of the Krzysztof Mętrak Competition in 2017. Educator of the National Audiovisual Institute initiative Skrytykuj! [Criticise!]. Co-author of collective works on the history of cinema: Spanish-language monography La doble vida de Krzysztof Kieślowski (ed. Joanna Bardzińska), Kino afroamerykańskie [Afro-American Cinema] (ed. Ewa Drygalska and Marcin Pieńkowski) and David Lynch. Polskie spojrzenia [David Lynch. Polish Views] (ed. Anna Osmólska-Mętrak and Radosław Osiński). His essay “Suchary” [Dad Puns] for dwutygodnik.com was published in the book Delfin w malinach. Snobizmy i obyczaje ostatniej dekady [Dolphin in Raspberries. Snobbism and Customs of the Last Decade] published by Czarne Publishing House.
- Language
- Film in English
- Lecture and debate in Polish
- Screening as part of Film Club {OD–JAZD}.
- Tickets 5 zł
