The Master , Paul Thomas Anderson’s long-awaited return to the big screen, has released a first official poster in which the title is cryptically presented on the label of a bottle of wine.
Set in the ’50s, the film sees Philip Seymour Hoffman star as the charismatic Lancaster Dodd, a WW2 veteran who founds his own religion as a way of coping with the trauma of his experiences. Taking on cult-like levels of popularity, his influence begins to grow as people willingly flock to him in search of guidance.
One such individual is Joaquin Phoenix’s disenfranchised drifter, who stumbles across Dodd having been discharged from the army, and soon falls under his spell, eventually becoming his right hand man.
What exactly the wine bottle motif has to do with the story remains to be seen, with the only connection we can draw being that Phoenix’s character seems as though he might have a problem with drink. Whatever it symbolises however, it’s unquestionably a very sleek design!
Anderson’s first directorial effort since There Will Be Blood back in 2007, The Master opens in the UK on 9 November 2012. We’re expecting something very special indeed…