The Annapurna Pictures Twitter account got a little nostalgic this week as they posted a previously unreleased trailer to mark the nine year anniversary of Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master. It's only a minute long, but certainly does the film's disturbing and intense storyline the justice it deserves. Some might even say it would be a little too effective to show anyone who hasn't seen the movie - which possibly explains why it was previously unreleased until now.
The trailer features Lancaster Dodd (played by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman) singing "Slow Boat to China", a very impactful song from the movie. Short cutscenes of Freddie (Joaquin Phoenix) travelling and running are suddenly interrupted by a closeup shot of Dodd screaming his name. The next scenes are a dark dive into Dodd and Freddie's relationship, featuring instances of physical assault from Freddie - both on others, and himself.
The critical reception of the movie upon release was very successful, but it may have been a little too dense for audiences. Its Rotten Tomatoes score put it at 84% with the critics, but only 62% with audiences.
If you're a PTA fan and feeling a little nostalgic right now, today would be a great day to revisit this dark, cerebral classic.