“The Master”, directed by genius Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Magnolia), iso ne of the bookmakers favourites for the 2012 Golden Lion at this year Venice Film Festival.
The movie is about the story of a charismatic intellectual (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who launches a religious organization following the World War II. A drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) becomes his right-hand man but as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the drifter finds himself questioning the belief system and his mentor.

Almost based on Scientology founder member’s story, the movie is a drama for which the director had the idea for about 12 years.
Anderson initially got the idea for the film by reading a quote that mentioned that the period after wars was a time for spiritual movements to start.
When he first began writing the script he had no idea what it was, where it was going, or where it would end up but he kept on working on it and it came together. While writing Anderson would have Hoffman read parts of the script and give feedback which lead to Hoffman suggesting that the film should be Freddie’s story and not Lancaster’s. To write the script, Anderson combined unused scenes from early drafts of There Will Be Blood, stories Jason Robards had told him on the set of Magnolia about his drinking days in the Navy during the war, the life stories of John Steinbeck and L. Ron Hubbard .

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