The Master , Paul Thomas Anderson's long-awaited return to the director's chair, has released a brand new poster featuring a recurring image of the film's three leads, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.
Whereas the first poster took the form of a chilled wine bottle, this new sheet employs a kind of kaleidoscope design. If that original image alluded to Phoenix's character's alcohol problems, perhaps this new one is a reflection of his fragmented state of mind?
Set in the '50s, the film will focus upon Phoenix's heavy-drinking drifter, a former military man with a whole host of psychological issues. He's the dictionary definition of a lost soul until a chance encounter with Hoffman's charismatic thinker gives his life new purpose.
Hoffman is the leader of a cult, the popularity of which is on the rise in post-war America. Taking a shine to Phoenix, he appoints him as his number two, only for the younger man's increasingly erratic behaviour to begin to put their "movement" at risk.
Co-starring Laura Dern and Jesse Piemons, The Master will open in the UK on 9 November 2012. Given that it's Anderson's first film in five years, and Phoenix's big comeback after the I'm Still Here debacle, it promises to be something rather special.
