TORONTO - What is it with all the talk of time travel up here? “Looper†and “Cloud Atlas,†both introduced at the Toronto International Film Festival in the last few days, are loaded with migrating souls or leaps across the years. And Paul Thomas Anderson used the phrase “time travel†at least three times as he described his movie, “The Master,†at a press conference here on Saturday afternoon.
The pop culture, or at least filmmakers, are clearly in a mood to slip the bonds of the present.
As for Mr. Anderson - whose film had just won the Silver Lion award for directing and a shared acting award for Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Venice Film Festival - the somet imes mumbled references to time travel were an attempt to explain both the deep descent into a setting in the mid-20th century, and an exploration of the persistence of the soul by Mr. Hoffman, who plays a pseudo-philosopher of sorts in the movie.
Mr. Hoffman rolled his eyes and was dismissive when a reporter asked about parallels between his movie and Scientology. He basically dodged the question. But that could ultimately be an issue with the moviegoing public.
Before a public screening of “The Master†here on Friday, the most frequently heard question among a crowd who waited two hours on the sidewalk was: “What is this movie about?â€
The answer, invariably, was: “Scientology.â€
Mr. Anderson is insisting on a more subtle sort of theme. At the news conference, he balked at the notion that “The Master†was about a cult, never mind Mr. Hoffman's portrayal of a charismatic leader with idiosyncratic beliefs and a close circle of believers.
The insistence that viewers rise to an understanding of “The Master†poses a fascinating challenge when the film is released later this month.
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