Freddy is fresh from the war.
He's been killing the Japanese. He seems to have PTSD. He's a man who
belongs in motion. Still, his life lacks structure which may have
ultimately led him to the Armed Forces, and explains his attraction to
the Master. In a way the two central characters want what the other has.
Freddy is a feral animal. At the start we see him masturbating at the
beach, fighting, unable to hold down jobs, and injuring people with his
alcoholic concoctions. The alchemy of his alcoholic creations does
though show his potential, as does his eye for photography.
He
forces himself to sea. It's essentially where be belongs. There he
finds the religious group of Lancaster Todd. Todd's attraction to Freddy is that they are polar opposites. Todd is
controlled, serious, well-mannered and weighs a lot, all unlike
Freddy. But as the Master asks Freddy personal questions, he takes a
liking to him right away, aided by a hint of recognition. I would
say Freddy represents his younger self, and that free, emotional,
reactionary spirit. He still yearns to be. Freddy wants guidance and not
to be in a bad place emotionally or in terms of addiction.
Freddy
impresses Todd with his alcohol experiments that he says contain "secrets." It
makes sense they would drink these secrets before the personality test where
Freddy reveals finally to someone the deepest recesses of his soul, that
he denied the psychiatrists of the Armed Forces earlier in the
film. He talks about murder, incest, his one true love. By the end of
the scene, they go from characters familiar to each other to best
friends. That's one way to bond.
From here you have the
framework of the religious belief of Lancaster Todd and his school of believers.
They provide the comfort of family but at a cost. You must remain
generally on the same page as Todd. Doesn't matter how far they go, how
extreme, with tales of time travel and past lives. You can never defect, your
service in the church is to grow it and exhibit it in lifelong commitment. Freddie is a loyal defender of the
cause, as referenced by his behavior toward the socialites in New York.
Then
comes the curious party scene where Todd dances with women. The scene
cuts and returns with all the women unclothed. This is the second major
break from the rest which can be considered literal, the first being the reminiscing scenes with Doris. It's purposely ambiguous, but this
seems more an act of Freddy's imagination. There's no clothing scattered
about. It's way out of line for values of the time. It seems built for
the subtext of the next scene, where Todd's wife is masturbating him in
front their bathroom mirror. She seems to suggest she's okay with
secretive infidelity but not polygamy. In the next screen a drunken
Freddy is confronted, controlled, made to repeat pledges and slapped
with probably the same psychosexual intent as used on her husband.
In
jail, Freddy, is told by Todd, "I'm the only one who likes you." And
it's true, Todd is the only person Freddy, a complex character, has
opened up to. The backbone of friendship is trust, and it's easier to
like someone when you know who they are. It's the same reason we like
dogs, they're not mysterious, their motivations and behaviors are readily
transparent. So far, Todd's psychoanalysis, however faulty, is the only
time Freddy has allowed himself to be him. Why wouldn't he trust Todd
who allowed him this release and who also holds many of the attributes
that he seeks. The prison scene may be the point in the movie where
their personalities are matched and equalized, as they're both reduced
to shouting animals.
Freddy may have started questioning but
remains protege at this point in the film. It's clear for reasons of ego
and affection for Freddie, Lancaster makes him the focus of his
bizarre psychoanalytical experiments. Also because Freddy is the most willing subject, maybe not the
biggest believer but the one with the biggest desire to believe. Freddy
is made to behave like a monkey, jumping between a wooden wall and a
window to the outside world he can feel but not physically see.
By
the time "Book Two" is released, you sense Freddy's influence on Todd's
work. Todd describes the secret now in less rigid terms, as "laughter."
He scolds a woman for questioning his choice to change his words from
"can you recall" to "can you imagine." Freddy seems to notice this
change in Dodd and it's not surprising during an exercise with the
group, his makeshift family, he drives off almost as if leaving the
nest. He's off to see Doris.
Of course, his former love Doris is
gone, moved, and married with children. She was left heartbroken and
upon marriage is left as 'Doris Day,' an actress and singer of the time known for her beauty. In a way
this points to the undoing of Freddy's picturesque fantasy of the
perfect woman. He gets over her. He has a vision, or dream, or a real
life phone call in an empty theater and is encouraged to visit Dodd at his school in
England.
Dodd and his wife attempt to gaslight Freddy in his
need for help and usefulness to the cause. He's not biting. Todd finally
submits and serenades Freddy in song in a final attempt to win his
favor and Freddy understands he's more powerful, even with less
structure, and no longer needs Master.
The movie ends with Freddy attempting Todd's psychoanalytical tricks during sex but he laughs and mentions his dick fell out.
Summary
This movie is difficult because it's experimental and its design instinctual. It flourishes for the same reason it fails, its in uncharted territories and swinging for the fences. It's a joy to watch it work and not work. The main focus is belief and not only religious belief, also desire, and what is there before us in reality. If there's a central message it may not even be entirely against religious institutions as it might suggest, but instead to say, you have final say, and if its outlived its usefulness you can ride off into the distance.
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