The Master: Norton loveliness

Bikes

We might be a little late to the party here but having just seen the incredible 70MM movie that is Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, we have to share.

The film, beautiful, challenging and featuring incredible performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and a host of others – includes a Bonneville-referencing scene on which the main characters belt across a dry lake bed on a beautiful pre-war Norton-looking bike an original of which we were lucky to bump into at Pembrokeshire Classics last week.

We’re not sure whether the bike is an original – probably not, we reckon – but whether or not the bike is the real deal, it evokes perfectly the beautiful abandonment of riding an old bike, with no fences, limits, rules or regulations to spoil the fun.

The film itself is a meditation on belief, mental illness, corruption and dictatorship which follows closely the life of Dianetics founder L. Ron Hubbard. Apart from founding the most famous cult in history – he was a big bike fan, apparently.

We suggest you go and see it: even if you don’t care for the symphonic sound of a one pot thumper.



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