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Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Release Date: December 26th, 2007
Rating: R for some violence.
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 As a reward for seeing Atonement with my wife, I got to see There Will Be Blood.
The amount of hype there has been for Daniel Day Lewis' performance in this movie is overwhelming. He's already won a Golden Globe at this point and he has been nominated for an Oscar as well.
The hype is well deserved. I haven't seen a performance that has impacted me this much since Robert Duvall in The Apostle.
The story is of Daniel Plainview who was mining for silver when he discovered oil. He switches his mining focus to drilling for oil and slowly builds up success. Early in the film, one of Plainview's workers is killed leaving behind a young baby boy. Plainview takes the boy and raises him as his own.
The majority of the story takes place in Little Boston, California. After getting tipped to the prospect of oil, Plainview buys up the land and begins drilling. The story is follows Plainview and his son over the next few years as they work the oil. The complications of how to drill, how to transport the oil, and dealing with competitors are all dealt with as Plainview's daily routines are filled with trying to make this oil prospect successful.
One of the central plots are Plainview's dealings with a local group of faith healers from the Church of the Third Revelation, which is a great name for a cult.
Plainview is a frugal man with little use for God. When he finds himself confronted by the church for donations, he does not respond kindly. The interactions between Plainview and the church build throughout the film. It starts with small slights here and there, but continues to build into open conflicts. Plainview sees them as just another competitor in this world. And he aims to completely defeat and humiliate all competitors. But the church owns land that Plainview needs.
The movie is slow, yet not boring. Watching Plainview interact with people is fascinating. This movie could have been another 3 hours long and I don't think I would have been bored.
As for interesting techniques, the music is mainly made up violent violins. These are the kind you hear in a horror film that is attempt to grip you with suspense and terror. Throwing this kind of music into such a slow moving film definitely helped keep the pace seemingly fast.
But ultimately, it was Lewis who made this film. His speeches and rantings are superb to say the least. I've had lines he gave running through my head since I saw the film. His character evolves. At times, he shows emotion and weakness, but over time, he becomes less and less compassionate towards anything or anyone.
Contrary to the title, the film is not too violent. Atonement had much more graphic scenes throughout.
The ending is a great twist that was fitting to Lewis' character and the story as a whole.
Catch There Will Be Blood. You'll be floored by Lewis and the story as well. |
