NEW There Will Be Blood (DVD)

 

 

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If you ever explore threads asking people to list the movies they find the most boring, you'll see that There Will Be Blood is often mentioned. I can understand why. The opening 14-and-a-half minutes doesn't contain any dialogue unless you count the occasional grunt or cry of pain. The score is often unsettling and unlike anything you would expect to hear. The pacing is slow and the film has plenty of painful scenes.

The opening scene is set in 1898 and gives us immediate insight into the character of Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis). We see him working alone, prospecting for oil. It's a physically demanding occupation which is full of danger. One small lapse can cause a severe injury or even death. Plainview falls down a well shaft and breaks his leg, but discovers oil in the process. We then see him crawl backwards as he slowly makes his way into town to register the find. He's one of the most stubborn and driven characters you will ever see portrayed on film.

In 1902, he's working with a group of men, and we are reminded again how dangerous the work is. A tiny mistake results in the death of a man and Plainview adopts his orphaned baby boy.

The story jumps forward several years and we see Plainview and his adopted son, HW, attending a town meeting. Plainview has discovered that the region contains oil and we see him making an offer to extract the oil. His argument is calm, reasonable, and logical. He's quite a salesman. He talks of other offers the town may receive and why his own proposal is the best solution for everyone. We are given the impression that he knows what he's talking about and it's difficult to resist his offer.

When Plainview is visited by Paul Sunday (Dano), the main part of the film begins. Paul offers to reveal the location of land rich in oil and he negotiates a price for the information. Plainview visits the town and finds that the information is accurate. He begins buying up all the available land.

The film contains a power struggle between Plainview and Eli Sunday (also played by Dano). Eli becomes Plainview's enemy immediately by negotiating a higher price for his father's ranch than Plainview expected to pay. Eli is also the town's priest and he seeks power and recognition at every available opportunity. Plainview sees him as a fake and doesn't seem to have any religious beliefs of his own, but he's forced to bow to Eli's wishes on several occasions.

I've barely touched on the plot, but I won't reveal any more. This is a sprawling story spanning several decades. It's one of the most intense character studies that I've ever seen. You'll see how Plainview relates to other people and his adopted son. He's a ruthless businessman and it's dangerous to cross him. In one scene, we hear his honest thoughts on society:

"I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people."

That last sentence is spoken with irony, but Plainview makes it clear that he understands his own true character. As the story progresses, we see what obsession and hatred can do to a man when it's maintained over a long period of time.

My knowledge of film isn't as deep as you would expect for someone of my age. It's a relatively new obsession in my life. However, I believe that Daniel Day-Lewis delivers the best acting performance I have ever seen. I didn't doubt for a moment that he was a bitter, obsessed, driven man, capable of doing anything to bring him closer to his goals. Day-Lewis is in every scene and the film wouldn't have had the same impact without his astonishing performance.

The technical aspects of the film are also superb. Jonny Greenwood's unusual score is particularly effective. One of my favorite moments happens during a drilling accident when the percussion increases in tempo as the scene unfolds. The cinematography is breathtaking at times. There's an early scene in which Plainview and HW approach the crest of a hill and the distant landscape is revealed. It's one of several moments of extreme beauty in the film.

If the film has a fault, I would say that the final 20 minutes don't quite match the quality of the rest of the story. This closing sequence still works, and contains a few memorable moments, but the first two hours are close to perfect.

If you enjoy character studies that aren't afraid to take the time to tell a story, There Will Be Blood might be your kind of film. If you need action and an upbeat conclusion, then it's probably not for you.

daniel day-lewis is genius. it is hard to take your eyes off this performance. the direction and attention to detail is fantastic. this is a film for film lovers. it's no popcorn flick. but if you appreciate art films, this is a gem.

If the early Paul Thomas Anderson seemed to be channeling the young hyper-energetic Martin Scorsese, 'There Will Be Blood' - a more quiet and thoughtful, but no less amazing and cinematic work - shows Anderson working in the vein of Stanley Kubrick. In place of a hyperactive camera, there is now a coldly, brilliantly observational one. In place of empathetic if damaged characters there are now people drowning in their own poison and lies.

He has created a film both boldly theatrical and subtly real, both broadly political and intensely personal. Complicated and intentionally confusing emotionally, with a protagonist gradually subsumed by greed, the film is full of ideas and themes, but feels more mature and focused than Anderson's earlier work, brilliant as that all was. Daniel Day Lewis is amazing, the film looks incredible (if simply shot for an Anderson film), one only sees more and more layers and meanings on repeated viewings.

One of the more important films of recent years, this critique of the American dream - both personal, and by extension national - of success, of conquest, and of control is mesmerizing, and ultimately devastating.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Good Movie
This is a very good movie based on the actual hisotic events surrounding the oil boom, its not a flashy movie, it's one that makes you think and reflect. Read more

Published 13 months ago by Rob

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest performances ever
There Will Be Blood is one of the finest films of the decade and one of the greatest of all time. Daniel Day-Lewis is otherworldly as Daniel Plainview, a performance that stands... Read more

Published 14 months ago by Peter Henderson

2.0 out of 5 stars Pointless
It is 1898, and Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) has just struck oil for the first time. As the years pass, Plainview becomes a wealthy oilman, traveling the countryside with... Read more

Published on May 14 2009 by Kona

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging Movie
The rotten tomatoes web site which aggregates movie reviews shows that 94% of their top critics and 92% of other critics agree this is a excellent movie. Read more

Published on Aug 10 2008 by MooneyPilot

2.0 out of 5 stars Characters Without Character
In the early 1910s, an oil-hungry business shark has a battle (not always of wits) with a fragile young reverend while struggling to earn his full money's worth from a newly... Read more

Published on July 11 2008 by Greg

5.0 out of 5 stars The Lust for Oil!
Set in the period between the late 19th century and the Great Depression of the 20th century, when oil was discovered in the Los Angeles Basin, this movie portrays the best and... Read more

Published on July 10 2008 by Ian Gordon Malcomson

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Henry Plainview & I'm an oil man...
I'm speechless this film is #1 in our time.

The movie is perfect. The cinematography, the erie music, the disturbing & chilling acting. Read more

Published on Jun 30 2008 by E. Hall

1.0 out of 5 stars "There will be Boredom"
I love movies and will watch almost any genre if it is good but this movie is terrible....I was afraid it might be too wierd or arty or something when it got academy award... Read more

Published on May 24 2008 by Leslie C. Tanton

1.0 out of 5 stars The worst soundtrack of any movie, ever
I had to stop after 1 hour because the soundtrack was driving me crazy.

It is too loud, the music is totally inappropriate for the scenes being played and it is just... Read more

Published on May 9 2008 by Ski Bum

1.0 out of 5 stars This is a really bad movie
Why this movie won any Oscar is beyond me. It has no plot. It is unconscionably long. It has the most irritating soundtrack I have ever heard. Read more

Published on May 6 2008 by Traveller

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