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There Will Be Blood
(2007, Dir. Paul Thomas Anderson)
Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is a film with big ambitions. Its length, cinematography and story are grand in every way possible; creating an epic film that I truly believe is a masterpiece of the 21st century.
The film is centred upon the life of an oil man named Daniel Plainview who following a drilling accident adopts a co-workers son, HW. Daniel uses his son as part of the family business, travelling around American and purchasing land where oil is available.
We see the story of Daniel Plainview’s life across a number of decades as the determined and ambitious man becomes one of the wealthiest in the country. The story is ultimately about greed as Daniel gets what he desires often at the expense of others.
Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar winning performance as Daniel Plainview is superb in every aspect; he perfects the role as if we are watching a real person and his performance as angry and explosive person can perhaps be compared to Robert De Niro’s portrayal of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull in terms of quality acting, and Orson Welles as Citizen Kane in terms of the character and his ambitions in life. His accent and the way he talks are particularly great, near the beginning of the film we hear him in conversation introducing his son, he says he is not a great speaker but presents in a way that is chilling and memorable.
That is not to give credit to the film’s other main star, Paul Dano as a young preacher Eli Sunday. He is two-faced, manipulative and at times equally as scary as Daniel Day-Lewis, his role in the film is vital to some of the messages involved, mainly greed and power that he seeks.
The other Oscar that this film managed to win was for its cinematography, the opening scenes themselves are somewhat spectacular despite no dialogue being spoken as we are given an introduction to the oil business and Daniel Plainview with fantastic visual images created by the old Western landscape and gritty work areas.
Before watching this film, my favourite film of the 21st century was No Country for Old Men which was also released in the same year, now I am not so sure. No Country for Old Men went on to pick up more Oscars than this film and I definitely now hold the belief that There Will Be Blood was deserving of much more. Both films are similar in a number of ways, both have fantastic cinematography that make greatly efficient use of Western landscapes and both have perhaps ‘psychopathic villains’, and whilst both villains won Oscars for their performances both were two contrasting type of villains portrayed in completely different ways.
One Oscar that this film probably would have won had it not been for a technicality (reusing a small amount of old work for one scene I believe) would have been for Best Original Score, the music in this film goes fantastically well with the film and really does build up a dark and uncomfortable feeling for a lot of scenes. The way the music is used finds the perfect balance so it can be used in such a way that it is not overpowering but really helps build up tension as some great scenes come to a boil.
I really feel that no complaints can be made towards the film’s pacing and length either, something I was surprised to see some people saw as in issue. Although two and a half hours in length, it has the great quality of keeping the viewer engaged with a fantastic blend of visually stunning and powerful emotional scenes with more quick paced dialogue filled scenes. In this sense it reminded me of Boogie Nights, Anderson’s film that is almost equal in length and it too seems so full of energy, never losing my attention. Comparing the film to No Country for Old Men once again, both films were adapted from novels, and whilst I have no idea what either of them are like when compared with the two films I really do feel that Paul Thomas Anderson’s screenplay is superior to the Coen Brothers despite losing to it in that Oscar category, the dialogue for some of the scenes are masterful, particularly those of Daniel Plainview. The final scene where we see him launch a torrent of insults towards Eli Sunday before screaming the film’s famous ‘Milkshake’ lines is a mini masterpiece in itself, certainly one of the most enjoyable, exhilarating and memorable endings I have can recall.
The film is centred upon the life of an oil man named Daniel Plainview who following a drilling accident adopts a co-workers son, HW. Daniel uses his son as part of the family business, travelling around American and purchasing land where oil is available.
We see the story of Daniel Plainview’s life across a number of decades as the determined and ambitious man becomes one of the wealthiest in the country. The story is ultimately about greed as Daniel gets what he desires often at the expense of others.
Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar winning performance as Daniel Plainview is superb in every aspect; he perfects the role as if we are watching a real person and his performance as angry and explosive person can perhaps be compared to Robert De Niro’s portrayal of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull in terms of quality acting, and Orson Welles as Citizen Kane in terms of the character and his ambitions in life. His accent and the way he talks are particularly great, near the beginning of the film we hear him in conversation introducing his son, he says he is not a great speaker but presents in a way that is chilling and memorable.
That is not to give credit to the film’s other main star, Paul Dano as a young preacher Eli Sunday. He is two-faced, manipulative and at times equally as scary as Daniel Day-Lewis, his role in the film is vital to some of the messages involved, mainly greed and power that he seeks.
The other Oscar that this film managed to win was for its cinematography, the opening scenes themselves are somewhat spectacular despite no dialogue being spoken as we are given an introduction to the oil business and Daniel Plainview with fantastic visual images created by the old Western landscape and gritty work areas.
Before watching this film, my favourite film of the 21st century was No Country for Old Men which was also released in the same year, now I am not so sure. No Country for Old Men went on to pick up more Oscars than this film and I definitely now hold the belief that There Will Be Blood was deserving of much more. Both films are similar in a number of ways, both have fantastic cinematography that make greatly efficient use of Western landscapes and both have perhaps ‘psychopathic villains’, and whilst both villains won Oscars for their performances both were two contrasting type of villains portrayed in completely different ways.
One Oscar that this film probably would have won had it not been for a technicality (reusing a small amount of old work for one scene I believe) would have been for Best Original Score, the music in this film goes fantastically well with the film and really does build up a dark and uncomfortable feeling for a lot of scenes. The way the music is used finds the perfect balance so it can be used in such a way that it is not overpowering but really helps build up tension as some great scenes come to a boil.
I really feel that no complaints can be made towards the film’s pacing and length either, something I was surprised to see some people saw as in issue. Although two and a half hours in length, it has the great quality of keeping the viewer engaged with a fantastic blend of visually stunning and powerful emotional scenes with more quick paced dialogue filled scenes. In this sense it reminded me of Boogie Nights, Anderson’s film that is almost equal in length and it too seems so full of energy, never losing my attention. Comparing the film to No Country for Old Men once again, both films were adapted from novels, and whilst I have no idea what either of them are like when compared with the two films I really do feel that Paul Thomas Anderson’s screenplay is superior to the Coen Brothers despite losing to it in that Oscar category, the dialogue for some of the scenes are masterful, particularly those of Daniel Plainview. The final scene where we see him launch a torrent of insults towards Eli Sunday before screaming the film’s famous ‘Milkshake’ lines is a mini masterpiece in itself, certainly one of the most enjoyable, exhilarating and memorable endings I have can recall.
RATING: