There Will Be Blood
*** MILD SPOILERS WITHIN - APOLOGIES FOR NOT PUTTING THE WARNING EARLIER ***
Every once in a while, a film comes along that defies categorisation, expectation, and belief. A film that so captivates you, takes you up and carries you along, that when it lets you go at the end, you are breathless with excitement and spend the entire closing credits transfixed, with a huge grin on your face. Not because of the subject matter, but because what you have just watched is so special that you feel privileged to have witnessed it. Needless to say, There Will Be Blood, is - for me - one of these few special films. I have raved about numerous films this year, but none has so thrilled me like this film.
From the opening dissonance, we are distinctly aware of the soundtrack: it is a character in its own right, and plays a significant role in the overal emotional impact of the film. Twenty minutes or so of wordless scenes introduce us to the tirelessly ambitious Daniel Plainview. Hacking away at a silver mine, he is wounded but continues regardless. Some years later we find him now at an oil derrick, striking his first oil. It is a significant scene as it places him with the orphaned young baby of his associate - I don't think anyone would confuse this man with Plainview's friend. The next temporal jump takes us to where the majority of the film takes place, when H.W., Plainview's adopted son (although almost never mentioned as such) is now 9 or 10 and forms for Plainview a family package that he exploits as far as he can for his own monetary gain.
Plainview is a name that is both spot on, and ironic. He suggests to the people whose land he wishes to buy that he is plain-speaking; an honest, family man, with their best interests at heart. Behind those baleful, dead eyes however, he is far from in plain view. Not until the end do we see the true Plainview. Alongside Plainview is Eli Sunday. Played wonderfully by Paul Dano, Eli is everything that Plainview hates (which, to be fair, is quite a lot). He is the religious symbol to Plainview's symbol of ambition. Three fluids that mix uneasily permeate this film. Oil, water, and blood.
Taking each individually: Oil runs most obviously through this film. It is what brings the characters together and fuels, quite literally, the cataclysmic battles between Plainview and Sunday. Plainview's associate 'anoints' his son, H.W. with oil in an early scene - a significant proleptic image of H.W.'s adopted father's baptism. Later, Plainview tussles with Sunday, forcing oil into his face in a fit of purest anger, and a rare slip of Plainview's mask (a mask that is removed completely by the end). Oil is what permanently damages H.W.'s hearing, and what drives him and Plainview apart. Finally, it is what Henry, Plainview's 'brother' is buried in.
Water, or specifically holy water, forms the religious aspect of the film. Eli's church, which never receives the £5,000 owed to it, baptises with holy water. It is what irrigates the land and creates a viable community. It bonds together the community through the church, and increases Sunday's power within the community, much to Plainview's disgust. Significantly, it is what Plainview himself is baptised in in one of the film's most powerful scenes.
Finally, blood, or familial connnections are particularly significant within the film. Plainview's only family connections - his 'son' H'W', and his 'brother' Henry - prove false: neither are connected by blood. Plainview is at his most vulnerable with these 'family' members. His thoughts are divided at the most significant time, between the wounded H.W., and the gushing oil derrick. He speaks most openly with Henry about his hatred and loathing for most people, and his desire to be away from everyone. At his most vulnerable during his baptism, he even says he wants to 'get away', not only from the act, but from people in general. Blood, or the thought of a blood connection is Plainview's weakpoint, and having had two family relationships prove false, he then retreats to his own world, as seen at the close of the film.
Plainview is at the end, and throughout the film, a sociopath. He hates everyone, only wishing to further his empire. His relationships turn sour, his friendships meaningless. By the end, he is reduced to a shadow of his former self, living alone in a huge mansion, full of things to do with others, but unused. A bowling alley looks unused, but for Plainview's odd eating habits. His only companion is a butler. The ending of the film is as perfect as it deserves to be. The previous scene with Plainview forcing Sunday into the oil pool is an indicator of what is to come. The mask now completely removed, Plainview is finally in plain view, and we see the hideous monster that previously only hid behind the eyes.
This is without question the finest film this year. Possibly of the last few years. Others have criticised it, but I hope I have answered some of those criticisms. Needless to say, I see no 'Cons' to this film. As for my usual 'Overall', there is no need as for The Acting, The Look, The Sound, The Story, and the Success of Intent, they are all 10/10, and so the overall score is:
100%
*** MILD SPOILERS WITHIN - APOLOGIES FOR NOT PUTTING THE WARNING EARLIER ***
Every once in a while, a film comes along that defies categorisation, expectation, and belief. A film that so captivates you, takes you up and carries you along, that when it lets you go at the end, you are breathless with excitement and spend the entire closing credits transfixed, with a huge grin on your face. Not because of the subject matter, but because what you have just watched is so special that you feel privileged to have witnessed it. Needless to say, There Will Be Blood, is - for me - one of these few special films. I have raved about numerous films this year, but none has so thrilled me like this film.
From the opening dissonance, we are distinctly aware of the soundtrack: it is a character in its own right, and plays a significant role in the overal emotional impact of the film. Twenty minutes or so of wordless scenes introduce us to the tirelessly ambitious Daniel Plainview. Hacking away at a silver mine, he is wounded but continues regardless. Some years later we find him now at an oil derrick, striking his first oil. It is a significant scene as it places him with the orphaned young baby of his associate - I don't think anyone would confuse this man with Plainview's friend. The next temporal jump takes us to where the majority of the film takes place, when H.W., Plainview's adopted son (although almost never mentioned as such) is now 9 or 10 and forms for Plainview a family package that he exploits as far as he can for his own monetary gain.
Plainview is a name that is both spot on, and ironic. He suggests to the people whose land he wishes to buy that he is plain-speaking; an honest, family man, with their best interests at heart. Behind those baleful, dead eyes however, he is far from in plain view. Not until the end do we see the true Plainview. Alongside Plainview is Eli Sunday. Played wonderfully by Paul Dano, Eli is everything that Plainview hates (which, to be fair, is quite a lot). He is the religious symbol to Plainview's symbol of ambition. Three fluids that mix uneasily permeate this film. Oil, water, and blood.
Taking each individually: Oil runs most obviously through this film. It is what brings the characters together and fuels, quite literally, the cataclysmic battles between Plainview and Sunday. Plainview's associate 'anoints' his son, H.W. with oil in an early scene - a significant proleptic image of H.W.'s adopted father's baptism. Later, Plainview tussles with Sunday, forcing oil into his face in a fit of purest anger, and a rare slip of Plainview's mask (a mask that is removed completely by the end). Oil is what permanently damages H.W.'s hearing, and what drives him and Plainview apart. Finally, it is what Henry, Plainview's 'brother' is buried in.
Water, or specifically holy water, forms the religious aspect of the film. Eli's church, which never receives the £5,000 owed to it, baptises with holy water. It is what irrigates the land and creates a viable community. It bonds together the community through the church, and increases Sunday's power within the community, much to Plainview's disgust. Significantly, it is what Plainview himself is baptised in in one of the film's most powerful scenes.
Finally, blood, or familial connnections are particularly significant within the film. Plainview's only family connections - his 'son' H'W', and his 'brother' Henry - prove false: neither are connected by blood. Plainview is at his most vulnerable with these 'family' members. His thoughts are divided at the most significant time, between the wounded H.W., and the gushing oil derrick. He speaks most openly with Henry about his hatred and loathing for most people, and his desire to be away from everyone. At his most vulnerable during his baptism, he even says he wants to 'get away', not only from the act, but from people in general. Blood, or the thought of a blood connection is Plainview's weakpoint, and having had two family relationships prove false, he then retreats to his own world, as seen at the close of the film.
Plainview is at the end, and throughout the film, a sociopath. He hates everyone, only wishing to further his empire. His relationships turn sour, his friendships meaningless. By the end, he is reduced to a shadow of his former self, living alone in a huge mansion, full of things to do with others, but unused. A bowling alley looks unused, but for Plainview's odd eating habits. His only companion is a butler. The ending of the film is as perfect as it deserves to be. The previous scene with Plainview forcing Sunday into the oil pool is an indicator of what is to come. The mask now completely removed, Plainview is finally in plain view, and we see the hideous monster that previously only hid behind the eyes.
This is without question the finest film this year. Possibly of the last few years. Others have criticised it, but I hope I have answered some of those criticisms. Needless to say, I see no 'Cons' to this film. As for my usual 'Overall', there is no need as for The Acting, The Look, The Sound, The Story, and the Success of Intent, they are all 10/10, and so the overall score is:
If Magnolia was Paul Thomas Anderson's love letter to Robert Altman, then this is a letter to the works of Stanley Kubrick, even emulating some of the late masters way of shooting. There's even touches of John Huston and Terrence Malick within the film. It's a film that remains with you long after you've seen it, it's emotionally exhausting but it's worth it, Day-Lewis is on fine form throughout this film, the combination of him and Anderson working together was an irrestitable combination, and Anderson brings the best out of him, this is a man who doesn't start out greedy, but the obsession for more oil makes him greedy. The title of the film may sound biblical, but stories of greed have been around since the days of the bible, it's a meditation on greed, but it works. Robert Elswit's cinemtography and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood's score are the perfect additions to a perfect film. Whatever Anderson does next will be eagerly awaited...
The Plot:
In the 1890s, Daniel Plainview, a struggling silver miner, finds his true wealth in petroleum extraction while taking the orphaned child, H.W., as his own for a valuable family man image. In 1911, Plainview gets a tip on a valuable supply on the struggling Sunday family ranch in the impoverished Little Boston, California. In his quest to acquire the property, Plainview meets the sanctimonious Eli Sunday, the young reverend of the local church with his own ambitions for his diocese and the profit from the oil. As the oil wells begin, an escalating conflict arises between exploiters of many kinds while Plainview's canny ruthlessness gradually sinks into a slowly mounting malevolent madness. In doing so, it begins to drive every emotional bond away that all the wealth he gains can never replace.
The Gist:
This is the return to the screen of acting heavyweight Daniel Day Lewis, in a much hyped role that rightfully has won all the awards, plus it’s the return to directing of the excellent Paul Thomas Anderson who has done a similarly excellent job.
Good Points:
- Daniel Day Lewis is in a word, outstanding, quietly vulnerable and charming before erupting into an almost satanic beast of a man, and when he erupts nothing is left unscathed. It’s a tremendous performance, one that has rightly won him all the awards.
- Equally tremendous is Paul Dano, as the seemingly caring yet manipulative young preacher Eli… he delivers an equally shouty turn and is equally superb… unfortunately he was overlooked by the Oscars.
- The rest of the supporting cast do an admirable job, even if they can’t keep up with Dano and Lewis.
- The score by Radiohead genius Johnny Greenwood is suitably gloomy, always striking the right chord to inform you danger is on the way, it’s expertly done
- The climax to the movie is both utterly terrifying, gripping and truly delivers on the title’s promise, it may be parodied to death in the future, but it’s a defining and chilling moment
- For a movie that’s so long, whilst occasionally slow, it manages to keep you involved and interested more or less throughout
Bad Points:
- Like most long films, it may lack interest and intrigue for some due to its running time… at times it can be slow burning
Overall Verdict: Quite frankly terrific, an epic movie of epic length that not only features two superior performances but also manages to weld in elements of horror to the drama with excellent effect. Definitely the best movie of the year so far, and robbed of its Oscar by the good but inferior No Country for Old Men.
*****
