On Film: There Will Be Blood

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring Daniel Day Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Frasier

I am a big fan of Paul Thomas Anderson. From Boogie Nights to Punch Drunk Love, I have enjoyed a number of his films. So, does it get any better than to pair up Anderson with Daniel Day Lewis? I recently headed to the local cinema to catch There Will be Blood.

The Movie

The first frames of this film that introduces Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) to the audience tells you a lot about the character right away. He toils below the ground, endlessly sweating and chiseling the earth to get silver. He falls and apparently hurts his leg and ankle pretty badly. Does this stop Daniel? No, he finishes the job and drags himself on his back through a rocky terrain alone to the buyer to make his money. You know right away that making money no matter what is important to Daniel.

Flash forward several years and the money that Daniel has accrued selling silver is now being put into drilling for oil with a few partners. An unfortunate accident happens that kills one of his workers. This work had an infant son. Daniel sees this as an opportunity to make money more than gaining a loved one. He knows that if he has a child, it will help him seem like a “family man” and therefore more trustworthy when he goes into rural areas looking to buy land to drill for oil. So, he puts him on his hip and pushes forward in life.

His son, now called H.W., turns out to be a wise addition to the team. He has an earnest face and honest demeanor that easily wins over the hearts of the people he meets. One day, a young man named Paul (Paul Dano) enters his office and tells him for the price of 500 dollars, he will tell him where there is so much oil to be had, that it flows easily to the surface of the ground, without even drilling for it. He pays him the money and gets the information.

Daniel and H.W. turn up at this location. It is a small family farm and he tells the father of the family that he is there with his son to quail hunt. They depart for the wide open fields and woods that surround the farm and soon find oil seeping to the surface. H.W. asks his father if he is going to buy the land and for how much. He tells him that he is going to offer “quail” prices not “oil” prices and soon buys the farm and the land from the struggling family.

However, the twin brother of the young man that informed him about the information, is going to be a force to be reckoned with . Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) is a young man but is already the head preacher and healer of a small local congregation. He doesn’t buy Daniel’s story so easily and eyes him and all of his actions with great unease. Eli is going to be a thorn in Daniel side for many, many years to come.

I do not simply want to recap the story that is told in this review. That would spoil the amazing cinematic experience this film has to offer. I have already let you know the seeds of the visceral journey Eli and Daniel have to take in the film.

All the positive reviews you have heard about this film are true. I was absolutely blown away by this film. Daniel Day Lewis is simply amazing in his portrayal of the ruthless oilman Daniel Plainview. Paul Dano, who you may recognize from Little Miss Sunshine, is a surprise and is spectacular in his portrayal and holds his own with scenes with Daniel Day Lewis, which is no easy feat. The acting chops of the young Dillon Frasier as H.W. is impressive and should be a name to watch.

The cinematography by Robert Elswit is stunning. I liked the score by Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), it was definitely a most unique choice for this film. Although at times, it seemed a bit bombastic, but definitely one of a kind.

I just can’t put into words how great this film is. Just trust me, see it now before it leaves the big screen. Daniel Plainview is a character and There Will Be Blood is a film that gets under your skin and stays there days after seeing the film.

9/10

-Suzie Lackey