THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Paul Thomas Anderson proves oil runs thicker than water

DETAILS:
Released - 15 February 2008
Certificate - 15
Running Time - 158min
Director - Paul Thomas Anderson
Screenwriter - Paul Thomas Anderson based on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil!
Producers - Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi and JoAnne Sellar
Cinematography - Robert Elswit
Editing - Dylan Tichenor
Music - Jonny Greenwood
Theatrical distributor - Buena Vista International UK Country - USA
Awards - Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe win for Daniel Day-Lewis and oscar win for Robert Elswit in Cinematography among countless amounts of other wins and nominations in film festivals and critic circles


SYNOPSIS:
When Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) accidentally stumbles upon some oil he soon turns from silver miner to a very successful oil prospector with an entire business empire at his feet. Ruthless, greedy and fuelled with rage Daniel will let no one come between him and his thirst for oil. On an ominous tip from Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) Plainview soon starts drilling at the impoverished Sunday ranch in Boston. By flashing around his adopted son H.W. (Dillon Freasier) Plainview sets out to exploit the poor townspeople under the illusion that he is a family man who will provide a better life for them. Although this is not as easy as he initially thought due to preacher Eli Sunday (Dano) who questions Plainview’s true intentions as a respected figure in the Christian community. As Plainview grows older his determination to succeed and become even richer brings his true inner self to the surface plunging him in a state of near madness and slowly alienating him from those closest around him.

REVIEW:

Daniel Day-Lewis is a peculiar yet intriguing character himself. At the height of his fame and critical acclaim he quit acting to pursue his lifelong dream; shoe cobbling. But he was soon brought out of early retirement when Martin Scorsese had a leading role for him in his historical epic Gangs of New York. A fairly flawed film it was Day Lewis’ dark performance as Bill the Butcher which held it together. Since then Day-Lewis has built up a reputation as the most selective actor working in Hollywood today. Only signing up to around one film a year at most you always know you are in for something special. Even the most talented of Hollywood actors can be accused of typecasting themselves by playing similar roles but Day-Lewis is truly the most versatile actor of our time, when his name is on a film we never know quite what to expect.

There will be blood is certainly no exception. A performance which is outstanding even by his standards he has totally immersed himself in this rage driven psychopath. Every slightest twitch in his facial features is planned down to the smallest detail. When he is in front of the camera he absorbs every part of his body into Daniel Plainview. In one particular scene, where he holds a gun to his on-screen brother’s head, a close up of his angry pulsating face lifts off the screen intimidating the audience to cower in their seats. Only Day-Lewis can narrow the gap between viewer and performance this far. Allegedly the original actor who played Plainview’s brother left production as he felt to intimidated by Day-Lewis and it is obvious why. To top it all off the most surprising thing about Day Lewis’ unpredictable performance is his knack for comic timing and the amount of dark humour he expertly delivers in this film.

But Daniel Day-Lewis is not the only thing brilliant about this film. He is also complimented by an effective supporting cast. Despite fairly brief screen time Paul Dano in particular has pushed his geeky teenager roles long behind him as his insane preaching certainly sends a shiver down our spine. He gives a lot here for Day-Lewis to play off. Also the music score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood single-handedly gives the film an atmospheric edge maintaining our state of unease. By using old fashioned instruments in a contemporary fashion his loud strings are bleeding and weeping with emotion. Such a striking film score deserved an Oscar win let alone a nomination.

Although it is due to Paul Thomas Anderson’s complete vision that all these contributing factors are brought together in one coherent work. With so much talent on board it is Anderson’s script and direction which is the true star, but this is not immediately apparent. There Will Be Blood is by no means an easy watch. It requires your complete devout attention and once you are sucked in you are completely absorbed in Daniel Plainview’s world. When the film begins the sound of loud unsettling strings drowns out your ears to the image of two vast hills of the American West, immediately creating a sense of nervousness as a very striking way to grab our attention. Then for the subsequent opening twenty minutes of the film not a word of dialogue is uttered. Through nothing but silent actions does the events progress.

With the immediate appearance of a linear plot structure and unfolding of events we are wielded into a false sense of security. There is so much more going on here beneath the apparent surface. There are a lot of underlying messages involving politics, capitalism and religion making this film a hell of a lot to digest in two hours and forty minutes. But I would quite happily sit through it again to decode its complexity. There will be blood is not the usual success story praising the American dream. Plainview’s success story takes a back seat and is never really explained as the complex relationships with those around him and the conflicts within him are at the forefront of our attention as we see his life slowly deteriorate.

With so much shocks, violence, black humour, murder, love and hate it is very hard to classify this film with a genre, is it a biopic, period drama, black comedy, epic, thriller or even western? Well whatever genre it may be, it is only once you have left the cinema that the events will begin to set in and make sense leaving you to truly appreciate the mind blowing cinema masterpiece that this is There Will Be Blood.

TO SUM UP:
An anarchic Citizen Kane that is not only one of the best films of last year but one of the greatest films of all time.