OK now we are into May and at just a mere 28 posts in 2015 I've not really done a great amount on this blog but I'm still keen to keep it going of course so here is another un to add to them. So this post will be on a rather somewhat more intense and dramatic film, Paul Thomas Anderson's There will be blood.
So without much further ado let's oil up and get looking at this one..... and PLOT SPOILERS are ahead!
Right so a bit more about the story it begins in 1898 with its main character, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) who is a prospector who mines a potentially precious ore however during the process he falls and breaks his leg on the rung of a broken ladder. However Daniel manages to save a sample of the ore and takes it to the nearest assay office to record his claim. The story then moves to 1902 where Daniel discovers oil near Los Angeles and he sets up a small drilling company. During some drilling one of Daniel's men is killed in an accident and Daniel ends up adopting the man's son, which Daniel calls H.W. and will become his future business partner, which will allow him to pretend that he is a family man to future investors. The story then moves forward to 1911 where Daniel and his adopted son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier) are approached by a young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) who tells him of an oil deposit underneath his family's property in Little Boston, California. Daniel then attempts to buy the farm but Eli's twin brother, Paul (Dano also) is wary of Daniel's plan and holds out for $5000 for his church where he is a pastor. Daniel is then able to buy the land around the area all except for one property owned by William Bandy.
While drilling takes place on the site, one of the workers is killed in an accident and H.W. suffers deafness which effects him for the rest of his life. Eli blames the disaster at the well as a result of him not being allowed to bless the well for before drilling commenced (as Daniel didn't let him). Afterward Paul confronts Daniel and asks when will he get his money, which prompts a furious Daniel to viciously slap Paul and force him to the ground and push his face into the muddy earth. Later on Paul back at his family's farm attacks his father, Abel (David Willis) and blames him for trusting Daniel and blames his brother Paul as well. Sometime after Daniel is approached by a stranger who claims to be Daniel's half-brother, Henry (Kevin O'Connor) and the two of them start working together and become close. This however sparks some jealously from H.W. who one night sets a fire in their house with the intention of killing Henry and as a result Daniel sends away H.W. to a school for the deaf in San Francisco. Later on however Daniel begins to grow suspicious of Henry as after a swim in the sea, Daniel makes a reference to something that Henry does not appear to know of within the family history. And at night Daniel confronts Henry who reveals that he is not the real Henry and Daniel's real half-brother died of tuberculosis and Henry took his diary and studied it so he can pass himself off. Daniel however is enraged by this and shoots Henry in the head and buries his body in the woodlands, Daniel later on sobs quietly over his actions.
The next morning Daniel is awoken by William Bandy (Hans Howes) who knows of the previous nights activities and insists that Daniel repent for his actions by being baptised at Paul's church to which Daniel agrees. At the baptism Daniel is ritually humiliated by Paul who blames him for abandoning his child but Daniel takes it on the chin and is willing to accept the baptism afterward Bandy agrees to have Daniel drill around his land. Sometime later on H.W. returns to Daniel and Paul leaves to go on some missionary work. The story then later moves forward to 1927 where the film reaches its somewhat dramatic climax.....
There is not much doubt that There will be blood is one of the best films of its decade, released back in 2007 it remains one of the finest achievements of its director, Paul Thomas Anderson's career. The film in terms of tone is about as dark and grim as you can get and its central character offers virtually nothing in the way of redeeming features or in the way of likeability as Daniel Plainview is morally unscrupulous and uses any angle he can get to what he wants for his own ends in business. Daniel even in the film uses his own adopted son as a front for his own business while pretending to be a family man but in the end for Daniel its all about wealth and money.
Which brings onto the film's performances which are all top notch, starting with Daniel Day-Lewis who is simply superb in his role as the ruthless oil businessman, Daniel Plainview who becomes a tycoon in the oil industry as his wealth grows. Day-Lewis has many highlights in the film and he deliver's Daniel's cold hearted dialogue to perfection. As for a few examples for starters there is the scene where Daniel addresses a meeting of townsfolk regarding a drilling opportunity and he delivers a lengthy speech to them which finishes with the memorable line " I assure you, ladies and gentlemen, no matter what the others promise to do, when it comes to the showdown, they won't be there". Another good scene is when Daniel meets with Paul Sunday, who tells him of the oil deposit at his family's home and he gives Paul a finder's fee but warns him "Listen, Paul... If I travel all the way up there and I find that you've been lying to me, I'm gonna find you, and I'm gonna take more than my money back. Is that all right with you?". Then there is the scene where there is an accident at the well site and it catches on fire and after Daniel rescues his son he watches the oil derrick set afire. And Daniel turns to his one of his aids and says to him "What are you looking so upset for?! There's a whole ocean of oil under our feet! No one can get at it except for me!". Then there is a key scene which sets up Daniel's philosophy and ruthless attitude as a business as he admits to Henry in one scene "I have a competition in me, Henry. And I wan't no one else to suceed!".
Another great scene is when Eli confronts Daniel after the disaster at the well and when he asks when he will get his money, Daniel out of the blue suddenly slaps Eli and yells "Aren't you a healer and a vessel for the holy spirit?!! When are you coming over and make my son hear again? Can't you do that?!!". And he continues to push and force Eli into the muddy earth and pushes his face into the mud and he shouts "I'm gonna bury you underground, Eli!". And another of Day-Lewis's highlights comes in the scene where Eli humiliates Daniel at his baptism and forces him to admit that he abandoned his child and to yell it and Daniel finally breaks down and yells "I ABANDONED MY CHILD!! I ABANDONED MY CHILD!!! I ABANDONED MY BOY!". And last of all there is the film's last scene where Eli pays a visit to Daniel and asks him for his help as he is in financial straits and wants to broker a deal with Mr Bandy's land, but Daniel explains that the property is now worthless and that he already drained the oil surrounding by using the "milkshake" anology and he stands over Eli and yells "I drink your MILKSHAKE!!!".
Paul Dano is also great in his dual role as Eli and Paul Sunday (although he only features as Paul in one scene in the film) particularly as Eli, the somewhat stubborn and egotistical pastor who butts heads with Daniel throughout the film. Dano also has some great moments in his part such as the scene where we first see Eli in his role as a pastor and he attempts to heal one of the parishoners of her athritis. And in the scene Eli says to the women "Yes, the Devil is in your hands, and I will suck it out!" and he continues dementedly "Get out of here, and don't you dare turn around and come back, for if you do, all the armies of my boot will kick you in the teeth, and you will be cast up and thrown in the dirt and thrust back to Perdition! And as long as I have teeth, I will bite you! And if I have no teeth, I will gum you! And as long as I have fists, I will bash you! Now, GET OUT OF HERE GHOST! GET OUT OF HERE GHOST!".
Another really good scene is after Eli is savagely slapped by Daniel, he goes him still covered in mud he calmly sits at the table at dinner with his father and he quietly berates him "You are a stupid man, Abel. You've let someone come in here and walk all over us. You let him in and do his work here, and you are a stupid man for what we could have had". And as Eli's father, Abel, feebly tries to appease his son, Eli furiously leaps over the table and pins Abel to the ground and yells at him "Shut your mouth, Abel! It was your stupid son! It was Paul who told him to come here. I know it. He went to him, and he said "My stupid, weak father will give away his lots. Go and take him." - and you let it happen!". And later on there is the scene where Eli baptises Daniel and during his sermon says to him "Oh, Daniel, you've come here and you've brought good and wealth, but you have also brought your bad habits as a backslider. You've lusted after women, and you have abandoned your child - your child that you raised!". And he proceeds to then go through a similar "healer" process as he did earlier except this time he resorts to slapping Daniel repeatedly in the face before pouring the holy water over him to complete the baptism.
Moving onto the film's director Paul Thomas Anderson rarely ever puts a foot wrong here and he does a superb job with the film and despite its length of 2 hours and 38 minutes he paces it out very well and it never really feels overlong. The film's photography is also very worthy of note which is by Robert Elswit who won an Academy Award for his work on the film and it is visually stunning throughout and the film was shot in Texas and California. And last of all there is the film's score by Radiohead's lead guitarist, Johnny Greenwood, which is excellent and its morose tone suits the film perfectly. And there are certain orchestral sections which can send a shiver down your spine especially the film's opening scene in which the score resembles Steven Spielberg's Close encounters of the third kind and you could also say the score also at times sounds like the works of Bernard Herrmann. Its not exactly happy listening of course but TWBB is not that type of film so it is a very fine one which is more than well suited to the film's epic scale and grandeur.
As for flaws...... well its hard to nitpick over a film as good as this but you could say one of the more off putting aspects of the film is of course Daniel Plainview himself as he really is a ruthless monster of a man who will stop at nothing to get ahead in his business. And it is really hard to try and empathise with Daniel on any level given his callous nature and the only scene where you faintly can feel any sympathy towards him is when he looks at the photo of his real half-brother Henry, which he had taken from the imposter Henry whom he killed and buried, he sobs quietly feeling remorse for his actions. It also has to be said that while Eli is quite a character and a good foil to Daniel he is also a rather annoying stubborn dick and in his own way his ego is just as big as Daniel's and his scenes of baptism and faith healing are pretty farcical (and also comical) as I'm sure neither had any effect (well they certainly didn't on Daniel!).
Oh and a PLOT SPOILER LIES AHEAD! (Sorry!).
I also thought the film's ending was a bit silly as Daniel humiliates Eli and then proceeds to chase him around the bowling alley in his mansion and eventually knocks him down with a bowling pin and proceeds to beat him to death with it. At this point Eli's death just feels a bit excessive and unecessary to the film and its almost as if Anderson included it to back up the film's title and ensure that there will indeeed be blood (and its almost the only blood we see spilt in the film as Eli lies dead afterward). But despite that its still a great film and these aren't too big a deal.
So that's it for my look at There will be blood which is without a doubt one of the best films so far of the 21st century and its a pity there aren't more films like it been made since and if you haven't seen it you should definitely give it a watch (and ignore this article!).
So until the next one its bye for now.
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