Movie Notes: There Will Be Blood

January 14th, 2009

= 5 stars

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

Synopsis

Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is a powerful but ruthless oil man who moves to California to grow his wealth even more. Eventually his ruthlessness and antisocial nature threatens to destroy everyone around him.

The Good

• The inky black oil could be a metaphor for pure evil — it comes from the depths of the earth, men die for it, and it burns like hellfire. But the “black gold” is also pure money, and the lust for it corrupts Daniel. Oil has also corrupted modern society, as our dependence has reduced us to junkies that can’t live without it, and we’ll even fight wars to secure its supply.
• Absolutely powerful direction by Anderson, employing the simplest of film techniques always appropriate for the meaning of each scene. A burning gusher is filmed with the bright light creating a halo as if the camera is melting. A shaky camera is employed when G.W., Daniel’s child, struggles during an examination. In still shots his camera is certain, always focused on what we should pay attention to. Sequences are also horrifyingly good: most powerful is a beach where his step brother is left in shadow with his head down as Daniel bobs alone in a large wave after struggling for words, foreshadowing their confrontation. And the last scene has a bowling ball hit a bucket which splashes liquid over the camera — I can’t imagine that was planned.
• Daniel Day-Lewis turns in an absolutely mesmerizing and finally blistering performance — he is the core of the film and the character’s power and influence is even symbolized in how the entire movie revolves around the Daniel character. Daniel is charismatic at first, sucking in innocents for exploitation, but gradually, a core ruthlessness emerges, and even his family is affected.
• A damning statement on unchecked capitalism. Daniel is the perfect businessman — filled with competition, shrewdly destroying those that stand in his way, valuing profit over all. Greed rules his every action. Perhaps Daniel was born a psychopath, but the system allows him to thrive and rewards his inhumanity.
• Also excellent is the faith healer Eli (Paul Dano) who blatantly represents Daniel’s lost morality and acts as his foil. Dano’s body frame is boy-man wimpy compared to Day-Lewis and it’s all too clear he will eventually lose their building confrontation.
• Very effective score by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, on traditional orchestral instruments. The opening starts with atonal then resolving strings. The music gets more active as Daniel sets his land grab plan in motion. When the oil well in California is finally opened, the music changes to a classical piece, and percussion introduced after a gusher. Note that the atonal music returns again when Daniel returns to digging in the earth as the opening scene. This combination of atonal music and classical reminds me of 2001’s move from Ligeti to Strauss.
• The film’s ending is one tour-de-force scene featuring to two main characters acting off one another. It reiterates all the movie’s themes: religion, greed, manipulation, and Daniel’s destruction of everything in the name of profit. He sucks oil from land and sucks the life out of his fellow humans. The final moments are a bit brutal, but in their defense I’ll say we already know Daniel’s sadistic behavior from his earlier confrontation with his step brother. And if you take it symbolically, capitalism destroys religion: Daniel worships “profit” and has no place for a “prophet.” And the final burst of classical music somehow reminded me of Kubrick again — this time, A Clockwork Orange.

The Bad

• The languid pace and long running time, requiring several hours to take this film in. It demands your full attention.

Conclusion

The plot arc of businessman moving from humble beginnings to a wealthy but paralyzingly isolated existence reminded me of Citizen Kane, but with none of the humor or love — notably Daniel lacks a love interest.

Ultimately, I see it as a condemnation of the corrupting influence of unchecked capitalism, encouraging greed at the expense of all else. This theme is even more appropriate following the bursting of the housing bubble and resultant financial crisis, where Wall Street bankers and CEOs ripped off the American people, leaving nothing behind but empty houses and shattered dreams financed with debt. We should question not only the system but the personalities celebrated and encouraged by American capitalism. Those who care only for profit may destroy the citizens and the system that made their wealth possible. Financial success at the expense of humanity is no success at all, and should be regulated.

In this review, I mentioned being reminded of several of my favorite movies: Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange. I think There Will Be Blood is on their level. It’s a really great film.

IMDB: There Will Be Blood
Wikipedia: There Will Be Blood
Rotten Tomatoes: There Will Be Blood 91%