There Will Be Blood

The title of this film is a bit misleading. Blood is not a significant component of this film, but the thematic metaphors run deep. If blood is thicker than water, than oil is certainly thicker than blood. I was not disappointed, however, that there was not blood. The film ran long, at over 2 1/2 hours and this fact alone gives me the sneaking suspicion that audiences will be polarized over this epic production. You will either love it or hate it, I guarantee that. I loved it, by the way.

The critic for the Seattle Times called this Citizen Kane without Rosebud. I would agree with him to some extent, but the story conjures up more memories of Giant, with a little Grapes of Wrath feel to it. You see, the story is not about a wealthy oil magnate. At least not directly. It is about prosperity during a time of discovery in a new and somewhat wild West. It is not wild in the sense of cowboys and outlaws, but more so in the fact that the industrial revolution had begun, and raw materials were rising in value, while procurement of those resources became a more mechanical and streamlined process. This led to prospectors and speculators roving the lands for potential jackpots.

Daniel Day Lewis stars as Daniel Plainview, a lowly and lonely silver miner who sees the future of oil, and starts a small, yet successful drilling and barreling company. He is a smooth talking businessman who prides himself on speaking the truth and getting to the point. He uses economics to undercut the competition when seeking out new oil fields to exploit out of ignorant communities of farmers, and considers himself a family man although the relationship with his adopted son, H.W. is simply loveless. Lewis makes this film successful. His performance is mesmerizing to say the least. His voice is hypnotic and his professionalism and natural movements propel him to another plane as an actor in the industry. Without a doubt, this was the single best performance by an actor this year in film and he gets my vote for the Oscar.

The supporting cast did fine, but this was mostly a one man show. Paul Dano has received critical acclaim for his dual role as the Sunday twins, one of whom is the local overzealous evangelist at one of Plainview's project sites. There was something missing for me, and as this film spans the course of 30 years or so, the lack of aging at the climax bothered me a bit. The rest of the cast is mostly unknowns, but they held their own and were believable for the time.

Paul Thomas Anderson, whose body of work has been unimpressive aside from Boogie Nights and Magnolia created a masterpiece with this film. This is by far his crowning achievement. He adapted the Upton Sinclair novel "Oil!" himself, doing the screenplay and direction and despite its length and somewhat dry subject matter, it was very well done. There were times that the film was carried without dialogue, with just the music or sounds of an ax on rock, or wooden beams creaking under stress, and other times when the conversations and antagonized speech were marvelous. This was of course due to the talents of Daniel Day Lewis almost single-handedly.

The music was original, yet nostalgic of Alfred Hitchcock films. Fast paced and simple; single notes being played repeatedly, or sharps and flats played together to create an eerie feel that meshes well with the happenings on the screen. Jonny Greenwood, of Radiohead fame is responsible for the original music, and it is brilliant. It is not overwhelming in the slightest, but it is also not your typical score and it adds to the emotional crescendo of the film.

There is a surreal paradoxical element to the turn of the century setting on the screen, with music reminiscent of the 1960's, while maintaining a noticeable, but not quite disruptive modern quality. It is difficult to explain, but in combination is a quite unique overall movie. I have to give kudos to Lewis for his performance, Anderson for the creation of this epic journey, and Greenwood for the accompanying score. As I stated before, it is certainly going to polarize audiences, but I have a feeling that the academy will see it from my perspective. Lewis wins the Oscar. 9/10.