BOTTOM
LINE:
An impressive work
for those serious filmophiles who want their experience to last
well beyond the 150 minutes of screen time. If Dostoyevsky had made
a film, this would be it.
THE GOOD:
This film is cinema at its most powerful and a real
credit to Director Paul Thomas Anderson. I’ve not read the
novel on which this film is based (Oil, by Upton Sinclair: 1927),
but I would imagine its every bit as good, and that’s testimony
to the quality of this production. The first scene immerses you
in the rugged and dangerous life of a prospector, introducing you
to the character Daniel Plainview, played brilliantly by Daniel
Day-Lewis. In risking his life to find gold, Mr Plainview strikes
oil and so the story of a driven, determined and ruthless man begins
to unfold upon the screen. So potent is his ambition, he exhibits
little emotion and appears untouched by human tragedy. When a miner
is killed in the shaft beside him, he adopts the orphaned boy as
his own, not out of duty, but as an opportunity to improve his business
prospects. Mr Plainview and his (adopted) son, H.W. (Dillion Freasier)
are soon very wealthy oil men drilling a lucrative new claim in
California. The consistency of Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance
should win him an Oscar. He appears in almost every scene of the
film’s 150 minutes, intensely dominating the screen, imposing
his will and drawing visceral emotion from us like oil from the
ground. As single-minded as Mr Plainview is, he is not one-dimensional.
As a result, changes in pacing and tempo are highly theatrical,
as they should be, because this is not your typical filmic narration,
it’s the exploration of a man’s mind and motivation.
And this is where the brilliance of the script, the cinematography,
the direction and the casting all comes together to make one of
the best films of the decade. The plot itself doesn’t extend
much past what I’ve already outlined but it doesn’t
need to, because like a Dostoyevsky novel, this tale is all about
the essence of human nature. Enter two more fine performances from
Paul Dano who plays the evangelical preacher Eli Sunday and Kevin
O’Connor who plays Plainview’s brother Henry. Both these
characters have critical roles, not just in driving the story, but
in the way they reveal Daniel Plainview’s existential crisis.
His relentless search for oil may well be a metaphor of his own
search for spirituality while those around him are symbolic of his
life’s long lonely journey. All in all, if you’re really
into film, you’ll remember ‘There Will Be Blood’
as an all time classic. It takes a real commitment to sit all the
way through it, but you’ll be able to discuss its merits and
meanings with other fans for years to come.
