There Will Be Blood

Although there are still two films that I have left to see in this calender year-John Sayles "Honeydripper" and the big budget action flick "National Treasure Book of Secrets"-the latter to see just for a couple of hours of mindless entertainment-I consider "There Will Be Blood" to mark the end of quite a great fall for films. And honestly, to add a bit of torture for yours truly, it was the one I was most looking forward to see. I got lucky a few times this year, getting to see several highly anticipated films early like "No Country for Old Men," "The Savages," and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," but I had a hard time getting into anything even related to this. Finally, two days after being released, I woke up at a quarter to nine to make the early 10:30am screening-oddly packed considering the time of day it was-and sat down comfortably, for the next three hours for be some long ones.

"There Will Be Blood" reminds me of those old epics from decades ago-the two that most prominently will come to mind are "Citizen Kane" and "Giant," the former being referenced since this is really a massive character study of one man over decades, who he is, and why he becomes what he becomes, and the latter being referenced because of the subject matter-oil! In fact this film is based on a novel called "Oil!" written by Upton Sinclair. Looking for it in the bookstore weeks before the film was released I found that the only Sinclair novel to be spotted was "The Jungle," but it should be reprinted soon enough-it might even already be out there. Daniel Day Lewis doesn't make a film very often-in fact since 2002 this is only the third, the other two being "Gangs of New York" and "The Ballad of Jack and Rose." But he has a knack for really changing into these various characters that he plays with such ease and flow that its obvious why he's one of the most respected actors around. With "There Will Be Blood" he has become my official choice for Best Actor at the Oscars next year-better than Denzel in "American Gangster" (which isn't saying much, really), James McAvoy, Viggo Mortenson, George Clooney, and even Frank Langella. In fact, Day Lewis' work here actually leaves all those actors in the dust-he doesn't waste a single scene or a single minute without getting to the core of this awful and completely unlikable character. It is a flawless performance, and the screen ignited every time he was on a screen-which is constantly during the films 158 minute running time.

Daniel Day Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, who in 1898 managed to begin an oil drilling business that would-thirteen years later-make him one of the richest men around. After an accident leaves one of his top men dead, Daniel raises the man's son as his own, making H.W. Plainview not only his son, but also his business partner. When he is visited by Paul Sunday, he is informed that there is oil buried underneath his family's farm. Going there under the ruse of hunting quail, Plainview becomes convinced himself that there is an ocean of oil underneath the ground and offers to buy the land from the Sunday's. He comes to problems with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano once again), Paul's twin brother, who wants the money that Daniel is offering to give to his church. He also wants Daniel to allow him to bless the drilling process, something that Daniel backs out on at the last minute. From this point on the drilling goes through disaster after disaster, including an accident that costs more than money to Daniel.

"There Will Be Blood" is a sprawling epic, and in a year filled with them-the other most prominently being "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"-this might be the toughest to sell. Light on actual plot and strong on character, the movie features Plainview in every single scene here, and we chart him from 1898 to 1927 (I may be wrong on the year in the third act.) From the first twenty minutes-which is free of all dialogue whatsoever as we watch Plainview discover where to find oil for the first time-we know that he is someone that will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. When he falls into a well and breaks his leg, he still manages to get out and get his black gold. Plainview is a businessman at the core-extremely charismatic, fast talking, and he knows exactly what he is doing when he is selling his product. He claims that he is a family man-using H.W. as his partner as well as his "son"-but its clear that Plainview biggest care in the world is oil and the money that comes from the oil. His close partner Fletcher Hamilton (played by Ciarán Hinds) seems to take more care of H.W. than he does, and there is an odd sexual feeling when Daniel watches the drills going in and out of the well holes (although I may be reading a bit too much into that aspect of the film). By the end he is a shell of a man-greed has overcome him to the point where he is not even a human anymore. Watch Daniel Day Lewis closely during the final two scenes-his insanity makes the audience fear him. It's the closest thing that I can come to in a comparison between films decades ago and films now-I was reminded of a few different characters all at once-Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane," Broderick Crawford in "All the King's Men," and Andy Griffith in "A Face in the Crowd."

Aside from Daniel Day Lewis there's tons of other things to admire. The cinematography-by Robert Elswit, who I learned earlier also shot "Michael Clayton" this year, as well as "Good Night, and Good Luck." two years ago, which is just beautiful to look at-is stunning. It rivals Roger Deakins' work in the "Jesse James" film and "No Country for Old Men", as well as only I fear that Dariusz Wolski will win for his work on "Sweeney Todd"-still great work, but the other three films are far superior. Every shot is lovely-from the opening shot of the mountains to the final shot, which has just been brought to my attention as being something to compare to greatly. The music by Johnny Greenwood of Radiohead is eerie and ominous. I've listened to the score on the soundtrack CD and it really is stunning. Paul Thomas Anderson's direction is almost flawless. He always makes films on such grand scales anyway-"Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" are both epics in a different sense of the word, but he does amazingly with this material. Reading a few pages of the first pages of the screenplay are perfectly detailed-I certainly can't write anything like that. I'll bring to mind an incredible set piece involving an accident that occurs during the drill. It features some perfect Anderson tracking shots, the wonderful Elswit cinematography, and Greenwood's score, which begins as a rather offbeat and odd banging rhythm, until an explosion kicks in the theme music of the film-found in the trailer-which is just downright creepy and even bizarre. It is a set piece that is more exciting than anything in "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates 3," and pretty much any Hollywood film that opened in the summer.

And it would be a useless review unless I recognize Paul Dano's work as both Paul and Eli Sunday-the former only appearing for a single scene. This is probably the most energetic I've ever seen him after his rather subdued and quiet performances in "The Ballad of Jack and Rose," and "Little Miss Sunshine," the former film I'm just realizing also had him working with Daniel Day Lewis. "There Will Be Blood" really ends up being a complete triumph on every level. It's one of the best films of the year (I don't want to spoil my Top 10, it could even be my number one), the best male performance of the year, and an epic that will certainly set the bar high for all period epics that come after it.

The film is playing in the New York area at the Lincoln Square Theatre, with a wider release coming in the next few weeks.

Final Grade-
"There Will Be Blood"-**** of ****