Film making perfection.

Rating: 10/10 (20 August 2008)

Having viewed There Will Be Blood for the second time last night I am still reeling in the wake of its perfection. Paul Thomas Anderson takes his direction to a new level, filming on a larger scale than he ever has, and doing so with the creativity and conviction that will ensure his place as one of the finest film makers of this generation. Every shot is stunning in its composition, framing, and lighting, serving the complexity and multi layered nature of the story.
Despite Anderson's seminal direction and cinematography the film is owned completely by the performance of Daniel Day Lewis. He provides a towering character study of a man driven only by a sense of greed and competition. Many a story has centered around the destructive nature of greed but no actor has captured it with quite as much passion and intensity.
By its conclusion, his Daniel Plainview is a shallow, souless man, destroyed by his own unwavering quest for wealth. Day Lewis is in almost every scene and is utterly commanding whenever on screen. His complete transformation and exploration of the Plainview psyche is on par with that of De Niro in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, Pacino in the Godfather, or any one of Brando's best performances. The performance is easily the best of the decade if not one of the best in film history.
Dano is worthy support as Eli Sunday, and the mere fact that his character can share the screen with Day Lewis is a testament both to the writing and to his performance. Johnny Greenwood's score is is the perfect counterpoint to the film, bordering at times on creepy, its edgy, off kilter sound enhances Plainview's descent into madness. This is an emotionally draining, yet completely stunning masterpiece, and an exercise in film making perfection.