Remarkably Unique, Astonishing, Quirky, Eccentric, Brilliant, this may be one of the greatest films of all time

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2008)

"I drink your milkshake!"
After going to see this film i left the cinema thinking to myself:
"I may have just witnessed one of the greatest movies of all time"
Its a story of an oil tycoon called Daniel Plainview (played by daniel day lewis) who accompanied by his son, takes over a small village in the desire of oil and money. There are many side tracks for Daniel on his way to success and this constructs a marvellous and emphatic film.
The beginning is a 15 minute sequence which involves no dialogue. Its extraordinary how a 15 minute clip with no dialogue could keep me so gripped to the film. Its an illustration of how Daniel strikes oil for the first time in the method of mining for silver. The mesmerising opening sequence is similar to the beginning of 2001: a space odyssey in which the discovery of human kind takes place. The beginning of 2001 is epic, extraordinary and fascinating much like this opening. This opening is about the beginning of a business filled with greed.
People say that money is the root of all evil. The lust of money drove Daniel to lose everything he loved. At the beginning, he says that he loves everything. But as the film goes on and as his oil business increases Daniel turns from an omnibenevolent person to an omnimalevolent person. This deterioration of character to Daniel is all because of the greed and lust he grew through his business. Oil is the root to all evil in this film.
Daniel buys the lease of the village which the oil contains from Eli (part of the family that live there) in a transaction that seems fair and reasonable. But later, Daniel's true greedy side is shown when he rips off Eli. Eli asks Daniel for his money and instead of handing the money over, Daniel hands him over a few slaps and a rub in the mud!. Whether this is out of anger because of Daniel's child becoming deaf or Daniel showing his true colours, its a fantastic scene.
One thing i noticed while watching the film is the fact that many themes in it resemble Kubrickian style. 2001 was a Kubrick film as mentioned earlier and the theme of discovery is explored in there will be blood much like 2001. Furthermore, the superb musical score of the film is very similar to Kubricks 'The Shining'. The music is cold, hard and gritty. At one point i believed that the opening musical score was taken directly from The Shining but this was under debate in between my friends!. The overall music score of the film involves very classical style music which is the music Kubrick used in all his films. The ending i pondered was resemblant of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange' in which it ends with one cool line ("Im finished") and is rounded off with a long classical score. Kubricks "Eyes wide shut" ends similarly to this in which it ends with the one line "Lets f**k".
The ending is very crisp. Daniel loses his son and his business. At this point, Daniel is completely changed and is only a business maniac. The news of his son wanting to start his own business spurs on the idea that his son is a competitor and shouldn't be loved. Although the loss of his business is shown clearly, it is insinuated with the finished line 'Im finished!'. This is after he kills Eli. Daniel has lost his mind out of greed. The significance of the last line is perplexing. This could suggest his life is finished due to his inevitable trip to jail for murder or it could symbolise the ending of all family relationships due to Eli being his son in law. It is whatever you want to perceive it as.
This is a suspenseful and chilling masterpiece with breath taking performances and cinematography. My review is very linear, it would be best for you to go and see it!
10/10