Grandiose Classic

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2008)

A throwback to great movies from decades ago with superior character acting, bombastic musical scores, grandiose cinematography and deliberate, but by no means slow or boring, pacing. Pacing that takes you and immerses you for quite some time into the setting and the period.
The cinematography, direction and score all are great but will most likely stand out in history after the movie becomes a classic is the superb acting. Daniel Day Lewis's performance ranks amongst the greatest acting by Brando, Pacino, Nicklaus etc. It is a little over the top and not completely realistic however, the nuanced facial expressions showing a variety of emotions at the same time, the unique talk and the stumbled and hunch walk become Lewis' own artistic portrayal of Daniel Plainview's essence.
The deliberate, suspenseful pacing along with the intense music and slightly artistic - not so Hollywood spin was reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's movies. Similar to Kubrick's movies the slower pacing is not detrimental to entertainment since it "brings you there" for more than a moment and allows you to ponder as you watch. This is a far cry from the instant gratification style of entertainment from most of the movies nowadays.
The music and acting created an exciting earnestness in the beginning as we witness Plainview make his deals and drill for oil. He is a shrewd businessman and it is interesting to see how he conducts his business and get what he wants.
The larger than life period piece could have gone anywhere and been about a multitude of things such as Plainview's business dealings, how he got his land, started drilling, his ideas on how to transport the oil, people who tried to take advantage of his fortune, the people he had to appease or even a commentary about the evils of capitalism. It did go into a lot of these topics but it did not dwell on them. Going into all this may have made it unwieldy or as some movies do, seem like it was trying to tackle too much and as a result sacrificing depth. The writer/director wisely focused on the most interesting theme which was the character Plainview's dark consciousness and internal agony.
He wages a war against his tortured conscious. Since no one is any competition or poses any threat to Plainview's ingenious business savvy and skills, his only real enemy or obstacle is his own heart and soul. He is strong enough to ignore his tortured consciousness on his own and punishes himself in his own way by sleeping on the ground and never enjoying any comforts or pleasures that his wealth brings. That is why the main antagonist and other main character is not some other person who might encumber his business but rather the one that makes him aware of his conscience and his sin. The priest represents a tangible, unavoidable, actual being that forces Plainview to confront his demons. The priest is literally thrust into Plainview's face forcing him to actually see and hear the representative of the institution which absolves sin and cleanses consciousness, the church.
The ending may be confusing and is highly criticized but if you keep the theme of the tortured spirit in mind you will understand the point of the final battle and the main point of the movie.