Bloody Brilliant

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2008)

I saw There Will Be Blood the day it came out in Australia (9th of February, 2008), and of course, I booked in the very first session of the day, at exactly 12:00pm. Believe me when I say that I will never forget that date and the cinema in which I viewed it in, for I had just seen a truly dark masterpiece.
It was possibly my most anticipated movie of this decade so far, for Daniel Day-Lewis is my favourite and most respected actor. He is a well educated, brilliant performer with a modest personality. On top of all that he refuses to go commercial/mainstream (again, why I respect him so much) and remains a true gentleman. So it is very hard to believe that someone so nice could play a character so full of hatred, greed, competition, cruelness and be scarier then most other horror movie serial killers. Day-Lewis is able to pull off a character with more personality levels than ever before, from a hard working man trying to make a living while loving and caring for his young son, to a greedy, selfish, anti-social entrepreneur who would do anything to stop someone getting in the way of his wealth, and believe me, boy does he do some cruel things. One of the greatest performances I have ever seen in a movie, up there with Hannibal Lecter(Anthony Hopkins), Forrest Gump(Tom Hanks), R.P. McMurphy(Jack Nicholson) and even Don Vito Corleone(Marlon Brando).
The movie is set between the years 1898-1927, and accurately shows how some of the oil tycoons of the early 20th Century made their wealth. Some people might not like the fact that the movie goes for a little over 2 and a half hours, but I say those people have no patience in them. That just means that the plot is a lot more complex and the movie doesn't fail to keep you intrigued from the very first opening scene, which, might I add, was one of my most interesting first 20 minutes of an opening scene ever. It just goes to show that you don't need a single word of dialogue to set the mood of the rest of the movie and to show how Daniel Plainview reached his wealth, through hard work and resilience. So, if someone complains to you about the length of the movie, well just give them a few examples of the greatest movies ever... The Godfather(175 mins), Shawshank Redemption(142 mins), Pulp Fiction(154 mins) and Schindler's List(195 mins). If they don't like any of these movies, well just kick them in the head a few times to knock some sense into them. :)
When the movie finished, my older brother and I walked out of the cinema without saying a word to each other. Once we were outside, he finally asked me "So what did you think?". It took me a while to come up with an answer, I had to think back about the original storyline, Daniel Day-Lewis' performance, Paul Dano's surprisingly good performance, the conflict between religion and superstition (which I liked because it is hardly ever done in a movie) and of course, the ever so powerful final scene which no doubt shocked the entire audience and will remain in their minds for a VERY long time. Hell, I'm still thinking about the final scene in my dreams. I also thought how brave Paul Thomas Anderson and the producers must have been. They obviously didn't care what Hollywood would've thought about the movie. It goes against what most (if not all) Hollywood movies consider to be entertaining; the happy ending, the compulsory infrequent 'funny' moments and the lively atmosphere. Finally, I turned to my brother after I came up with an answer and simply replied..."Bloody Brilliant".