A masterpiece! And even better on second viewing

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2008)

I bought the DVD a year ago, thinking that I had just scratched the surface of this film on first watching. How true! I finally watched the video and it was even better than in the theater. On second viewing, I'm changing my rating from "10" to "10 plus." This movie is memorable -- the kind of film that will stay with you for years. We will be watching it 30 years from now, as we now watch the Godfather. And the Daniel Plainview character was far more nuanced and deep than the first time around.
For this, I must credit Daniel Day-Lewis's extraordinay performance (DDL's superb ability to act silently - see the beginning of the Boxer for another example - makes him the greatest actor of his time). Plainview is not pure evil nor pure allegory; he is real, nuanced, fully-realized, and in his own way, a magnificent immortal character. Then there is the almost equally riveting Paul Dano (it is our good fortune to have Paul Dano re-cast as Eli as well as Paul.) Best of all, this story is an American morality play, timely in its evaluation, through one central character and his counter-part, of two eternal issues -- capitalistic greed and religious fervor.
Heap credit on DDL, then give at least equal measure to Paul Thomas Anderson, whose conception, screenplay, and direction with exceptional visual power, is what makes this an American masterpiece.
A word about the music: Not only is the foreboding Radiohead music a constant tension-provoker, but I will never listen to the third movement of Brahams' violin concerto -- considered to be a happy Rondo -- without seeing the ominous TWBB scenes in which it was used, particularly in the bowling alley.
This is the first addition to my Top Ten of all time in many, many years.