No Blood, No Guts, No Glory

Rating: 10/10 (12 November 2013)

Paul Thomas Anderson began his career as a young filmmaker in the early 90's. He proceeded to make several energetic, ambitious movies which were guided by an upbeat soundtrack. Stylistically, he borrowed from Altman, Mamet and Scorsese but still, his films fit nicely with all of the other fun, stylized Hollywood films made in the 90's along the likes of Tarantino and Kevin Smith.
Flash forward to 2005, Anderson has matured quite a bit since his feature length debut in '96. He has more experience under his belt and he has become a father. He's taken a few years off from his last feature, starring Adam Sandler. At this point, Anderson is ready to make something he's never attempted. He jumps into uncharted waters and begins writing a film titled "There Will Be Blood."
It seems that Anderson was ready to up his game and strived for a picture that was more grand, more metaphysical, similar to his own heroes, Stanley Kubrick and Sidney Lumet. Of course, to make a project as sublime as Anderson had envisioned, he had to team up with some very talented people. The iconic Day Lewis in the lead, underrated Paul Dano in the supporting role, minor characters who look as if they've been pulled from a 1920's black and white photo, a great cinematographer, talented set designers, Jonny Greenwood and an interesting germ of an idea from a novel by Upton Sinclair. When all of these ingredients came together it culminated into one of the greatest films of the 2000's.
PTA is the kind of director who admits he isn't always sure what he's "looking for" and he hopes the thematic aspects will fall into place as he goes along. Though "Blood" is a very ambitious film, PTA handles it with confidence and possibly a willingness to break the mold of what kind of director critics had previously defined him as. Tarantino has recently tried to do the same after making three Los Angeles based films that helped put him on the map, problem is his latest films have become more "popcorn" movies that combine Quentin's favorite genres.
"There Will Be Blood" is a masterful film in nearly every facet. Everyone has acknowledged the acting is great. Daniel Day Lewis is riveting, even in the scenes he doesn't speak. The soundtrack is memorable, the cinematography is special and PTA gets the most out of authentic Texas locations used throughout. And then there's the ending, which feels like it was ghost-directed by the spirit of Kubrick himself. "Blood" seems to get better and better the more you watch it.
10/10. To make a film in the caliber of this, the planets have to line up. This involves of course the auteur, whose film should reflect their personal growth. Some great directors have made a "shift" into the greatest years of their filmography. It seems with this film that PTA has started his recent journey.