There Will Be Vengeance

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2008)

"There Will Be Blood" is an instant classic, very much in the mold in of "Citizen Kane," but much more effective. This is one of, writer/director, Paul Thomas Anderson' finest achievements and is certainly in the discussion for his best work along with "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia." P.T. Anderson is quickly rising as this generation's best director and maybe the greatest visionary film has ever seen. On a technical level, "There Will Be Blood," is near perfection and may end up near the top of AFI' 100 greatest films list in another 20 years or so. The Cinematography is gorgeous. The score is incredible- sometimes a little overused. The acting is great, lead by one of the best of year- see Viggo Mortensen of "Eastern Promises" if you want to see a performance that rivals one of this magnitude. Paul Dano was, however, over the top and just couldn't match up with Lewis as he was outclassed and out performed, but some of the smaller roles were played with incredible realism and felt completely genuine. The direction is flawless. The art direction will put you back in the late 1800s on through the late 1920s. The performance by Daniel Day-Lewis will the thing that's remembered for years to come as he now owns title to two of the greatest acting performances of the 21st century ("Gangs of New York"). Like, "Gangs," "There Will Be Blood" is powered by Lewis as it's lead by Daniel Plainview, played magnificently by one of the best actors cinema has ever seen as he carries this ambitious film. Without this incredible performance to lean on "There Will Be Blood" just can't hold up to what it sets out to do. As we watch the development of Daniel Plainview and his hatred culminate we quickly realize just how deadly Plainview becomes. Where there's oil there's greed, and where there's greed there's disputes, and where there's disputes there's blood, and there will be blood. The greed in this film is saturated through the characters with one after another looking for money. Oil is the source of money and no one can get at it except for Daniel, so his greed is going to come into conflict with the spectators greed, who all wants a piece of the proverbial pie.
The best scene in the film is the big gusher scene and it's also the turning point in the film. The cinematography in this five minute scene alone is worth a nomination and the score will sing your ears as the fire will sing your eyes. After years of drilling for oil, Plainview becomes powerful, but not as powerful as he will or dreams of becoming. The big gusher represents Plainview's boiling greed and once the ocean of boiling oil erupts, Plainview, is overcome with the prospect of making so much money that he could move away from everyone and live in a mansion, away from "these people." He hates most people and he doesn't see anything worth liking when he looks at people. Everyone that crosses his path is just another spectator getting in the way and taking the money that he has rights to. He does all the work- the drilling, he does all the finding, and he leases all the land so he should get all the money. This is how this works, you see. When his adopted son H.W. goes deaf from the blast of the big gusher, Daniel, no longer knows of any way to talk to him. When his partner asks him, "How's H.W." as Daniel is mesmerized by the fire and the ocean of oil under his feet and the kind of money he can make- the real money- he uncaringly says he's "not good." Then, just like that, H.W. becomes a burden instead of cute face to help him buy land. H.W. is a tool in Daniel's eyes. Everyone is a tool. Just like a pickaxe or a drill, people are tools, and Daniel uses those tools to get what he wants, but when they start acting like people instead of tools is when we have big problems. H.W. just gets in the way like everyone else and the love and bond of a father and son seem to take a back seat to greed and competition.
Daniel sends H.W. off to a school for the deaf in San Francisco. While he's away his brother Henry is the next in line of spectators getting in the way. And Eli Sunday as well, the evangelical preacher for the Church of The Third Revelation. Paul Dano plays Eli, and his twin brother Paul Sunday, and get's into dirty business to provide for his church so he can preach to a bigger congregation. Sunday becomes immersed in his own greed and eventually finds himself corrupt and looking for help from his "brother Daniel" who doesn't exactly see himself as his brother. Greed and power sit atop the focal points of the film in regards to self examination. Sometimes you have to take a look at the ugly side of yourself. Some may question their actions as they try to change and some continue those actions without remorse. Daniel's plunge into madness is dark and prolonged and gradually alcohol and hate become the driving force in his life. As Daniel plunges into the never ending abyss we see that his hate knows no boundaries and he will hate anyone and turn on everyone. You'll come away questioning if he loved or cared for anyone. As Daniel comes to a point in his life where he wants to be: Alone and on top with his rivals drowning in a pool of their own blood. Whether he eats someone or isolates himself from people, he succeeds in whatever he does.