Daniel Day is devilishly dynamic!!

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2010)

Some people may not be inclined to watch this movie, or may be put off due to the slow pacing, as the film abstains from heavy dialogs, relying on subtle, haunting background score and actions to convey its complexities. For the first good time, there are just shots of Daniel digging for oil, obtaining it, falling into pit etc. Not a single sound made by the actor except for a groan. There are exquisitely simple shots of pump-jack used for extracting oil, and other such photography captured in the film such as the farmer's house, shot of windmill etc. Everything looks so authentic that I was instantly enamored.
Daniel Day Lewis gives a larger-than-life portrayal of Daniel Plainview, a simpleton who wants to make it big in the oil industry. As the film progresses, the character's emotional and mental balance abates as he plunges into an abyss of lunacy. He leaves his son in the lurch, denigrates a holier-than-thou, fraudulent priest and ensures everything that yields him optimum gain and moreover, optimum dominance. He doesn't indulge in histrionics at all times, limiting it to the outburst scenes, and during the rest of the film, stealthily uses his facial contortions to get across. The best part is that he never gets out of his character, and seemingly maintains a perfect stability in his character.
It can be unequivocally said that he has put 100 per cent efforts in his work. Towards the latter half, I noticed one thing that he became immune to sexual deprivation. He had no love within him, no feelings, sexually or non-sexually towards anyone. When his "brother" asks money from him at a sleazy place, a couple behind is seen snogging. However, Daniel looks plainly uninterested. Even non-sexually, he seems to have an aversion to make friends with people, show any endearment. He doesn't spare his competitors, and doesn't show any forgiveness or redemption for the sins that he has committed.
This character works much better than Al Pacino's in Scarface due to the crisp and non-indulgent direction. There is no room for redundancies like the sequence in Scarface in which Al Pacino's sister confronts Pacino in a skimpy gown or the excessive use of F-words, sometimes used just for the sake of creating controversy. This movie doesn't conform to conventionalities, giving it a unique, humorous turn (the end sequence, for example).
The camera has been used effectively to convey emotions. For example, the final scene in which Daniel takes retribution for all the humiliations he had faced at the hands of the priest by scurrilously berating and belittling him, forcing him to cower in defeat and shame and in the end, in an amusingly disturbing sequence, mashes his head with a bowling pin.
In the entire course of the film, there aren't many interactions between Daniel Plainview and Eli, still the vendetta never relegated as both of them were equally self-righteous. There is a particularly intriguing and interesting sequence of Plainview being absolved from abandonment accusations in a baptism ceremony. Here, Eli extracts his revenge upon Plainview very furtively, by stating that the Devil had possessed him and in order to expunge the Devil from his body, slapped him and yanked his hair the same way Plainview did to him earlier. In this scene, Daniel Day shines like the sun before noon, not too dim, not too bright.
Paul Dano on the other hand gives a mediocre portrayal in a double role. Shia Labeouf could have fit the boots perfectly, I think, especially in the church scenes where he had to act ludicrously. I remember Labeouf in Indiana Jones, and he could have played this character to a tee.
Dillon Freasier did a pretty good job as the son who distances himself from his father as the latter plunges into a veritably dangerous game, involving detachment from everyone in a pursuit to success and autocracy. The abandonment scene is a sad plight of what people can do and really do in this world to ensure no setbacks. I could see the transformation in his character. In the first few scenes, he seemed to be very loyal to him, walking and talking the way he did and later, he seemed to distance himself from his father. Once he grows up and finds the ugly truth from Daniel, who disparagingly ridicules him, he takes the final decision.
The movie clocks in at about 2 and half hours, which is satisfying enough for a 00's film. The editing is fantastic, so is the cinematography. The movie gives a terrific outlook into the countryside, with vast, deserted landscapes looking solemnly spectacular. The sound editing is brilliant, with hair-raising background score.
I go with a 8 out of 10 for this great film, and a gem of a performance by Day Lewis.