Greed is not good

Rating: 7/10 (23 October 2008)

This is the story of Daniel Plainview, an oilman living at the beginning of the 20th century. We are asked to invest a lot of time in getting to know this rather unlikeable man and I am not sure it is a good investment. As Daniel slips deeper and deeper into the clutches of his greed I found myself caring less about him and about the movie. Daniel is not complex enough to hold your attention for over two and a half hours, he is defined by his greed and little else. The only appealing qualities he ever displays are some affection for his adopted son and a man who presents himself as a long-lost brother. He abandons the boy when he can no longer use him for his own interests and he kills the would-be brother when he discovers he is a pretender. Daniel ultimately reaps the consequences of his monomania, doomed to wander alone in his mansion with no friends and no real interests.
The overarching theme of how secular capitalists use religion when it suits them and how religious people use capitalists when it suits them is topical and casts a pall of cynicism over the proceedings. If such a theme appeals to you, then you will be delighted that the resolution between the capitalist and the minister is mutual destruction. On a less abstract level, we are left with stereotypes for greedy oilmen and fake evangelical ministers.
Undoubdedly Day-Lewis gives a strong performance. For me his performance is undermined by that of Paul Dano as the faith-healing Eli Sunday. I suppose Eli was modeled after Billy Sunday, the Billy Graham of the time, but Dano is remarkably unconvincing in this role. No matter what your religious persuasion the successful faith-healers and revivalists can really get you going-- they are masters of mob psychology. Dano has neither the voice nor the demeanor to pull this off, his acting skills in this department pale in comparison to the people in real life. He is embarrassingly weak in the final scene.
The period details of early 20th century life seem authentic and provide the film with much of its interest. In particular, capturing the details of working on an oil drilling rig at the beginning of the oil industry in the United States is done most impressively. There are some incredible scenes like the one showing how explosive gas fires were extinguished. Clearly a lot of effort and research went into the filming.
Music plays a big part. The original score by Jonny Greenwood works well, creating subtle premonitory feelings. This is particularly effective in the beginning fifteen minutes where Daniel's first mining experiences are set forth, and not a word is spoken. Indeed after the first fifteen minutes I was anticipating something very special. The use of Arvo Pärt's "Fratres" establishes an appropriate mood and melds seamlessly with Greenwood's score, but the use of the Brahms violin concerto is so out of place as to seem positively bizarre.
This started strong and finished weak.