Simply unforgettable.

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2013)

The closing sequence delivers on the promise of the movie's title in a manner that keeps viewers discussing it long after the picture ends. "There Will Be Blood" is not a movie that disappears quietly. Paul Thomas Anderson's epic masterpiece "There will be Blood" is a steadfast reflection of the very essence of capitalism in America, where domination, not gain, is the ultimate objective, and by any means necessary.
When we first meet Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) in 1898, he's mining for gold in a shaft he has dug into the ground of his Texas property. He finds what he's looking for, and perhaps more. Several years later, he has shifted his focus from gold to oil and he has been able to hire some hands. When an accident results in a death, Daniel finds himself with an infant orphan to care for. He raises the child, known as H.W., to be his own. By 1912, Daniel has become a well-known oilman, and he his looking to expand his empire. Accompanied by his partner, Fletcher (Ciarán Hinds), and his son (Dillon Freasier), he travels to California to follow a promising lead. What he finds there astonishes him. He seeks to buy large parcels of property, but he is impeded in his goal by the evangelist preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), who wants Daniel to donate $10,000 to the local church before he sells. After the contract is signed, however, Daniel reneges on the deal. Shortly thereafter, once the first drill has become operational, there is an accident that results in an explosion that fuels a major oil fire and costs H.W. his hearing.
For most of the film, Daniel is a fascinating character. He's a mass of contradictions: charismatic, ugly, easygoing, ruthless, silver-tongued, plain-spoken, gentle, violent. He's smart and understands how to manipulate every situation to his advantage. He understands the business of oil and transforms himself from a poor miner into a wealthy businessman. Unfortunately, the more power Daniel amasses, the more corrupt and dissolute he becomes. Anderson chronicles Daniel's personality decay intelligently. He establishes the character as an admirable individual, but eventually his morality slowly erodes. The lives of these two, Daniel and Eli, are self-centered, cunning, and ruthless men who collide and lead us into the dark, unpaved path of madness of self-destruction driven by their unrelenting greed.
"There Will Be Blood" is a rich character study of a fascinating individual who is by turns likable, loathsome, admirable, monstrous, and driven. What Day-Lewis brings to the characterization is more exquisite and complex than anything even Anderson might have imagined at the outset. His Plainview is the most gripping film performance of the year, and as his religious foil, Dano also reveals unsuspected depths. Long, but so well crafted with terrific cinematography, and beautifully written/directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Daniel Day-Lewis and Robert Elswit both earned Academy Awards.