Unconventional brilliance

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2018)

Paul Thomas Anderson is undoubtedly the greatest director of his generation, and There Will Be Blood once more shows his versatility as a director. Anderson's direction seems like a bit of a mix between Kubrick & Scorsese, and whereas a lot of earlier PT Anderson films seemed to lean more towards Scorsese ( Boogie Nights, Hard Eight ), There Will Be Blood leans more towards Kubrick, and feels unlike anything he has ever directed before.
There Will Be Blood is kind of unconventional in its technical expertise. It uses a lot of angles one would never expect during certain scenes. An example of this is when Daniel Plainview ( Daniel-Day Lewis ) meets his half brother, in which most of the time the camera is behind Lewis, instead of using the more conventional shot/reverse shot method. Another example is when he reunites with his son H.W. after some time. Normally these scenes would feature mid/close up range to capture a more personal feel towards this event, but in There Will Be Blood this is changed into an obscure wideshot which is not satisfying at all while showing the pipeline in the foreground, like Anderson is visually telling the audience about what's more important to Plainview. These kind of techniques give this film a unique look and an odd kind of originality that is rarely found in films. It's pacing is reminiscent of Kubrick, but everything else seems to spring right from Anderson's artistic mind.
There is no actual dialogue in the first fourteen minutes, and yet we learn so much about Plainview as a character. He is forced to crawl out of a well injured and alone for a single silver find which shows us visually just how destitute he is. His character arc is undoubtedly one of the greatest in cinematic history, as he evolves from this to the complete opposite while still maintaining a large degree of logic and sense. This is, in the end, a fantastic example of a brilliant study about the descent into madness due to greed and corruption.
There are really no words that properly honor Daniel-Day Lewis's performance in this movie. He is absolutely superb. From his incredible imitation of a turn of the century voice to his charming speeches or facial expressions bursting with internal struggles, this is one of the finest protagonist performances ever to grace the big screen. Paul Dano ofcourse also shines in his two-way role of Paul & Eli Sunday, perfectly capturing the religious fanatic's personality. ( The time for him to shine is truly when he has to say he is a false prophet in the final scene, in which you can truly see the genuine struggle he is having by just looking at his expressions ). There are not many films out there that equal the quality of There Will Be Blood's acting due to this, and these powerhouse performances really transcend this already excellent film even further.
It has a fantastic screenplay with a lot of exceptional dialogue. The final scene is a stand-out. That scene is absolute cinematic perfection in the intellect and sub text of its dialogue. The simple 'I'm finished' quote is still being debated to this day, as its meaning stretches far beyond what most can see. Some events like the arrival of Plainview's 'half brother' seem somewhat out of place and quite sudden, but we have to remember that this is Plainview's story and this sub plot works incredibly well as another pure elevator to hell for the sanity of his character.
The cinematography is brilliant, with many beautiful images capturing that desolate and bleak look of the film perfectly. The drill fire sequence during night time is a perfect example of this, as the color of the fire lighting up the screen is contrasted beautifully by the silhouettes in the foreground. Most of the shots in the film are either slowly zooming in or zooming out, to capture that impending doom that always seems to be around every corner. Every frame, every shot, it all connects beautifully as it all has its own purpose. Not a single shot is wasted. The visual storytelling is very strong in There Will Be Blood, and it relies on the viewer's intelligence to understand this, as the respect P.T. Anderson shows here for his audience is very high. There are a lot of things one will need to figure out for themselves, because Anderson doesn't make his characters say blatant obvious things. However, this does not mean it is abstract or incoherent, because the visual story is still there for all to see.
There Will Be Blood is titanically acted, intelligently written and most of all superbly directed by a master filmmaker. It is a haunting descent into madness, but it is in the unusual and unconventional way this is filmed that this really stands out as such a masterpiece.