There Will Be Blood

I've never done this on this blog before, written a movie review that is, but what the fuck, I want to share and organize my thoughts about what I consider to be not only the best film of the year, but one of the true greats I've seen in my lifetime. That being said, I'm not sure if I could stomach seeing it again anytime soon, but whatever.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier, Ciaran Hinds & Kevin J. O'Connor
Written & Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson

The quick and the narrow: Worth seeing in theatres.

American cinema over the past eight or nine years has fallen off...hard. The true gems are few and far in between and the rest of the while, one finds oneself having dug through a pile of dirt and filth, empty-handed and feeling rather hustled. I came of age just in time to experience that magical year of 1999, the last great year, where film fans were treated to a string of dazzling, brilliant, daring films one after the other all year long. Just recounting some of them brings feelings of incredulity: Eyes Wide Shut, Fight Club, Three Kings, Being John Malkovich, American Beauty, Sleepy Hollow, Toy Story 2, The Insider, The South Park movie, Angela's Ashes... These came out in the same year? I could go on. The Phantom Menace anyone? How about the original Matrix?

Maybe 1999 spoiled me. Maybe we can only get those sorts of years once every decade, if that. Maybe the vast majority of films can simply never be as great as the ones I listed above. Maybe I should just lower my expectations from now on.

Then again, we come across years like 2007. While the barrage of instant classics last year wasn't as relentless as 1999, the quality of the seldom few classics released was enough to forever implant fond memories for 2007 in me. Chief amongst these films, which include must-sees like Zodiac, No Country for Old Men, Lake of Fire, Hot Fuzz, Michael Clayton and Sicko will undoubtedly stand There Will Be Blood.

In that lovely year of 1999, Paul Thomas Anderson delivered Magnolia, a messy, rambling indie art saga that, while certainly worth a watch, was too weighed down by self-conscious stylishness and heavy indulgences into melodrama and sentimentality. There Will Be Blood has none of that film's flaws. In fact, it doesn't even have very many of Magnolia's strengths. The two films seem as if they've been made by totally different people. One might ask oneself after witnessing the awesome spectacle that is this film and its staggering ending: "When he wrote this, what was he thinking?"

On the surface, Blood seems to tell the story of a vicious, sociopathic oilman named Daniel Plainview who strives to find his fortune amongst the desolate wastelands of turn-of-the-century California. Plainview is a bitter, tightly-wound man who keeps to himself until he absolutely requires the services of someone else. Then he discards the person as soon as their usefulness dwindles, as if disposing of a Kleenex. He is more isolated and alone than any Cast Away figure on a desert island. As Plainview reveals during one chilling scene: "I hate most people...there are times when I look at people and see nothing worth liking."

Clearly he carries personal demons. But there is the first sign that Blood is not your average Hollywood epic. Nearly every film of this style, the much-maligned "biopic," tries to explain or excuse the flaws of its main character. It's usually the bad childhood reason, or that he's under control of a ruthless slavemaster or fueled by ill-minded political ideology. Either way, the point is to explain how the villain became the way he is and why he makes the choices that he does. This film doesn't. It shows, but it doesn't tell. And the fact that there is no clear motivation offered, aside from perhaps "greed," opens the door in our minds to wonder why evil men act the way they do.

Day-Lewis gives one of the most indelible, unshakable and unsettling performances I've ever seen. He is in virtually every scene, oftentimes shot in close-up or forced to act totally on his own. Sometimes he speaks in whispers, other times growling and roaring with the ferocity of an uncaged lion, yet always singularly in character. It's a transformative role, and afterwards one can scarcely imagine meeting in person Day-Lewis the actor rather than Daniel Plainview the oilman.

Paul Dano, the flipside of Plainview's capitalist, as Christian preacher Eli Sunday holds his own against Day-Lewis. Dano is given some of the more difficult scenes, some of which would collapse into outright farce if they were performed by a lesser actor. His innocent, doe-eyed face evolves into frothing, apocalyptic prophet mode so naturally during one scene early on that we as the audience can barely look at the character, or any ranting man-of-God for that matter, the same way again.

Which leads us to the themes and ideas that Anderson brings up during the film. Unfettered capitalism, modern organized religion, the American dream, ties of kinship, family and blood, fatherhood, physical disability, misanthropy, nihilism, the mythology of the Old West, the simply joys of rural living and the environmental impact of humans all filter through one's mind while watching Blood.

Did I mention oil? No? Well that's okay. Oil is the McGuffin here, the slick black lubricant that flows through the crevices of Anderson's film and the brains of his characters. Dreams of oil wealth give birth to the fevered looks in the characters' eyes, the stench of raw greed one can sense emanating from their clothes, greasing the story's sprockets. Can something as primal as oil, or say, in the case of the Coen's No Country for Old Men, money, really cause otherwise decent men to turn evil?

The answer Anderson gives is assuredly yes. We humans are, sadly enough, crude creatures driven by the pursuit of worldly, materialistic things. The question of whether or not we would slit our fellow human's throats over a chunk of gold or, in worse times, a scrap of bread, we don't really want to have to answer.

The story There Will Be Blood tells is what happens to a selfish man when he encounters the thirst of oil, the sin of greed and the promise of absolute power. What it asks of us the audience though is what separates us from him. And there is no easy answer for that.

=//Turnquest