There Will Be Blood

James 10/19/2023 2:22:15 AM 8.4

What the hell was in the air in 2007?

James 10/19/2023 2:26:22 AM 8.4

A hypnotic flight into the darkness of the soul and how people hide themselves away. A masterfully directed feat, There Will Be Blood shows the very limits of selfishness and greed which are further encapsulated by Day-Lewis’ mind-blowing and unique performance of which could be easily called the greatest of all time. Every person who worked on this seem as if they are masters of their crafts, even the child actors, whose performances are stunning. Day-Lewis has excellent chemistry with Paul Dano’s egoistical preacher, who was very much snubbed for the best actor category. With some of the best cinematography ever brought to film, this is truly one of the all time greats.

Wuchak 6/23/2021 3:58:25 PM 8.4

***Weighty, morose period drama with complex characters and Daniel Day-Lewis*** In the early 20th century, an industrious prospector in Southern California, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), becomes a shrewd oil magnate, whose journey is paralleled with a dubious Pentecostal pastor of a remote church, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). “There Will Be Blood” (2007) is a one-of-a-kind period drama with Western elements. It’s arty and the furthest thing from a conventional blockbuster. You have to be in the mode for a deep, slow-moving, epic flick like this in order to appreciate it. The contemporaneous “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and “No Country for Old Men” are good comparisons. Whilst the story and main characters are simple on the surface, they go deep and there are many gems to mine: What good is success if you have no one to love and enjoy it with? Is Daniel a sociopath or a quality individual who acquires sociopathic tendencies because his choices put him on the road of madness? Was Eli a “false prophet”? If so, was he always a con or did he become one? Why is Eli paralleled with Daniel? Does Daniel have the capacity for genuine love? Does he mean what he ultimately says to HW or are they words born from a sense of betrayal? Would a sane person rashly resort to murder? Is there a positive protagonist in the movie? If so, who and why? If not, why not? The film runs 2 hours, 38 minutes, and was shot in Southern Cal and Texas (Shafter & Marfa); and Lakewood, Washington (Thornewood Castle). GRADE: B