Directed by:
Paul Thomas AndersonScreenplay:
Paul Thomas AndersonCinematography:
Robert ElswitComposer:
Jonny GreenwoodCast:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, Dillon Freasier, Barry Del Sherman, Paul F. Tompkins, Kevin Breznahan, Jim Meskimen (more)Plots(1)
The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon. When Plainview gets a mysterious tip-off that there’s a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground, he heads with his son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier), to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. In this hardscrabble town, where the main excitement centers around the holy roller church of charismatic preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), Plainview and H.W. make their lucky strike. But even as the well raises all of their fortunes, nothing will remain the same as conflicts escalate and every human value – love, hope, community, belief, ambition and even the bond between father and son – is imperiled by corruption, deception and the flow of oil. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (14)
If is it was less protracted, it would be great. I have to admit that in terms of filmmaking, There Will Be Blood is close to perfection, but I prefer films that are a bit more human (not so dry). Oscar here, Oscar there, but I just got bored and it be couldn’t avoided, even with Daniel Day-Lewis’s performance – anywhere else, I’d probably be unable to take my eyes off him. 3* for me, but it’s certainly worth watching.
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Paul Thomas Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit are film alchemists. Daniel Day-Lewis is a genius actor and There Will Be Blood might become this century’s Citizen Kane. This cynical, original and epic portrait of capitalist America is a masterpiece.
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Technically, it’s flawless, with masterful camerawork, visuals that are properly dirty and grainy, without a single slow motion shot, completely raw and believable (the injuries, the fires, the deaths). The scenes featuring platforms and heavy machinery are among the best. They have captured the power of both natural elements (earth, gas, oil) and all necessary tools for their extraction (drills, platforms, etc.) in an unbelievably realistic way, and in the accidents involving heavy machinery, which almost always result in fatal injuries, you literally feel the weight of each metal object in your seat, as well as the tremendous pressure of a tensioned rope or gas pocket. I have never seen/felt/experienced anything like this before. Daniel Day-Lewis is excellent, but towards the end it was a bit too much. Not that he acted poorly, but the screenwriter pushed things a bit too far. Nevertheless, I rate very highly at least the first, non-intimate and relatively action-packed first half, which succinctly and more factually depicts the rise of an oil magnate, his persona, and his work. The second, more intimate part is not as entertaining, but it is still one of the gems of the past few years, certainly from a technical standpoint.
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A delicacy. Daniel Day-Lewis steals the whole picture. He is the type of heavenly actor who would be capable of ripping down and retracing in all of David Plainview’s character contours. A struggle for money and faith, where money always wins. A demolition of the American dream, a dream that doesn’t just sit and wait for you, but you have to wade through mud, oil and blood to get to achieve it. Paul Thomas Anderson knows this. A masterpiece.
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"That was one goddamn helluva show." Yup, it sure was... In other reviews you frequently come across strong claims such as movie of the year and the like. I might even increase the aforementioned unit of time to cover a longer period. Why? Because it’s already a good few hours since the movie ended, but I’m still quivering with absolute delight. And something tells me that I will continue to quiver for a long time yet. I feel as if Anderson made this for me alone. This grand work may be described using but four words: cynicism (with respect to mankind), cynicism (with respect to religious fanaticism and religion in general), cynicism (with respect to the American Dream), and cynicism (with respect to everything else). Simply cynical egoism to the core and a good feeling from knowing that Anderson watch The Treasure of the Sierra Madre very attentively. Additional note: Second time round it’s maybe even better. On my second visit to the movie theater, Anderson again drowned me in black gold. And I had a great time all the while he was drowning me. It’s high time to take a good bath.
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