There Will Be Blood (2007)
There once was a time when PT Anderson was that kooky little director who tried to make big films. It seems appropriate that ten years after he sprang onto the scene in a big way with the controversial ‘Boogie Nights’ (1997), he is now redefining himself as a substantial epic hollywood filmmaker with this grand story of the “oil man” Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis). This is a sprawling and large story of one man who is both created and destroyed by his obsession with oil, and yet at times it feels like an incredibly small story about fathers and sons, religion and greed.
Day-Lewis gives a remarkably intense performance as the smooth-talking control freak Plainview. He brings a charge to the screen that does not allow the audience to look away for a moment. He is in almost every scene and owns the movie with his charisma and madness. Yet it is the moments when he tangles with a local preacher, Eli (Paul Dano), when we truly begin to understand him. Perhaps it is because I am an atheist, but I began to relate to Plainview when he reacted to the bizarre actions of this man obsessed with Christianity. These two men are equally taken in by their obsessions and we see in the final scene of the movie just how far each of them will go and how much they will sacrifice for their own needs.
Dano proves himself to be an actor of great substance. After playing the mesmerizing silent brother in ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, I expected him to fall upon the wayside, much like Wes Bentley in the aftermath of ‘American Beauty’; however Dano has propelled himself to the stature of character actor with this portrayal. He is so impressive that in one particular baptism scene, he manages to outshine Day-Lewis. The tense chemistry between these two actors represents the tug’o'war that continues to play itself out in American society: capitalism vs. religion. Money Vs. God. Yet it also allows us to question which gives birth to which, and whether one can survive without the other. Indeed who is the father and who is the son?
Anderson has given us a movie to spark a national dialogue and one can only hope that its message is not lost as the world screams for answers.
Grade: A
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