Movie Review: There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson has just surpassed himself. In fact he's just surpassed everyone currently in the moviemaking business with There Will Be Blood, his magnum opus. That's a bold statement considering his previous, but Magnolia is the only one that comes anywhere near this. Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Punch-Drunk Love, while quality productions that any filmmaker would be proud of, are still so inferior to this that it's not even funny.

Having said all that, There Will Be Blood is a considerable departure for Anderson. He's made a noteable step out of his usual Los Angeles settings, jumping a century back in time to the age of oil and prospecting; and while he has mostly relied on ensemble casts in the past, his newest feature indesputably focusses on - and is totally engulfed by - one man. This man isn't just any man, he's the ever-brilliant Daniel Day-Lewis who turns in a gargantuan performance even by his own sky high standards. Having seen this now I am not surprised at all that he won the Best Actor in every man and his dog's award ceremonies, as nobody this year has even come close. His will rank among the best acting performances ever.

He plays Daniel Plainview, who begins the film as a small-time prospector mining for silver and ends up a self-made oil mogul intent on making as much money out of the land as possible, stopping at virtually nothing to get it. He travels smalltown California with his adopted son H.W. promising its impoverished citizens food, clean water and money in return for the chance to drill on their land. Plainview is the archetypal smiling crocodile. Behind his assured manner and polite disarming drawl, he knows they don't have the equipment, the money or the expertise to do it themselves; and that they are largely inexperienced, gullible and ripe for the swindling. It's obvious that Plainview despises people. For him, they're just a means to an end - that end being oil and ultimately money. In his mind the end always justifies the means, no matter how questionable they might be.

Plainview meets problems when he is given a drilling tip on a town called Little Boston, more specifically the Sunday Ranch. Living there is his prime antagonist Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a teenage preacher who claims to be a prophet; canvassing his citizens at the local church for their money with enigmatic, incendiary 'exorcism' performances. The citizens of the town adore him so Plainview is forced to jump through his hoops and satisfy his whims in order to achieve the goal he wants - something he cannot stand. Far from being the film's 'goodie', Sunday is inherently dislikeable and he is suffering from the same greed for power, money and recognition as Plainview only one not as strong. As the movie progresses, Plainview's soul becomes darker and exponentially more ugly as his hatred for God and humanity grows ever more intense.

From a technical point of view, There Will Be Blood hits virtual perfection. Direction and cinematography are something truly special, and Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood does an excellent job of scoring a film which is clearly intended to be difficult to watch. The opening, drawn out tone is almost like a siren warning us on what is about to come. The rest of it truly goes hand in hand with the tone and always evolves, going from near-silent piano to heavy percussive numbers to orchestral strings. One of the truly great film scores.

Finally we come to the ending. I'm not going to say much because I don't want to spoil it for you, but when I walked out of the cinema last night, I wasn't too sure what to make of it for about half an hour after which I realised that it was perfectly in keeping with the movie. The last twenty or so minutes reveal a lot but they also jarred me horribly. The pacing seems dodgy and the end in total contrast to everything that has went before, but it somehow works. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how. After you walk out of the cinema you'll realise that the final sequence is actually nailed-on.
While some people may hate it for its long running time, bleak outlook and its brutality, I would recommend that they go and see it anyway because it is something that will be talked about as a cinema classic in years to come. I really think it is that good, and enough to catapult Anderson's career to massive heights. Having seen this now, I think it's a travesty it lost out to No Country for Old Men on Best Picture. Oscar drops a bollock once again. This is true cinema - fearless, intense, harsh, shocking, arresting, also relevant - and the closest thing to movie heaven for me since I first saw Donnie Darko, possibly surpassing it.

My words can't do this movie justice. Just go and see it.