"There Will Be Blood" Review

Authored by Super Special Guest Poster and Honorary MamaPop Betch, Heather of No Pasa Nada

I've given myself a good thwack to the head for not writing about this movie sooner. As if Daniel Day-Lewis' invariable perfection suddenly escaped from memory. I should also mention that this is the first time that I've had a vested interest in an Oscar (both the film for Best Picture and Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor) contender because OMFG was this movie brilliant. This is also the first time that I've seen almost all of the films in contention only to feel rather 'eh' towards the entire lot only to see There Will Be Blood and spontaneously become enthralled in the building of oil derricks and pipelines. Daniel Day-Lewis could even yell at me a bit and I probably would be "Oh Ok, Mr. Day-Lewis. Whatever you say. Sure I'll risk my life and dig for days JUST GIVE ME THAT SMOLDERING LOOK ONE MORE TIME."

I went to see There Will Be Blood solely because of the title and left feeling sufficiently satisfied and in awe. It's not like I LOVE (multiple exclamation point) every film I see but there is this amazing brilliance behind 158 minutes of deep suspense and music full of intense bravado that had me mouthing 'WOW' by the end. Then again, Daniel Day-Lewis is known for being a powerful actor and being in character both on and off set so my gratification wasn't entirely surprising. Day-Lewis' acting is why the character of Daniel Plainview is so utterly believable from the accent to the mannerisms to the sarcasm and indifference towards the people of the towns he continues to ravish. There isn't a point where the actor ends and the character ends, instead you're constantly in fear of what he might do or say next.

The story follows Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) as an early 20th century, silver miner who receives a tip on an oil supply in a small California town. He and his young son, H.W. Plainview, travel to the home of the Sunday family, where the oil is said to be found and it is there that they encounter Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). Plainview wins the entire Sunday family over with his charm (Mr. Plainview might seem like an asshole - which he is - but he's an asshole who knows how to get what he wants). The thing about Eli is that he is completely pious and knows what the oil revenue could do for the people of his little community. He would like the money for church purposes and eventually blackmails Daniel Plainview to get what he wants. Meanwhile Daniel continues to dredge oil from the land as well as a descent into madness brought on by his own perpetual need for more. It's the Kubrick-esque ending that seals the deal for Daniel Plainview as being completely psychotic but slightly brilliant nonetheless.

Warning: This movie isn't for the faint of heart. Though there isn't that much blood, there is that "Holy hell, I just got kicked in the stomach by a horse" feeling of suspense and dread. Made possible not only by the acting but by music that couldn't be anymore fitting. Crescendos come at the perfect climax while following the story of a man blinded by his own ambition. It's difficult not to get wrapped up in Daniel Plainview's story and want something good to happen for him despite his cunning and ruthless behavior. He's menacing and masochistic (the movie is called There Will Be BLOOD not There Will Be Puppies and Rainbows) yet there are times when it's hard not to feel bad for him. Or perhaps just continue to think that his insurmountable greed should only garner him a good punch to the mouth. No matter the feelings on Daniel Plainview, Daniel Day-Lewis does an expert portrayal of a severely flawed man while proving that power and wealth don't always build a path to perfection. Though hopefully it's Plainview's greed that will lead to Day-Lewis' Oscar.

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Visit Heather at www.nopasanada.org

Comments

[brianna]

SO GOOD. I've been telling everyone I know to go see this. I never walk out of a movie thinking, "my god, he/she HAS to win the oscar". Totally did with this one.

[Her Bad Mother]

I haven't seen this yet, because, um, the toddler has an iron grip on my ankles and won't let me see movies, but I want to. Because I want to say I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE and not be a poseur.

[Heather B.]

Brianna: I know the feeling. Even last year with the whole Jennifer Hudson thing, I still wasn't convinced by her acting abilities. This year, I'm hoping against hope for Daniel Day-Lewis and Amy Ryan.

Which reminds me, rent Gone, Baby, Gone ASAP. Amy Ryan's performance reminds me of Daniel Day-Lewis'. The way they both got SO into their characters is unreal.

Catherine: That is the Kubrick-esque part of the movie. I loved that scene. And now I'm saying I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE out loud to myself. Seriously, y'all, this movie is brilliant.

[Tessy]

Well that was a nice review of the film. Thank goodness this reviewer chose not to compare the film to one of Kubrick's films. I think it's a bit of a stretch to compare this film with the works of S. Kubrick but it does indeed attempt to approach it. I must clearly state however, that it's attempted style-copy fails in each attempt. I'm going to blame its failure on the editing and mismatched musical soundtrack.

The editing of the film usually done these days under strict control of the director, almost seemed to intend on lengthening the runtime just for the sake of being able to add the word "epic" to the list of adjectives used for it's description.

The scoring for the film I contend was an attempt to rip off the production company by producing "loops" of percussion and noise that didn't sync to anything other than the composer's mood or "feeling" established at the beginning 3 or 5 seconds of each scene. That there are many 2 to 4 minute scenes speaks to the amount nauseating repetition within each scene and occasionally these "loop-tracks" would span several scenes without any changes. So the composer spent about one one-hundredth of the time and effort that would normally be required to produce a typically "good" scoring of a film of this length.

As is I can produce all these scores myself on my computer at home in a $5,000 studio in about 2 weeks time. Many of the "loops" additionally contained recognizable sound effects from very inexpensive instrument and effects CDs available on the web for well under $100.

Either problem if remedied would bring the quality of this film indeed much closer to a Kubrick level of standards. If the scenes were edited down to a more reasonable length the soundtrack would require less repair as a result and if even only the soundtrack were scored professionally the scenes might not cause the tedium that had me wanting to walk out of the theater on many occasions.

Additionally, reviewers of this film could add interest and intrigue by mentioning the real world counterpart that the Daniel Plainfield character was indeed based on. Of course that would require them to do a bit of research - gawd forbid.