| There Will Be Blood |
|
, MD |
| 12/28/07 |
| Island Night Life Link |
“’There Will Be Blood?’ Ya Ain’t Kiddin’”
“There Will Be Blood,” the new, nearly three-hour epic by Paul Thomas Anderson begins with no dialogue, fifteen minutes of no dialogue. This is a clever metaphor since one character loses his sense of hearing halfway through the film, causing a major rift in the central relationship. The film, an indictment on false prophets and greedy prospectors, pits one against the other in a battle to the death, and you can be sure that…there WILL be blood.
Texan oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) brings his son to a small community in central California to swindle the simple folks out of their land. The townspeople follow the teachings of a teenage prophet, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, “Little Miss Sunshine”), a baby faced, but evangelical leader who casts out the devil from the ill and humiliates the proud. Daniel finds himself quickly going head-to-head with the pious but devious boy, in a one-upmanship that could be seen as a melding of George Steven’s classic “Giant” with the religious shocker from Stephen King, “Children of the Corn.”
Thomas Anderson, famous for his unyieldingly long tales of the porn industry (“Boogie Nights”) and redemption (“Magnolia”) has dug in the dirt literally, with this detailed look into the machinations of an oil baron from his early days to the years where money has turned him into a wrathful monster.
Based on a 1927 novel “Oil” by Pulitzer Prize winner Upton Sinclair, Thomas Anderson’s script is built on the very contradictory character of Plainview (an ironic name since it’s impossible to get a plain view of the man). It’s difficult to grasp our protagonist. Does he worship his son, or use him as a kewpie doll to assuage customers to sell? Is he a fair salesman, or a carpetbagger? He’s a precise man, yet he acts rashly, lashing out with extreme violence. I also never thought I’d say this about a 2 hour and 45 minute film, but there’s a missing reel. There’s such rage between the father and son in the final sequence, but it’s based on information we never saw. We can draw conclusions based on Plainview’s severe view on family values but it shouldn’t be the audience’s job to make assumptions. Another issue with the script is that Eli is only painted as a foil for Plainview. We never see any other sides to the character or get a chance to see him interact much with other characters. As played by Dano, Eli is a fascinating character and worth the investment.
Day Lewis has fun with this complex character. It’s an operatic performance that is already winning awards (he has won the New York Film Critics Award). Since Eli is not really the antagonist, it’s evident that Plainview is his OWN antagonist. His Achilles heel, his anger and greed, brings about his loneliness and makes him a tragic hero.
Dano brings humor and irony to the role as the youthful preacher. Vengeful when crossed, but always cracking his voice to remind audiences of his adolescence, Dano is memorable as Plainview’s opposition.
10-year-old Dillon Freasier brings an unpretentious innocence to his role as the boy Plainview adores. No matter what horrible venom Plainview may spew in the final reel, we know it’s a lie because we’ve already witnessed that the child is Plainview’s anchor, his humanity. Freasier brings the focus on himself without actually drawing attention or grandstanding. His presence alone is arresting. It’s even more remarkable because he has no dialogue through half the film, not to mention, he shares the frame with Day Lewis.
The score by Jonny Greenwood from the band Radiohead is intriguing. His cacophonous instruments plague the soundtrack with noise you’d here in a horror film, specifically a ghost story like “The Shining” or a string heavy score by Bernard Herrmann. Even during peaceful shots of the California landscape, the soundtrack is putting the audience in a very prickly mood. At the end, when something very ugly has occurred, the music is a grand waltz, ironically mocking the proceedings.
A gruelingly violent and long film, “There Will Be Blood” does have many rewards. It has stellar acting and some interesting directorial choices. However, audience members must have strong stomachs and big bladders. Grade: B
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