There Will Be Blood

Paul Anderson is a director who i known for his exploration of different themes which quite uncommonly change from film to film. Starting with his look into the porn industry in 'Boogie Nights' and onto riveting drama in 'Magnolia' whilst taking a romcom detour in 'Punch Drunk Love', he has consistently reinvented his boundaries and been heavily praised for it.

His 'There Will Be Blood' is however a huge departure from his usual works. The oil epic is one of massive proportions and unlike anything he's ever done before. One would think that new territory for most directors is harder to cover but Anderson does a great job.

The movie is about one man and one man only, a certain Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis). We begin with him prospecting in the old Midwest and discovering oil. Despite certain setbacks, he manages to return safely and starts his own oil empire. His dogged determination and ruthless streak are apparent and it is these qualities that lead him to becoming an oil tycoon before long. However, he prefers to call himself an 'oil man’, playing to people's family instincts unlike the big state owned corporations. He adopts the baby son of an employee killed down a well and uses him as a mere prop to proclaim his respectability to the farmer folk whose lands he wants to buy. Privately, however he laces the boy's milk with whisky.

Upon being informed of a poor family that lives on oil rich land, his ambition leads him to become enslaved to corporate social ethics as he promises to build schools and better facilities for the local people. He also promises a donation to the local church run by Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) who is known for his frenetic sermons. Plainview is not impressed however, and believes it all to be a charade.

There is not as much blood as one would have thought but it is obvious that it wasn't intended to be. Oil is the driving force here and Plainview's lust for the wealth and power it brings are responsible for bloodshed. He loses an employee and his loses his hearing in an accident. It is here that we realise the extent of his callousness when he abandons his adopted son.

The plot goes on and on with a multitude of characters coming in, such as Daniel's half-brother and the big oil corporations that wish to quell the challenge of this 'oil man'. It draws on over the years with the struggle between Plainview and Eli very close to the centre. One could say that this is a highly pessimistic film with characters some way off from sanity with Eli and Daniel both shown to be almost deranged in their devotion to oil and the Church.

The film is one very long exploration of Daniel Day Lewis's character and fans of classic cinema with more dialogue and moments open to interpretation will devour it. Lewis confirms what we already know, he is arguably the best British actor of his generation and delivers a hypnotic performance with his measured syllables and pet hates all perfectly done to give us a look at who Plainview actually is. The ending sums up the paroxysm that he can work up if his beliefs are challenged and provides a fitting contrast to how we started the film, admiring him for his determination.

Another theme here at play is the father son relationship, with the sons having enough courage to stand up when needed. Indeed, the scene where Eli leaps on his father and calls him a 'stupid old man' is certainly revealing when considering how often Anderson's films have featured such a theme.

Western epics have received a huge shot in the arm in recent times with the release of movies such as 'No Country For Old Men’, ‘The Assassination of Jesse James' and 'There Will Be Blood'. While certainly not the best of the three, it is still a very intelligent film and indeed an eminently watchable affair.

The film majorly plays on the human curiosity that sociopaths stir up. It is best summed up when Plainview talks to his half-brother and says,"I’ve built up my hatreds over the years, little by little. Having you here gives me a second breath. I can't keep doing this on my own with these... people." and we all think about it for a small second only to condemn or nod our heads in silent agreement.