My feelings about There Will Be Blood are somewhat conflicted. It is, undeniably, a good film, maybe even great. And I know that some see it as a classic, waxing poetic about symbolism and all. Im an English majorbelieve me, I know good metaphor when I see it, and this film definitely delivers on many levels. Will everyone see it as a classic? Noand while I do believe its full of instant cinematic canon moments, as a whole, its somewhat overrated and, honestly, too darn long.
There Will Be Blood follows the story of oil prospector Daniel Plainviews (Daniel Day-Lewis) unquenchable ambition. In the early1900s, Daniel and his young son H.W., acting on a tip from a man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano), scout out the Sunday family ranch and its surrounding areas in the poor little California town of Little Boston, promising its residents schools, church improvements, and lots of money. The town turns out to be a great oil find, but the discovery of the oil starts a chain of events that lead a successful and ambitious man down an inevitably dark path.
This is a departure for director Paul Thomas Anderson, known for complex, layered stories with a myriad of characters and subplots (Magnolia, Boogie Nights), but he handles the tight focus on Daniel Plainview beautifully. Daniel Day-Lewis IS this movie. Take away the love it or hate it score (its jarring, but in its own way, it almost feels like its a character itself) and the long stretches of dialogue-free footage (again, the praise for these scenes reeks of movie snobbery to mefive minutes is good, twenty minutes is puffed-up filler), and what youre left with is a film that showcases the downward descent of one man. Lewis has the impossible task of humanizing a character almost inhuman in his coldness and aversion to people, yet he manages to do it; we can understand his hatred of almost everyone he meetsfor example, Man of God Eli Sunday (Dano) turns out to be a greedy, two-faced preacher, and his climactic scenes with Daniel leave usor me anywayfirmly on the side of the character whose actions should be deemed evil. There Will Be Blood isnt quite the epic masterpiece its touted as, but theres no denying that Day-Lewis deserved every accolade he received for his performance, and if you go in knowing your patience may be tested and the music might scare you, this is a film for fans of truly exquisite acting.