There Will Be Blood ~ (2007, USA) – In Theaters

Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will be Blood is an almost biblical tale of greed and pride and unbridled ambition. Daniel Day Lewis as oilman Daniel Plainview, and Paul Dano as evangelist Eli Sunday fight from opposite sides of belief – but they are shown to be more alike than not. Plainview’s blood is the blood of the earth, the oil that bubbles below the surface awaiting man’s exploitation. Sunday’s blood is the blood of Christ in which (to his mind) we must all be washed. The running battle between these two men bookends the movie.

The movie is dark and darker – literally. Sometimes you’re unsure as to what is on the screen it’s so murky. But at other times it’s bright, but still ominous. There’s one scene in particular, where Lewis’ face and upper torso almost fill the screen, except for the expanse of a deep clear sky. It’s a spectacular shot – which only contrasted more (to ill effect) with the murky scenes in the mines, below the surface, or the night time scenes.

Lewis portrays Plainview as an evil man, as a man who cares not one whit about anything or anyone in his life except his oil, and the getting of it. In one scene he confesses to a man who appears to be his long lost half-brother the nature of his feelings for his fellow man. It’s the competition that drives him and it’s so fierce that his hatred for everyone is all-consuming. It’s chilling.

Plainview’s foil is Eli Sunday, who’s every bit as obsessed with a sense of mission as Plainview. They’re really not so different – though Plainview is the stronger will. Sunday has the same ambitions to control, to have power over people, but in the end he’s no match for Plainview.

Maybe I waited too long to see this movie, and maybe the high expectations got to me. But I felt a measure of disappointment, not only with the film itself, but with Day-Lewis’ performance as well. Actually, I preferred his Gangs of New York Bill The Butcher. And I think there’s more residual here of Upton Sinclair’s 1927 Oil than we care to let on, for all that means.

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