While
waiting for The Master to hit my
local theater, I decided to re-watch Paul Thomas Anderson´s previous film, not having seen it
since it came out and I have to say, what a film! There Will Be Blood is not an easy film to describe, as it is more
a character study then a plot driven film. But nonetheless, the film follows
Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), an “oilman” as he refers to himself, and
his rise to power and wealth and descent into madness. The film takes place in
the early 1900s in south-western USA, but don’t go to this film expecting a
western, because you would be mighty disappointed. The film would most
accurately be described as a psychological-drama, however for some reason I
kept getting vibes of horror in the way the mood was set up and did kind of
remind me of Kubrick´s The Shining,
especially in the final scene of the film which I will not spoil for you.
The film
opens with 15 minutes of silence, which can be hit or miss, however it works
very well. It does a brilliant job of introducing this character, Daniel
Plainview, to the audience and though there is no dialogue, the viewers become
instantly invested in the story. The first fifteen minutes also shows us that
Daniel Plainview is a man that is very determined to succeed and to become
rich, however you can also tell there is something slightly off with this man
as he within the first few minutes of the film gives his infant son alcohol.
We can
instantly tell that Day-Lewis gives a brilliantly diabolical performance, his
Oscar was very well deserved, because this performance is just
incredible. His facial expressions alone bring so much complexity to this
already complex character. He also has this subtleness in his performance,
where he his hard to fully understand as he doesn’t act completely mad or
completely evil, but he just is this man and he does occasional gruesome acts,
yet he is always subtle. It is one of the best performances of the last decade
for sure. Paul Dano is also very good here as Eli Sunday, a hypocritical,
greedy priest. Dano´s performance is so that it really takes us times to figure
out the character and whether he is simply just a man standing up to the evil
of Plainview or if he is someone that in the end might not be any better then
Plainview. Both of these characters are very complex, yet immensely interesting
to watch and try to figure out, though it is defiantly Plainview who is the
main character here and he is also the most interesting character, especially
since we don’t ever learn all that much about his past and was has shaped into
the character he is.
The score,
by Radiohead´s Jonny Greenwood, has to be called one of the most original, and
maybe even best, scores in the last decade. His score at times remind me of
scores from Kubrick film such as The
Shining or 2001: A Space Odyssey,
however at the same time it has a very strong identity itself and becomes quite
unlike anything you’ve heard in recent films. The odd thing about the score is
that it sounds a lot like it could be the score for a horror movie, which this
isn’t however that combined with the films themes and use of shadows give it an
almost horror like mood in the vain of The
Shining or even Psycho. The films
cinematography in the film is also very much worth mentioning and is also
somewhat strange, giving the film an almost apocalyptic look. The film is
chockfull of long takes as well as beautifully framed pictures. Every shot was
like a photograph, a photograph I would very likely want to frame on my wall. The
music and cinematography together create such a bleak, disturbing and somewhat
unsettling mood and the film really wouldn’t be the same without it.
There
really isn’t much negative one can say about the film, it has a brilliant
script, its brilliantly directed, acted and shot and it is paced perfectly. Some
people argue that the film is very incoherent and the scenes seem like just random
events, however this is why it is important to remember this is not a
plot-driven movie, but a character study. The pacing might also be what some consider
a problem though as it is very, very slow, but then again a film being slow isn’t
a problem as long as it works and let me tell you, it really works here.
5/5
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