There Will Be Blood

by Ari

The fact that Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood is so difficult to properly describe is a testament to its singularity and greatness. This is, no doubt, one of the strangest psychological dramas film has seen in a very long time. It takes a certain boldness to construct a story with this level of malice and emotional distance and sheer thematic darkness. There Will Be Blood marks an evolution of Anderson’s craft that more than confirms his place as the finest writer/director of his generation. He was never anything less than brash with his earlier works like Boogie Nights or Magnolia, but with this film Anderson is almost daring his audience to follow him into this bizarre, uncharted territory. That level of outright ambition will naturally and understandably divide viewers.

I personally find it very appealing when filmmakers push themselves in this particular manner and honestly don't give a shit whether mass audiences like it or not. It’s what I find so attractive about the films of Stanley Kubrick. Those movies were made with a voice that presented an artistic fearlessness and individualism unlike anything before it, and it’s that type of belief that led PT Anderson to make a film of this nature. I bring up Kubrick specifically because There Will Be Blood is probably closest to that sensibility. It’s eerie and mysterious and at times dangerously bleak. The characters are cold and detestable, the pacing and structure is carefully established, the mood and atmosphere is thick and foreboding. There’s never a moment’s rest in There Will Be Blood. Something terrible is always on the loom or some tragic surprise will shake you just when you think you have things figured out. It’s a perplexing film at moments, vague and emotionally distant and subtle during scenes that are usually straightforward and direct in other movies. It’s great to see something this refreshing and compelling in theaters, and even though I read and reviewed the screenplay earlier this year, the film itself was nothing like I expected.

It begins in the 1890’s with Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) digging for silver and breaking his leg after a nasty fall. From there he eventually invests in the oil game and establishes himself as a successful independent. Along the way one of his workers is killed in an accident, leaving his son to Plainview’s responsibility. Daniel seems reluctant to watch over the boy at first, but as time passes their relationship obviously grows. The boy, HW, becomes his business partner and they advertise themselves as a family establishment. Most of this initial character development is done without dialogue. The only thing uttered during the opening 15 minutes is Plainview’s groan after his leg is cracked. Everything else is imagery and sound, with Jonny Greenwood’s intensely moody score setting the appropriately unnerving tone. The score is forceful and loud, with violent crescendoes that bring to mind the sounds of 2001 or The Shining. The music is really its own beast, more like a fitting representation of Plainview’s increasing rage than a traditional film score.

The majority of the film takes place in 1911 in a small town in California called Little Boston. Plainview and HW go there after being tipped about its oil prospects by a young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano). In Little Boston they meet the Sunday family and take particular notice of Paul’s younger brother Eli (also played by Dano in a remarkable performance), a religious zealot who believes he’s a prophet and runs the local church. Once Plainview builds the derrick in the area and begins to drill for oil, things just get darker and darker and darker. The oil brings considerable wealth, but the effects are devastating to everyone involved. Plainview’s thirst for power and success fuels his contempt for the people around him. As he states at one point, “I hate most people”. The more successful he becomes the less moral and sane he turns. His only competition in the small town of Little Boston is Eli. The boy’s religious fervor clashes with Plainview’s businessman mentality, resulting in....well...blood.

Plainview’s world becomes even more complicated and insecure as a situation with HW brings conflict and is then followed by a visitor in town who claims to be his “brother from another mother”, Henry (Kevin J. O'Connor). The contempt rises from one situation to the next until it finally explodes in the instantly classic and unforgettable ending. What’s interesting about the story is that while it revolves around the Oil business, there’s very little detail about how things are operated or how things work. There’s a general explanation about this derrick or that pipeline or that deal with Union Oil, enough for the viewer to follow the plot. But the business itself isn’t the focus of the story. There Will Be Blood is concentrated on Plainview’s psychological destruction over the course of these events. There’s nothing redeeming about this character in the least bit, especially when things spiral way out of control toward the film’s conclusion. HW is the only innocent person in the entire film, the only character to feel sympathy for. This feeling of deep-rooted animosity creates an overall emptiness that gradually sets in. Again, it’s unusual for a film to have that ambition - to completely forsake the standard narrative idea that you have to make the audience identify with the lead character. But in this particular case Anderson’s daring choices work extremely well.

There Will Be Blood is a horror film in its own way. It’s filled with tension, uneasiness, moments of genuine terror. Plainview is essentially a crazed monster by the end of the story, but don’t expect any compromised resolution to his tale. This film is gripping and powerful, a radical new turn for this fascinating contemporary master.

Oh, and Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty damn good too.