PRINTTake Two - There Will Be Blood
February 7, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
There will be sadness. There will be surprise. There will be angst. For Paul Thomas Anderson’s film There Will be Blood, there will be everything but a disappointed audience.
After discovering oil in a New Mexico silver mine in 1898, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) is determined to be on the top of the oil industry. He follows a tip and begins to concentrate his efforts on oiling the land of Little Boston, Calif. Through crude business tactics and exploitation, he and his adopted son, H.W., find great success. But wealth is not enough to ease Plainview’s internal troubles. The film explores the alienation one must live through when he rejects mankind and religion alike.
Day-Lewis shines in his part as Daniel Plainview. He tunes into Plainview’s inner turmoil by putting up an exterior of elegance and value to conceal the intrinsic malice rooted in his interior being.
The film moves slowly and has trouble finding its direction, yet it should not be disregarded. The storyline is truly unique. From the beginning, the audience is introduced to a time and lifestyle not often explored in cinema. The world Anderson creates is utterly engulfing.
The cinematography of There Will be Blood is quite innovative. Anderson liberally plays with lighting, depth of field and untraditional framing techniques. Similar to his film Magnolia he keeps subjects off center and employs a lot of camera movement, which makes the movie seem raw and realistic.
There Will Be Blood strays from your typical period-piece blockbuster, and its complexities make it a wothwhile movie experience.
Vox Rating:
