There Will Be Blood starring Paul
Dano, Daniel Day Lewis
A Masterpiece Of American Cinema
At the end of 2009, critics began releasing their "Best Films of the Decade"
lists and There Will Be Blood was number one for both Peter Travers and
Michael Phillips, among others. It would be to bold of me to call this one of
the decade's best films, but what director Paul Thomas Anderson has
created with There Will Be Blood is a big, grand film rarely seen today with
a towering performance by its star Daniel Day-Lewis.
I do not need to divulge the plot to you. Day-Lewis plays oilman Daniel
Plainview and Paul Dano plays fire-and-brimstone preacher Eli Sunday. I
could describe the plot for you, but it's unnecessary, not simply because
you likely already know about it but because this is a film that is not about
plot...It's about evoking time, character, and emotions. No dialogue is
spoken in the film for the first 14 minutes and it's remarkable what
Anderson is able to express simply through images.
Paul Thomas Anderson, never without ambition, was at his most ambitious
with this film. Working with a vast landscape and a brilliant
cinematographer (Robert Elswit, who won an Academy Award for his work
here), Anderson easily evokes the early 1900s that a man like Plainview
would inhabit and he doesn't mind taking a moment to linger on the vast
setting he's working with. Jonny Greenwood's musical score is so unique
and fits this film so well; it's larger-than-life, epic, and sinister. Anderson
immerses his audience so completely into this time, this atmosphere, and
it's Greenwood's score dictates the mood...It's masterfully made, but it's
not just the workings behind the camera that made this film receive its
acclaim.
Daniel Day-Lewis won his second Academy Award for this film and rarely
has an actor delivered a screen performance of this caliber. This is a
performance that transcends mere acting, where Day-Lewis is (and not for
the first time) not just playing Daniel Plainview but becoming the man. It's
much more of a transformation than a performance and it's one of the
more fascinating performances I've ever seen. The voice, mannerisms,
and the insanity he's capable of expressing with a single look is
remarkable. Hardly anything Day-Lewis brings to this character suggests
he's acting and it's no small feat to make such a towering, larger-than-life
figure wholly believable and real. Who else could have brought such
intensity and believability to the "milkshake" speech?
Dano is effective too as both Paul Sunday and Eli Sunday and he stands
his ground against Day-Lewis. There isn't a weak link anywhere in the
performances, but it's Day-Lewis' show and he keeps his stranglehold on it
throughout.
There Will Be Blood is only three years old, but it can already be evaluated
as timeless. There's such a grand scope of creative vision at work here
that the film's faults (if it has any) can't be picked up on with the naked eye.
The film is a masterpiece, one that grows richer with repeat viewings and
it's one of the few films I know will still be watched and discussed thirty
years from now.
GRADE: A
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