Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Year: 2007
Country: U.S
Language: English
"I drink your Milkshake. I drink it up!" so says Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview in his Oscar winning role. If I was to make a list of the films I have watched most in my life, the top three would include The Godfather, Night of the Hunter and There Will Be Blood. While it was released in 2007, only five years ago, I can confidently say that it is the best film of the 21st Century. A great Kubrick-like film about greed, oil and religion that has an almost Citizen Kane like character. Dark ambitions plague this film which is directed by, in my opinion, one of the greatest directors alive. This film shows that Paul Thomas Anderson is capable of making a wide variety of films and that Daniel Day Lewis is capable of acting as a wide variety of characters. There will be vengeance, there will be hate, there will be blood.
The lead character, Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) is a monster of a man with the voice of a liar and the mind of a tyrant. He hates all men, including himself. He feels a grand sense of entitlement and is obsessive with obtaining wealth, he will do anything to earn his money. He reminds me of Charles Foster Kane, the greedy billionaire in Citizen Kane, except there is nothing that can humanize this man. He loves nothing, pities nothing and offers no humility. He has no friend's, no business partners and no lovers, I wouldn't be surprised if he has never had a lover. He pretends to be a family man, but that's just a gimmick, a way to draw business and gain trust from locals. His adopted son is a prop, an object he uses to gain more money. Does he love his son? Clearly not.
Plainview's opportunity to become even richer when a young man named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) says that there is a massive amount of oil to be found, but he will only show him the location for a price. The oil is on the Sunday Ranch, near Plainview's rivals. On this ranch he obtains the ranch from Paul's father and meets his enemy, Eli Sunday, who is also played by Paul Dano. This slightly bothers me, are they twins or are they the same person?
Eli Sunday is a man who's greed is almost at match with Daniel Plainview. Both men strive for excellence in their respective fields. However, while Plainview uses family to hide his true self, Eli uses religion. Eli is a preacher for the Church of the Third Revelation. We think his goal is to use Plainview and the money he brings with him to build up the Church, but we can't be for certain. Judging by the suits he starts to wear, it seems he puts more money into himself and his wardrobe. He does do his job on Sundays, but what does it consist of? A theatrical display. Eli is more actor than preacher, we aren't actually sure if he has any knowledge of the bible at all. He spends the show doing silly dances, claiming people have demons in them and casting them out. He uses gullible people and puts their own faith against their intelligence. It is only until the closing scenes in which we learn Eli never believed in what he preached at all. Easily sacrificing his beliefs for some the hope of money pronouncing "I am a false prophet and God is a superstition!"
Eli reminds me of many real preachers. There Will Be Blood makes a bold statement about how religion has become a marketplace for the greedy. There are loads of preachers who use the beliefs of people to their advantage. Plenty who speak but don't really say anything important. Charismatic cult leaders, except better at hiding their true identities. Notice the preachers with the fancy suits who ironically preach against the rich, while in a multi-million dollar mega-church. See all the hypocrites who preach against infidelity yet constantly cheat on their wives, sometimes with men. I'm not saying all religion is bad, or that all preachers are evil, just that there are more and more wolves in sheeps clothing. in the Church. I've met far too many and I'm only 21.
In conclusion, There Will Be Blood is one of the best films to not win Best Picture. It lost to No Country for Old Men, while I think that's also a swell film it isn't as technically well made nor does it teach us as much about society. The ending of this film is brilliant, the dialouge is brutal and the acting is among the best I have ever seen. That being said I feel I have much more to learn from There Will Be Blood and I am thrilled to learn more. Each viewing is a new experience where new knowledge is formed. "I am the third revelation!" A trainwreck has never been so appealing. Praise it! 5/5
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