There Will Be Blood

I was knocked flat by this movie. It took me 48 hours to fully digest my feelings and thoughts. It isn't a movie for everyone. It doesn't set out to be. There is no doubt in my mind that Daniel Day Lewis will win the Oscar for Best Actor this year. Even George Clooney, who is nominated in the same category, has already conceded the award to him. He put forth a performance that is simultaneously subtle and nuanced as well as shocking and violent.

Daniel Plainview is a man that only wants one thing. He wants money. Enough money to retire and never have to deal with people again. He says so flat out to his brother about halfway though the movie. He shares the same view of others as Agent Smith from the Matrix. They are all just parasites sucking the life out of everything. Plainview is a successful oil man who travels around the country drilling and collecting properties to amass his great money making empire. And he never falters in his goal.

Daniel Plainview is the movie. Everything that happens revolves around him and his reaction to it. All the subplots and diversions only add to the history and legacy that Plainview is ultimately responsible for. He is the line that the movie always tracks through.

Some of the most memorable scenes for me involve Plainview and his son, H.W. In one of the first scenes when H.W. is still a baby, Plainview and his crew are drilling what will become his first oil well. Many of the workers are seen lovingly holding the baby, cooing at him and kissing him. Comforting him from all the noise and debris around. But daddy is always at the well. Digging, overseeing, and running his operation. At one point after oil has been struck and the extraction process had begun, someone comes by the baby and smears a thumbful of oil on his head, effectively baptizing him in the "blood" that will rule the rest of his life.

When Daniel is drilling in what would become his most profitable find of his career tradgedy strikes when a geyser of oil spurts forth from the ground. The sudden burst of escaped trapped gasses and oil knocks young H.W. from his perch high atop the derrick, knocking him silly and making him deaf. While Daniel quickly runs to the aide of his boy, he quickly deposits him with another man and returns to bask in the fiery glow that has become of his derrick after it caught fire. He is more content to bask in the ocean of oil he has stumbled upon than caring for his child.

Plainview is a man with morals and convictions. They are just unique. He is a man that has raised a child on his own, started and expanded his empire, and makes no apologies for what he has to do to achieve his goals. He is extremely well spoken and has a deep feeling of what is right and wrong. He sets out early to protect and comfort a little girl who is being beaten by her father. He takes great offense if anyone suggests that he should be raising his family or running his business any different. And he seeks out his revenge on every person that slights him. The stealth at which he undermines the preacher in the small town they are drilling in is brilliant. It starts a subtle digs and encounters and builds to the climactic ending that leaves both men changed forever.

One of the final scenes that was very polarizing for me was the scene between an elderly Daniel Plainview and his now grown son H.W. Deaf since his accident, H.W. has since learned sign language and married the same young girl that Daniel protected so many years ago from beatings. H.W. goes to his fathers mansion to tell him that he is striking out on his own to form his own drilling company and heading to Mexico. Daniel proceeds into one of the best and most haunting scenes in the entire film.

I won't spoil it here, but my take is that there are two seperate reasons for his actions. One is that what he is doing to his son is out of love, and is doing it to make him stronger and tougher as he ventures out to make his own name. While it is harsh and unnerving, it is the only way of expressing love that Plainview knows. It is how he was brought up and it is what it took for him to amass his empire.

The second is that he is telling the whole truth. He admits earlier that he hates everyone, and is only goal in life was to make enough money so that he never had to see anyone ever again. He has very few friends, most of which would probably be considered employee's or businessmen at best. And what he says and does to H.W. is just an extension of that hatred. I lean more towards this idea.

I have purposely skipped over the religious overtones and the preacher character that is the main antagonist in the film. It is not because the character is not well written. It certainly is, and is handled by Paul Dano beautifully. But again, that isn't the focus of this film. This is a character study of one man. It follows him from the beginning of his career to the end. Everything else is fluff that while may add to the experience, it is just fluff.

The comparisons that this film is getting to No Country For Old Men is a complement to both films. But they are completely different in my eyes. NCFOM is an ensemble piece that hinges on all performances put together. There Will Be Blood relies only on Daniel Day Lewis. Both are set in bleak and harsh landscapes that offer little comfort to the people that interact in them. But they are so different it is hard to compare them. I have to see each of these films again at least once to truly decide which I like better. But regardless of that, I have set the bar extremely high for myself for this coming year. All 5 movies that I have seen in the theaters this year have been exceptional.