In Continuum.

Paul Thomas Anderson has a body of work that I've never fully appreciated, to be honest. I have never seen his work in Boogie Nights, but I have seen Magnolia as well as Punch-Drunk Love, and both of those movies left me feeling uninspired and unmoved. It was a wonder, on my part, how it was possible for such an all-star cast in Magnolia to have such little impact on me personally, but that was indeed what happened. I mean, seriously, raining frogs? But with that said, Magnolia is definitely one of those films I'd give a second shot if the opportunity to do so arises, but I cannot say the same for Punch-Drunk Love though, since I have already watched it the second time and was left wondering where the last two hours went to by the end of the film. So when There Will Be Blood came into my attention, there was a lot of hesitation as to whether or not I should catch the film, especially when it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year. I've never been a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, but the positive reviews on the internet gave me a reason to give this director one more try.

There Will Be Blood is based upon the novel Oil! by Upton Sinclaire, and it speaks of the life of an oil, Daniel Plainview, played by Daniel-Day Lewis. We first meet Daniel in 1898, mining for gold in the middle of the desert, until one day when he found more than what he was looking for. He found oil as well, and from there he began to dig deeper into the oil business by setting up oil drills all across the country. When a promising lead came to California and into a small town where he meets Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), the young priest with the rest of the town being the patrons of his church. The little town is merely a bunch of houses built in the middle of nowhere, with just a single railway track passing through the town, and the farmers desperately in need of a chance to break out of their poverty. So when Paul Plainview and his son H.W. (Dillion Freasier) came into town, he was greatly welcomed as it was believed for him to bring along wealth and good fortune to the town with the existence of an oil drill. However, the events that ensued not only brought about chaos to the town, but also in Daniel's own life as he saw his life crumble before his eyes. 

The film takes place over a span of thirty years, and we follow closely to Daniel's career, starting from a man digging for gold in a hole to a businessman with the kind of charm and charisma nobody can resist. Daniel Plainview knows how to do business, and he does it very well. For the most part of the film, it was a very interesting examination on the kind of things that goes on in this line of work, the negotiations that occurs in the process of buying a property, and of course the process of drilling oil out of the ground. It was intriguing, at least on my part, to learn about these things through the film, and that was what kept me excited throughout the first part of the film really. We then see Daniel's character slowly falling into pieces with an accident at the drill causing his son to lose his sense of hearing. It must have been the turning point for him, for we saw a sudden and very abrupt change in his attitude and character. From there, we start to see a darker side of Daniel Plainview, the insanity that occasionally seeped through the surface. Sure, he was a businessman, and all businessmen have underhand methods to get what they want. But in this case, Daniel Plainview, very plainly, went over the edge.

This film is Daniel-Day Lewis' film, or rather Daniel Plainview's film. He is the only reason why this movie was ever made, and also the only reason why I enjoyed this film to this extent. Daniel is an intriguing and complicated character, probably the most contradicting character that I have seen lately. For some reason, Hannibal Lector comes to mind, because of how contradictory he is due to our stereotype of a ruthless serial murderer, and the character he was in the films as well as the books. James Berardinelli described the character of Daniel Plainview very well in his review by saying that he is "charismatic, ugly, easygoing, ruthless, silver-tongued, plain-spoken, gentle, violent". It is true that Daniel Plainview is everything above, and perhaps more, because the same contradiction was what probably drove him over the edge in the first place. In a negotiation, he is a smooth talker and captures the attention of the masses. He is ugly because he does not do fair business with anybody, because he secretly harbors a hate for everybody in this world, and that he only sees the worst in people. He can be gentle, as we can see from the way he treats his son at the beginning of the film, the kind of concern and worry he has for him, but he can also be eruptive and violent when things do not go his way. 

Here is where the treatment of a character by Paul Thomas Anderson worked, simply because of how this character was introduced to us as this gentle, charismatic businessman in the beginning. Then the director decided to strip him down to his bones and revealed his inner demons, the darkest side of , not just his personality, but humanity as well. The oil well collapses halfway through the film, he is betrayed by a man whom he trusted, his son loses his sense of hearing, and a lot of other reasons forced that darker aspect of him out into the light. In this way, it becomes difficult to root for the character or hate him, because our emotions for him becomes contradicted as well. You tend to condemn his acts at times, but you also become almost empathetic to his state of mind and situation. This is perhaps the most intelligent move on the part of the writer, by placing him in a good light, and then pollute his image slowly throughout the film. My favorite aspect of Daniel Plainview was probably his atheistic view of religion, and how he eventually succumbed to Christianity only because it was the only way to rescue his business. The more power Daniel gained, the more corrupted he became. 

Daniel-Day Lewis is definitely the only reason why this film worked. He played this role way better than his role in Gangs of New York, and it just felt like he was playing the character all over again, polished and renewed. This time around, he is volcanic onscreen, and it is hard to tear your eyes off his performance. I am glad that an actor like himself is going to represent my generation a few years down the road, because acting doesn't get any better than what he is capable of achieving. He goes to such heights in portraying a character that you almost feel as if he is possessed, and the intensity he delivers is more than just breathtaking, but mind-blowing at the same time. A Best Actor Oscar, well-deserved.

And as for the rest of the cast, not a lot can be said since Daniel Plainview had about 90% of the screen time. Yet, the person that really stood out from the rest and stood up against Daniel-Day Lewis' intensity was definitely Paul Dano, who played the young priest Eli Sunday. I first saw him in Little Miss Sunshine, as the laconic brother of the family that never smoke more than a word for the most part of the film. I've never imagined him to be able to deliver such a powerful performance onscreen, and next to Daniel-Day Lewis at that. His performance, honestly, scared me. The kind of intensity he brought forth in those scenes of exorcism was definitely nomination worthy, and matched up very well to the main actor of this film. This is an actor people should be keeping an eye on, because he is going to shine in the near future.

There Will Be Blood, on the whole, is an odd and trouble-ridden journey through the life of a businessman consumed by his own devils and greed. At over two and a half hours long, the story was very aptly told and paced at a fairly good pace. It is one of those films that took a while on me to come up with a definite rating, or thoughts about the film at that. It was difficult to break the film down immediately and know that if I liked it or not. But after watching it, I must still say that this film was definitely a triumph in its own rights, because you are not going to watch another autobiographical film nearly the same as this one. That is the part about Paul Thomas Anderson that I adore, the way that he is never a man of convention, and this is definitely the best material he has ever produced in his career, in my opinion.

I enjoyed the examination of human greed, how the dog eat dog world can consume even the toughest of dogs. Even with the wealth that Daniel Plainview managed to garner at the end of the film, it was still difficult for him to be happy about anything. I do not think that he is a bad person, but just incredibly flawed. But I suppose he is just like all of us, a very normal human being who makes a lot of mistakes that cannot be repaired. The end of the film can be interpreted with a whole bunch of different messages, but one thing is for sure: either way you lean in terms of the inference, he is indeed finished. It was a haunting look at how money and greed can consume a man, and the effects it can have on the people around him. It is definitely worthy of the Best Picture Oscar, if it had won in the first place. A chop of recommendation from me. 

9/10