There Will Be Blood
Photo courtesy Cinetext
I don't know about you, but I always had the above image in my head when I thought of an "oil man." The greedy visage of J. R. Ewing, with his ten-gallon cowboy hat and his repugnantly two-faced smile that stretches from cheek-to-cheek. He was, above-all, a businessman, whose money-hungry mindset and morally reprehensible extracurricular activities were the epitome of all that was selfish and vile in a human being. And then I met Daniel Plainview. And J. R. Ewing really didn't seem that bad anymore.
Loosely adapted from Upton Sinclair's "Oil!," Paul Thomas Anderson's new, epic film, There Will Be Blood, is an intense and thought-provoking tale of selfishness and greed during the oil boom at the turn of the nineteenth century. Daniel Day-Lewis plays the character Daniel Plainview, a man both charming and malicious simultaneously, who's built up an intense hatred for society and other human beings. It's as if he's ready to break in every scene of the film--and sometimes he does. Plainview is quite reminiscent of Dostoevsky's Raskolnikov in that he's arbitrarily placed himself above all others; another misguided member of the Übermensch party. If there were one actor all others should strive to be, it would be Daniel Day-Lewis. Yet, although respected he may be, I'm quite certain many actors fear his methodology. Day-Lewis becomes so engrossed in his characters. He's so focused and determined to understand the character's plight or well-being. He's so intent on becoming these characters, that he loses a sense of 'self.' His remarkable portrayal of Plainview is no different in this respect. His look, his voice, his composure: all carefully calculated. And demonstrated perfectly, not only via memorization or through his ability to act; but because he truly becomes Daniel Plainview, and he has suffered and suffers and loathes and strives only to succeed, on his own, and at any expense.
However, Daniel Day-Lewis isn't the sole actor in the film who gives his most. Supporting cast-members Paul Dano, who plays Plainview's evangelical arch-nemesis Eli Sunday, and diamond-in-the-rough Marfa resident, Dillon Freasier, who plays Plainview's "son and partner" H. W., both shock and impress as their respective characters. Paul Dano's on-screen composure is fiercely demonstrated and strikingly right-on. So much that I'm more frightened of Eli Sunday, a fictional character, than I am of Jimmy Swaggert, Robert Tilton, and Jerry Falwell combined. Newcomer Dillon Freasier, with no formal or amateur training whatsoever, is remarkable as (young) H. W. Plainview. I was amazed as I witnessed his relationship with Daniel Plainview grow throughout the film.
The film also relies on some downright chilling sequences from Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood, who's created superb sequences of bizarre and irresistible scoring in a successful effort to score the film in its entirety. Yet another potentially dangerous risk taken by Paul Thomas Anderson. The harsh, uncomfortable sound effects--particularly during the fifteen minute, wordless opening--mar the score in an unpleasant way that are both creepy and delectable at the same time.
But it's really this opening that's the foundation of the terseness of this film. We see Daniel Plainview as he really is: a man of stern, isolated will. If he works with others, it's only to manifest his own greedy goals. And those goals seem to discreetly change throughout the course of the film. In the beginning, it seems he merely prospects for silver in order to finance other opportunities in digging. Later, we see he's also concerned with power and manipulation. And by the end, he's become some sort of insane, wretched miser, who revels in the failures of others--especially if he's had some sort of hand in their folly.
I'm not certain how I feel about the extreme flash-forward in time towards the end. A great deal of the novel has been left out (or so I hear; I haven't actually read the book) and clearly, a great deal of the story as well. The viewer has to fill in the blanks and really sort of finishes the story for himself. And I suppose it's no great tragedy, but for some reason I'm left feeling a bit taken advantage of. It's as if I've been able to experience a great work, but somewhere in the middle I fell asleep. That being said, it's excusable only because of the very last sequence, where we see Plainview's teetering on the edge of complete, self-indulged mindlessness. I imagine him quite like Napoleon, exiled on the island of Saint Helena: his grandiose ideals of power and success spoiled only by the sheer fact that his influence has been stricken. Plainview is obviously physically unfit and mentally unstable; yet it is at this point that we see his hatred boiling to a pinnacle point. He is fixated on destroying not only the livelihood of his rivals, but of his loved ones as well.
There Will Be Blood is a bold step for Paul Thomas Anderson. His transformation from film-to-film, and his ability to reinvent the filmmaking process over and over, displays his true artistic talent. After digesting this particular film for about a day and a half, I've really begun to appreciate it even more on a multitude of levels. I remember spending several weeks dissecting Taxi Driver for a film class back in college, and watching the film over and over again opened all sorts of new ideas and clues as to the essence of Travis Bickle. I firmly believe this film is be similarly as in-depth a character study.
In fact, There Will Be Blood is as important a character study as other great films with similar iconic and bold characters. Characters who are so transfixed on one particular goal--whether good or bad, noble or ruthless--that it is all encompassing and typically their downfall. But it's really the monstrous characters--those sinister individuals who we perceive as soulless beasts--that we make every attempt to empathize with. Daniel Plainview is no different. Despite his supremely ignoble actions and loathsome quality, I desire to know and understand him on a human level. I want to know what he's thinking and I want to reflect upon his deeds.
I never really cared to know J. R. Ewing on any human level. The man was strictly business, much like Daniel Plainview, and his actions were less than desirable. But there really wasn't much more to him--underneath he was merely flesh and bone. And so is Plainview. But Plainview's flesh is scarred and his bones are fractured. He has guts and all sorts of knotted up and twisted insides that bring substance and grit to his character. His visceral organs are real inside and, despite my best instincts, I've managed to continually dissect him inside my head. There Will Be Blood strives for boldness, and succeeds. It certainly cuts, and it certainly bleeds.[1]
[1] A playful jab at Stephanie Zacharek's review.
Labels: film, Movie Reviews
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