There Will Be Blood (2007)
Can you think of a a better title than “There Will Be Blood”? The pure power, potential, and muscle in just the title of this film sets a precedent for one of the most excellent films I have ever seen. The respect, admiration, and regard that I have for this film is unmatched. This masterpiece was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in 2007 and it is in my top 3 favorite PTA films next to Magnolia (1999) and Boogie Nights (1997).
There Will Be Blood stars Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a vicious silver miner turned oil man. Plainview cheats local landowners in early 20th century California into selling him their highly valuable land for next to nothing. By using his adopted son, H.W., he makes it seem like he is an honorable family man. While working on a farm with a major oil deposit, Daniel meets Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) who is a local preacher who is looking to finance his church with the sale of his family’s property. Eli is a self proclaimed faith healer and vessel to the holy spirit. Eli distrusts Plainview’s capitalist objectives, commencing a rivalry that threatens both of them.
This movie is based on Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil! published in 1926, and it’s a wild ride from the start to finish. There Will Be Blood is a character study that deals with themes of the dark side of the American Dream, false relations, and religion. This movie is complicated and intense, and in order to understand it, it is absolutely crucial to understand the themes. Warning: there will be spoilers.
Daniel Plainview is a perfect example of the American Dream. He has worked his way up from the bottom in the oil business, and with hard work he has become a rich man. Daniel is not just profiting off others labor, he is capable of doing all the dirty work that is necessary in drilling oil himself. There is no doubt that Daniel works hard, but at what extent does his diligence affect his personality and character? All of his blood, sweat, and tears that he put into his work somehow have come together to make Daniel into a ruthless misanthrope; a human monster.
Falsified relationships are an essential part of Daniel’s story. His closest relationships were not created through natural biology but conjured to give the impression of a man with family connections. Daniel’s son H.W. is not his biological son, even though he tells people the adopted orphan is his blood. Daniel’s alleged half-brother, Henry Plainview, turns out to be an actor posing as the real Henry Plainview, who passed away. And finally, Eli Sunday becomes Daniel’s son in law although there is no love there. Daniel had no real loving relationships, he disowns H.W. and eventually kills both “Henry” and Eli. Daniel is left completely isolated, with no verifiable link to the outside world.
Religion and oil separate Daniel and Eli causing a deep rooted hatred between the two characters. They are both shadow selves, in that cover their spiritual emptiness by continuously making fugacious promises to the people that look up to them. Through representing Daniel and Eli as biblical allusions, the director, Paul Thomas Anderson, is showing how human intention will never change. In the bible, Daniel means “God is my judge” and Eli means “ascendent; my god”. In the last scene of the movie, we can see a retelling of the story of Cain and Abel, where the first two sons of Adam and Eve both make sacrifices to God. God favors Abel's sacrifice instead of Cain's. Cain kills Abel, and God punishes Cain to a life of wandering. Both Daniel and Eli sacrifice things throughout the movie, and Daniel ends up murdering Eli, leaving him to think of his inhumanity for the rest of his life.
On top of the intense themes that this movie covers, this movie has incredible cinematography, writing, and acting. Daniel Day-Lewis gives the performance of his career and Paul Dano is incredibly strong as well. I will wrap this analysis up by saying that everyone needs to see this movie. It’s currently streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, Google Play, Vudu, and iTunes. Go watch!
There Will Be Blood took home the oscar for best cinematography, take a look it’s beauty in this video!
