Ok, as most — if not all — of you know, my friend Heather has a brilliant mind. I respect her opinion on all things and way more times than not, I agree with her. So it is with heavy heart and some confusion that I confess that I thought that There Will Be Blood was a terrific movie. Maybe her scathing review helped me. I saw the movie today, in the afternoon, and armed with a large diet Coke. I expected a slow, methodical movie and that is what I got. I also got a movie that I sum up as fascinating. Here’s why.
I agree with Heather that the movie was slow. I suspect that it is because she prepared me for the pace that I enjoyed the film. This movie reminded me some of Citizen Kane, but with even fewer women and definitely less dialogue. Like Charles Foster Kane, Daniel Plainview is a madman who has built himself quite an empire. Unlike Kane, though, there is no Rosebud and Plainview is plainly insane. At least that’s my take.
For those of you that haven’t seen it, the movie begins at the turn of the century when Plainview finds oil in the desert. The oil comes up inky and thick and people start getting hurt. This is a messy, painful business. The movie goes from there, with Plainview building his fortune. One day, a young man comes to him and sells him information on where a great deal of oil can be found. This leads Plainview to the community of Little Boston, California where he starts buying up everyone’s land. In exchange for the first tract he purchases, he is to give Eli Sunday, the son of the owner of the land, $5000 to get Eli’s church off the ground. Eli is a Jesus man. Daniel is not.
The movie continues as Daniel builds wells and pipeline in Little Boston and Eli builds a congregation. They come to blows more than once during the film, and Eli is no match for Daniel. No one is, really.
I wouldn’t say that the film has a moral center, though Daniel’s son H.W. is probably the closest the film gets to one. And while I really can’t say that I understand the “point” of the movie, if there is one, I still think it was a great epic tale about a man’s madness. And it cannot be said too often: Daniel Day Lewis is a tour de force and I think he, once again, deserves the Oscar.
For those of you that have seen the movie, I’d welcome your thoughts. Let’s talk.
life and puppies 