As a film about one man's obsessive egomania, There Will Be Blood does its job.
Enough can not be said of Day-Lewis, Oscar winner for 1989's "My Left Foot." We follow Daniel Plainview's character arc with such intensity because of the actor, and we can pinpoint the moment things begin to go sour in his life. It's not the script pointing and shouting "Oh, this is a really important moment"; rather, it is a culmination of little things throughout the film, starting very early, compounding on top of one another that make Daniel the man he ends up being. The only things he has known are oil and his boy, H.W. (Dillon Freasier, quietly effective in the role). All he wants out of life, at least initially, is to be more than he currently is.
As Daniel's ego spirals out of control, he engages in a battle of wills with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, playing two characters), an up-and-coming minister. It starts over a simple negotiation and escalates to a beat-down in the mud, a humiliating exorcism and, finally, to the most violently nonviolent action sequence in film. It's not enough for Day-Lewis simply to get lost in the character; he fully inhabits Daniel from his mumbling, soft-spoken ways to out and out rage and the way spit drips off his lip when he and Eli engage in their final test of wills. His is a transformation of epic proportions benefiting the scope of "There Will Be Blood," and because the actor throws himself into the part, we don't see the man who played Bill the Butcher or Christy Brown or John Proctor. We see Daniel Plainview, a bitter, resentful, angry man.
It is Daniel Day-Lewis who makes "Blood" the immense joy to watch it turns out to be. Which isn't to say the rest of the cast doesn't hold up their end of the bargain. They do so in more understated ways. Eli's conversion happens mostly off screen, including the genesis of a terrifying encounter with his father. In his own way, Eli becomes the very thing Daniel is: power hungry, full of hubris, and desperate. The only disappointment is that we don't get to see him turn to the dark side, so to speak. Dano excels at the part because we have been conditioned to trust cherubic-looking teenagers instead of fearing them. He, too, feeds on the power and adoration his congregation gives him, something we become all too aware of in a baptism scene.
Anderson does a great service to all his actors with his directing style. No quick cuts or coverage of dialogue-intensive scenes. The camera stays focused on a speaker or follows the action in a single unbroken take, allowing the emotions to flow freely through the shot without creating them in the editing room. He also lets the action build, slowly yet steadily, like the slow ascent to the top of a roller coaster. We know the inevitable ending, but each time the tension is ratcheted up another link, it is farther for us to fall. It's not given to us all at once until Anderson is ready to unleash unbridled fury. His directing style, his slow pacing of the story, his Oscar-worthy lead actor, and the payoff any audience will remember long after the end credits have faded, suck us into this world, never letting our attention wane for a moment lest we miss another revelation.
No matter what the camera focuses on, it is wholly unconventional, whether it be the amount of darkness in a given scene, the way actors' faces are obscured, or the stark reality with which a raging oil fire is shown, billowing black smoke into the blue California sky. In all its magnificence, in all the potential destruction the fire could case, the scene is breathtaking, similar to the burning oil fields on our TV screens during the first Gulf War. As fire shoots up into the sky, engulfing a wooden derrick, it provokes a reaction within us: Not beauty or awe as one might expect, but of terror and sorrow. The work put into the construction and drilling, especially without the use of modern technology, is gut wrenching to see go up in so many flames.
"There Will Be Blood" wants to play up the battle between money and religion and, for the most part, it succeeds. The conflict begins very early, when oil rich land is dangled in front of Daniel's nose by Eli's brother, Paul. One of the first questions Paul asks is in regards to Daniel's faith. His response is clearly a lie when he refers to embracing all religions. And, subsequently, every scene featuring Daniel and Eli is riddled with tension based on their personal beliefs. My one question, though, is why? Why does Paul go to Daniel? Why does Eli take it upon himself to battle Daniel? Are Daniel and Paul the same person or twins? If they are the same person, why does Eli bring an evil to his home? To prove himself? To give him someone to fight against? See, the screenplay (also by Anderson) is content to present information yet not explain it. It by no means degrades the film and, I expect, an entire film class could be devoted to those issues.
(Why it is no one thinks to communicate with H.W. via the written word after his accident is beyond me. It seems like the easiest thing in the world to do, yet the solution doesn't occur to a single person. And while we're on the subject, his lineage is up for debate as well. Did Daniel really use him as a ploy to get land and support, or are they really related? Again, these relatively minor points don't matter except to make fascinating conversation.)
Even at its engorged running time, "There Will Be Blood" begins and ends in the blink of an eye. Director Anderson and his cast create a world and a situation epic in scale, yet based on a handful of people. There is no noble quest as in "The Lord of the Rings" or galactic stakes as in "Star Wars," only people caught in a tidal wave of events. Daniel Day-Lewis deserved his Oscar for Best Actor, as well as Anderson for directing nomination. "There Will Be Blood" ranks right up there with the best of 2007.
Jason's film rating: 8/10.
Video:
The Paramount video engineers reproduce the movie on Blu-ray in a VC-1, 1080p, BD50 transfer. It's the kind of transfer that will undoubtedly please most viewers while annoying some folks in the videophile fringe. You see, there is practically no grain anywhere, either in outdoor location shots or in the darkest indoor scenes. I suspect the engineers applied a degree of filtering here, resulting in a remarkably clean canvas but one that can sometimes look just slightly soft and glossy. There is also a little haloing but almost no jagged edges, with colors that are bright and realistic and facial tones that show up well.
Audio:
A Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless codec renders the soundtrack about as well as a movie theater would reproduce it. There's a terrific left-to-right stereo spread, the voices and noises emanating all along the front soundstage, with proper depth as well. However, surprisingly perhaps, there isn't as much surround activity as I would have expected: a hint of musical bloom, the blaze of a fire, and the force of an explosion are about the extent of it. Nevertheless, the sound is smooth, natural, and dynamic when necessary, and quite subtle by turns. I enjoyed it.
Extras:
There really aren't a lot of extras on the disc, perhaps because of the length of the movie. For me, the best of the bunch was "The Story of Petroleum" (HD), a twenty-five-minute, silent promotional feature created somewhere between 1923 and 1927 in black-and-white. The U.S. Bureau of Mines made it in collaboration with Sinclair Oil as a promotional feature at a time when the United States was the biggest producer and biggest consumer of oil in the world. Jonny Greenwood composed a new score to accompany it. Frankly, I found this old promo more fascinating than the main attraction.
The new extras are thirty-one minutes long, and the viewer may play them separately or all at once. They begin with "15 Minutes: The Making of There Will Be Blood" (HD), a segment that shows us how the filmmakers patterned their movie after real photographs of the day. After that are several additional scenes: a "Fishing" sequence (HD), a "Haircut/Interrupted Hymn" scene (HD), and an interesting and amusing variation, "Dailies Gone Wild" (HD), with a theatrical trailer and a teaser (HD) thrown in for good measure.
The extras wind down with a meager eight scene selections and no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Thoughts:
"There Will Be Blood" is an unusual experience, to say the least. On the one hand, it seems to project an epic scale; on the other hand, it's really a one-man show. I've seen the movie twice now, and I wish I could get behind everything Jason praised, but for me it was rather a letdown. I found the film far too long, the themes confused, and Day-Lewis's performance a well-performed but one-note affair. Don't get me wrong: The movie is worth one's time. I'm just not sure it's worth more than one viewing, even in high definition.
As Daniel's ego spirals out of control, he engages in a battle of wills with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, playing two characters), an up-and-coming minister. It starts over a simple negotiation and escalates to a beat-down in the mud, a humiliating exorcism and, finally, to the most violently nonviolent action sequence in film. It's not enough for Day-Lewis simply to get lost in the character; he fully inhabits Daniel from his mumbling, soft-spoken ways to out and out rage and the way spit drips off his lip when he and Eli engage in their final test of wills. His is a transformation of epic proportions benefiting the scope of "There Will Be Blood," and because the actor throws himself into the part, we don't see the man who played Bill the Butcher or Christy Brown or John Proctor. We see Daniel Plainview, a bitter, resentful, angry man.
It is Daniel Day-Lewis who makes "Blood" the immense joy to watch it turns out to be. Which isn't to say the rest of the cast doesn't hold up their end of the bargain. They do so in more understated ways. Eli's conversion happens mostly off screen, including the genesis of a terrifying encounter with his father. In his own way, Eli becomes the very thing Daniel is: power hungry, full of hubris, and desperate. The only disappointment is that we don't get to see him turn to the dark side, so to speak. Dano excels at the part because we have been conditioned to trust cherubic-looking teenagers instead of fearing them. He, too, feeds on the power and adoration his congregation gives him, something we become all too aware of in a baptism scene.
Anderson does a great service to all his actors with his directing style. No quick cuts or coverage of dialogue-intensive scenes. The camera stays focused on a speaker or follows the action in a single unbroken take, allowing the emotions to flow freely through the shot without creating them in the editing room. He also lets the action build, slowly yet steadily, like the slow ascent to the top of a roller coaster. We know the inevitable ending, but each time the tension is ratcheted up another link, it is farther for us to fall. It's not given to us all at once until Anderson is ready to unleash unbridled fury. His directing style, his slow pacing of the story, his Oscar-worthy lead actor, and the payoff any audience will remember long after the end credits have faded, suck us into this world, never letting our attention wane for a moment lest we miss another revelation.
No matter what the camera focuses on, it is wholly unconventional, whether it be the amount of darkness in a given scene, the way actors' faces are obscured, or the stark reality with which a raging oil fire is shown, billowing black smoke into the blue California sky. In all its magnificence, in all the potential destruction the fire could case, the scene is breathtaking, similar to the burning oil fields on our TV screens during the first Gulf War. As fire shoots up into the sky, engulfing a wooden derrick, it provokes a reaction within us: Not beauty or awe as one might expect, but of terror and sorrow. The work put into the construction and drilling, especially without the use of modern technology, is gut wrenching to see go up in so many flames.
"There Will Be Blood" wants to play up the battle between money and religion and, for the most part, it succeeds. The conflict begins very early, when oil rich land is dangled in front of Daniel's nose by Eli's brother, Paul. One of the first questions Paul asks is in regards to Daniel's faith. His response is clearly a lie when he refers to embracing all religions. And, subsequently, every scene featuring Daniel and Eli is riddled with tension based on their personal beliefs. My one question, though, is why? Why does Paul go to Daniel? Why does Eli take it upon himself to battle Daniel? Are Daniel and Paul the same person or twins? If they are the same person, why does Eli bring an evil to his home? To prove himself? To give him someone to fight against? See, the screenplay (also by Anderson) is content to present information yet not explain it. It by no means degrades the film and, I expect, an entire film class could be devoted to those issues.
(Why it is no one thinks to communicate with H.W. via the written word after his accident is beyond me. It seems like the easiest thing in the world to do, yet the solution doesn't occur to a single person. And while we're on the subject, his lineage is up for debate as well. Did Daniel really use him as a ploy to get land and support, or are they really related? Again, these relatively minor points don't matter except to make fascinating conversation.)
Even at its engorged running time, "There Will Be Blood" begins and ends in the blink of an eye. Director Anderson and his cast create a world and a situation epic in scale, yet based on a handful of people. There is no noble quest as in "The Lord of the Rings" or galactic stakes as in "Star Wars," only people caught in a tidal wave of events. Daniel Day-Lewis deserved his Oscar for Best Actor, as well as Anderson for directing nomination. "There Will Be Blood" ranks right up there with the best of 2007.
Jason's film rating: 8/10.
Video:
The Paramount video engineers reproduce the movie on Blu-ray in a VC-1, 1080p, BD50 transfer. It's the kind of transfer that will undoubtedly please most viewers while annoying some folks in the videophile fringe. You see, there is practically no grain anywhere, either in outdoor location shots or in the darkest indoor scenes. I suspect the engineers applied a degree of filtering here, resulting in a remarkably clean canvas but one that can sometimes look just slightly soft and glossy. There is also a little haloing but almost no jagged edges, with colors that are bright and realistic and facial tones that show up well.
Audio:
A Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless codec renders the soundtrack about as well as a movie theater would reproduce it. There's a terrific left-to-right stereo spread, the voices and noises emanating all along the front soundstage, with proper depth as well. However, surprisingly perhaps, there isn't as much surround activity as I would have expected: a hint of musical bloom, the blaze of a fire, and the force of an explosion are about the extent of it. Nevertheless, the sound is smooth, natural, and dynamic when necessary, and quite subtle by turns. I enjoyed it.
Extras:
There really aren't a lot of extras on the disc, perhaps because of the length of the movie. For me, the best of the bunch was "The Story of Petroleum" (HD), a twenty-five-minute, silent promotional feature created somewhere between 1923 and 1927 in black-and-white. The U.S. Bureau of Mines made it in collaboration with Sinclair Oil as a promotional feature at a time when the United States was the biggest producer and biggest consumer of oil in the world. Jonny Greenwood composed a new score to accompany it. Frankly, I found this old promo more fascinating than the main attraction.
The new extras are thirty-one minutes long, and the viewer may play them separately or all at once. They begin with "15 Minutes: The Making of There Will Be Blood" (HD), a segment that shows us how the filmmakers patterned their movie after real photographs of the day. After that are several additional scenes: a "Fishing" sequence (HD), a "Haircut/Interrupted Hymn" scene (HD), and an interesting and amusing variation, "Dailies Gone Wild" (HD), with a theatrical trailer and a teaser (HD) thrown in for good measure.
The extras wind down with a meager eight scene selections and no chapter insert; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages and subtitles; and English captions for the hearing impaired.
Parting Thoughts:
"There Will Be Blood" is an unusual experience, to say the least. On the one hand, it seems to project an epic scale; on the other hand, it's really a one-man show. I've seen the movie twice now, and I wish I could get behind everything Jason praised, but for me it was rather a letdown. I found the film far too long, the themes confused, and Day-Lewis's performance a well-performed but one-note affair. Don't get me wrong: The movie is worth one's time. I'm just not sure it's worth more than one viewing, even in high definition.
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[release]23708[/release]