“Drainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I'm so sorry.”
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Mark 8:36
Daniel Day-Lewis was a force of nature from the ground and spraying Oscar gold all about the area. However, it wasn’t real gold the film was concerned with but black gold. The oil boom in the 1900s is the focus and the things that some men will sacrifice for the wealth that bubbles up from the ground.
Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) accidentally discovers oil while digging for silver on one of his claims. He soon begins to develop a small drilling company to get the oil from the ground. One of his men is killed and Plainview takes on the man’s orphaned son to be his own and names him H.W. (Dillon Freasier).
In 1911, he and H.W. are approached by Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) who tells him that for $500 he will tell him of a place where the oil bubbles to the surface. Daniel and H.W. inspect the land under the guise of being quail hunters and do discover that the oil does indeed do as Paul described. Daniel offers Abell Sunday (David Willis) $5000 for the drilling rights, but Eli (Paul Dano), Paul’s twin brother, knows why Daniel and H.W. have come to the land and makes Daniel pay double so that Eli can set up his church. Plainview then begins to buy up the drilling rights to all the ranches around the area.
Eli sets up his “Church of the Third Revelation” and fashions himself a faith healer. Eli asks Plainview to allow him to bless the opening of the first well, Plainview agrees to, but at the opening ignores Eli and gives the honor to Eli’s little sister. Eventually the well hits a large reservoir of oil but the expulsion of gas ignites and in the explosion following H.W. loses his hearing.
When Eli later comes to the site to request the other $5000 owed him, Plainview attacks him and asks why he couldn’t heal H.W.’s hearing loss. Plainview is approached by his half-brother Henry (Kevin J. O’Connor) who tells him that their father has died. H.W. discovers something about Henry and tries to burn him in his bed, which gets H.W. sent away to a home for deaf children. Plainview continues to pull more and more oil out of the ground, but the future will find him both a rich man and a madman.
There Will be Blood cannot help but remind me of Stanley Kubrick. I’m not exactly saying that Paul Thomas Anderson has taken the mantle of the great one but the film does have an epic feel that I also got when watching the master’s hand. The film starts off on a discordant note and there is no dialogue spoken for the first fourteen minutes.
We only see Plainview toiling beneath the earth and is rewarded with both silver and black gold, as well as a bum leg from a tumble down the shaft. In those days the men toiled and died to pull those valuable commodities from the earth, not that they don’t these days but it’s a helluva lot easier.
Plainview is a self made man and appears to have some inner demons that end up consuming him. He can’t deal with the fact that his “son” has a disability and it is the first catalyst that begins his descent and he ends up an alcoholic that pushes everyone away and shoots at all the possessions that he’s been able to buy with all his earnings. Daniel Day-Lewis burns up the screen and received a well-deserved best actor Oscar for his performance.
It’s one for the ages and one that will be talked about for some time to come (beyond the titular “Milkshake” line) since he dominates the film and creates an indelible presence.
There Will Be Blood is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features are located on disc two. First up is a 15-minute featurette entitled “15 Minutes” which is a compilation of photos, clips, and footage of the historical research that went into the feature.
Next is the teaser trailer (1 minute) and the theatrical trailer (2 minutes). There are also 9 minutes of deleted scenes. The final extra is the 1920 film “The Story of Petroleum” that has had a new score recorded for it. Although these extras are interesting and informative, they do feel a little light for a two-disc collection’s set.
Even with that thinness, the film is one of the best of last year and well worth your attention. You may go away parroting that “milkshake” line but Lewis’ performance will be one that you’ll want to reexamine.
The film is a five star affair and I’m going to give it the full rating below, but with the warning that you may want to just buy the cheaper one disc affair since this one is a little light. Whatever your choice this film does deserve a place in your collection.
There Will Be Blood (Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition) is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information. Click Here to enter to win a copy of the Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition!
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