Review of There Will Be Blood (2007) by Timothy S — 20 Jan 2014

Decided to revisit this film, and honestly I don't think my review of it can begin to do justice to what Paul Thomas Anderson accomplishes with it. The stark imagery of the withered landscape as well as the dangerous fragility of the machinery give a sense of man's vulnerability in the world, with the lingering pacing and intense score further highlighting this feeling.

I also noticed quite a bit more complexity to Daniel Day-Lewis' central character this time beyond being a symbol of aggression poisoning everything in one's life. From the start he's shown as a self-made working man, his relation with his employees maybe even based in a professional respect, who resents the selfishness and underhandedness of those around him that nonetheless define what he does to survive. His restrained hostility, masked by an inoffensive humanism and concern for others, gradually grows out of control as he finds himself unable to care for his son, treating anyone using family as a way to get something from him with seething hatred. A lack of empathy and awe of his own growing power in the world keep him from truly connecting with his son's needs.

Paul Dano's fanatical preacher Eli has a rude, thoughtless forwardness behind his soft spoken demeanor, using religion to justify his selfish acts and ultimately having his spiritual concerns be shown as hollow and self-aggrandizing throughout the story. Religious language and ritual is often adapted by everyone throughout the film, whether sincerely or as a means to their own ends, such as by the atheistic Daniel. Closest thing I can muster to a complaint is that some of the ordinary townsfolk don't seem to have much of an identity beyond Daniel's perspective of them as simpleminded yokels, and Eli seems lacking in any redeeming qualities whatsoever beyond his own self-righteous belief in his own purpose. But even then, it works well toward giving a gripping impression of the character.