Review of There Will Be Blood (2007) by Tyler H — 03 Dec 2012

It was January 28th, 2008, when I went to see There Will Be Blood in theaters for the first time. I got there relatively early with my father, as to get a good seat. The small crowd shuffled in as the time neared closer to the starting point. As the lights dimmed down, and the film started, I was instantly sucked into the film. There was something about the film that made it mesmerizing, almost hypnotic, really. It was the first film that I had ever sat through the credits, not saying a word, really letting the film sink into me before even remotely trying to say anything about it.

To this day, after a total of 43 viewings of the film, I still can't tell what's so mesmerizing about the film. Is it Daniel Day Lewis' performance? Is it the attention to details? Is it Paul Thomas Anderson's direction? I doubt I will ever know. And that is what makes There Will Be Blood so astounding.

There Will Be Blood is a morbid tale of obsession, greed, betrayal, and alcoholism. It's adorned by fantastic performances, masterful direction, and visually striking cinematography. The plot is rather simple; Daniel Plainview, an oil man, is greeted by a mysterious man named Paul, who informs him that there is oil at his family's ranch, in California. So, Plainview visits the ranch, finds oil, and buys the land in order to drill for the oil. Things begin to go a little awry though, as Plainview meets Eli, the son of the owner (and twin brother of Paul) who is an ambitious evangelical preacher. Both Daniel's ambitions and Eli's ambitions clash into each other many times, starting a psychological warzone between the two that spans for years, all the way up to the deeply haunting finale of the film.

Cinema has witnessed and marveled at a large number of fantastic actors and actresses, who have entranced all of their viewers with their performances, but I dare say that none of their performances will ever be able to match Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. Day Lewis incredibly gathers up all of his talent and creates one of the most terrifying film characters in movie history. Consumed by greed and hate, and fueled with alcohol, Plainview is an anti-hero. We like him, but we don't like him at the same time. There are times when he seems like an empty shell of anger, then there are times where we see a more humane side to his emotions, telling us that deeper inside of him is a man who is sorry for his actions. I can't think of any other actor who would be able to play such a commanding role.

Paul Thomas Anderson had already proved himself as a screen writer and a director, but packed a huge punch with this film. His previous films: Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and Hard Eight, all were very, very great films, but this will always be his masterpiece. It incredibly succeeds to immerse a person into the characters and the story, because, after all, that's what cinema does. It creates an escape portal for people. For just two hours you can sit and be somewhere else, with different and new people. You can escape from the real world and be immersed into a whole different world. That's the magic of cinema, and that's the magic of There Will Be Blood.