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There Will Be Blood (2 Disc Special Edition)If there's a screen performance in 2008 that comes anywhere near to matching Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning turn in There Will Be Blood, then we've come nowhere near to seeing it. A tour-de-force of acting and a career high for Day-Lewis, it's the highlight of an extraordinary, really quite daring piece of cinema.
That said, we've come to expect nothing less from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, the man who previously brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. However, he's really topped himself in terms of ambition with There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's book, Oil! It follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) who, when we first meet him in the film's silent opening is attempting to mine silver, before he discovers oil and slowly builds up an empire off the back of it. There Will Be Blood then follows his rise to power, given the vast riches that his oil brings him, concurrently exploring his relationship with his son. It proves to be a long, complex, stunning piece of work. There's little room in There Will Be Blood for much more than the sheer power of Day-Lewis' performance, but credit Paul Dano (last seen saying an awful lot less in Little Miss Sunshine) for attempting to go toe-to-toe with the leading man. He's a foil of sorts for Plainview, playing a man as troubled and torn as Day-Lewis' character, and it's a career high to date for the young actor. The film, too, is a match for anything Paul Thomas Anderson has done to date, and that's some achievement. With no easy resolution, and a degree of complexity in its characters that we all-too-rarely see from modern American films, There Will Be Blood is a challenging, at times breathtaking piece of cinema. It won't be to all tastes, and it adamantly refuses to give easy answers, but it's as daring as anything you'll see on screen all year. And Day-Lewis' performance ranks next to any of the all-time greats that you'd care to mention. --Simon Brew |
Average User Rating: 60% (64 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | There Will Be Blood
C. MacLellan (Glasgow, Scotland) - 28 May 2008 In 1898, while digging for silver, prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) discovers an oil deposit. By 1911, after not selling out to his larger competitors, Plainview, along with his adoptive son H. W. (Dillon Frasier), is one of the most successful oil-prospectors in California. On a tip from Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) he travels to a small town where the land bleeds with the black gold. However, on his arrival, he meets Pauls's twin brother, Eli Sunday (also Paul Dano), an Evangelical preacher, who places obstacles in the way of his progress. From the outset of the film, director Paul Thomas Anderson builds up a massive amount of tension, keeping the audience on tenterhooks, with a dialogue free initial 20 minutes. The only sound coming from the screen is the apocalyptic score of Radiohead man Jonny Greenwood, which builds up the feeling of unease and dead at what is to come. From the moment the first world of dialogue are spoken - "Ladies and gentlemen, I've travelled over half our state to be here tonight" - the film belongs to Daniel Day Lewis. His performance as self-made oil baron Daniel Plainview is completely compelling, thanks to Day Lewis's emersion in the character. The semi-retired actor's deep and detailed study of the period and the people have allowed him to create an actual person, rather than just portraying a character in a film. The voice he uses is also extremely distinctive, and conjures up images of walrus moustaches and cigar smoking. Plainview is a deeply complex character, and one which Day Lewis plays to perfection. Opposite the Oscar winning actor is Paul Dano an Eli Sunday (and briefly, Eli's twin brother Paul), a crazed Evangelical preacher. Sunday is the compete opposite of Plainview, and in turn, tries to change the oil's mans wicked and greedy ways, offering redemption through faith rather than wealth. It is the relationship between the two which forms the centre of the film, with both embodying the continuing battle between business and religion. Paul Dano, who replaced another actor after shooting had begun, does well in portraying the Evangelical mad-man and acting opposition such as respected actor, although at times, the spitting and shrieking form of preaching can seem overly silly and laughable. It the clash between these two massive characters which is at the heart of this film, with a resolution to their story not coming until some years later, in a California mansion. It is now that the true nature of each of these characters emerges, and we witness who wins in this colossal battle of wills. Around these two, only younger H. W. Plainview (Dillon Frasier) gets a look in. Although at times, the relationship between father and adoptive son can seem one of convenience, using his angelic face as the front for his father demonic pursuit of power and allowing Plainview to portray himself as a family man. There does seem to be a deep bond between the two, however, come the conclusion to the film, the relationship between the two becomes both clearly and even murkier at the same time. It will take a couple of days of reflection, and possibly another half dozen viewing, but eventually, the masterpiece that There Will Be Blood is, will be revealed.... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | The American Dream
MICHAEL ACUNA (Southern California United States) - 25 January 2008 Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" is a big bold, eccentric, crazy film, based on Socialist author Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel "Oil," which proposes the thesis that Capitalism brings about positive change but change that ultimately destroys the future: a double edged sword that cut both ways. So much of "TWBB" reminds me of Nathanial West's Hollywood Novels of the 30's like "Miss Lonelyhearts" and "Day of the Locust," novels filled with grotesques and grotesque, outlandish actions. Plainview would fit right in with West's fringe dwellers. At the center of "TWBB" is the towering performance of Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview, who at the beginning of the film (1898) is a not very successful Silver miner who ends up by film's end as a just barely holding onto reality, whacked out richest Oilman in California. Lewis's performance is feral, animalistic, and fierce...all squinting eyes, guttural voice and slouching posture: Lewis feels every word he utters throughout his body. He pulls out all the stops and creates a character that resonates with pathos and humanity but his Plainview is also a symbol of a time when it was possible to get ahead by setting goals, setting out into a "new" world, grabbing yourself by the seat of your pants and forcing your will upon others and getting ahead: making money, saving, spending wisely...attaining the so-called American Dream in the sense that James Truslow Adams wrote about it in his "Epic of America" in the 1930's. Lewis's Plainview is Evil personified ("I despise success in others") yet writer/director Anderson has allowed him to have a positive inner life primarily centered on his son who he papalbly adores focusing all of his available adoration on him. Let no one dissuade you from this: Lewis's performance here is on par with Brando's in "Streetcar" or Paul Newman's in "Hud." It's a performance that actors will be referring to for many years to come. Plainview's main antagonist is Paul Dano's Eli Sunday, a young preacher who creates the Church of the Third Revelation in the oil fields. Thomas sets up a battle between the two: the supposedly ultimate Capitalist and the lowly man of God: a kind of Battle of the Titans: Capitalism vs. Evangelism. Their big, penultimate confrontation is as big and bold and over-the-top as even Anderson's own Shower of Frogs in "Magnolia." "There will be Blood" grabs you from the first frame and doesn't let you go until the last frame of the last reel spools out. It is poetic, thoughtful, beautiful in many ways as well as ugly, real, ghoulish in others. Because Anderson's vision here is so aggressively solemn and ominous even Calvinist,"There Will be Blood" will naturally be misunderstood by many but ultimately this film will be remembered and revered for many, many years to come. ... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | An American Classic
S. N. Denton "siobhannd" - 20 March 2008 If you're looking for subtlety then you're not going to find it in P T Anderson's There Will Be Blood; from the grand scale locations to the larger than life characters, Anderson's film feels truly epic. Yet don't take this as a fault of the film, indeed it is the films epic quality that ensures its success. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil, There Will Be Blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). After Plainview accidently discovers oil (and its monetary gains), he becomes set on sourcing further oil and thus gaining more wealth. After a tip off in which Plainview is told of oil rich land in California, his greed ultimately leads to a battle of wills between Plainview and Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, who also plays the small but pivotal role of Paul Sunday) the young minister of a church, culminating in the almost comic final scene of the film, as Plainview's greed ultimately consumes him. Day-Lewis deservedly won an Academy Award for his performance of a man entirely obsessed by greed, and indeed it is he on who the film rests upon. His performance is startling, utterly embodying the enigmatic character of Plainview. There is a distinct lack of character development, and whilst the audience is shown Plainview at the beginning of his ascent we never truly learn his motives and feelings. However, the lack of information that we have about the character ensures that the audience not only learns all they need to know, but they are kept at a distance from this ultimately lonely figure. In fact there is no dialogue for the first fifteen minutes of the film, in which we watch Plainview mining, working entirely by himself. The cinematography adds to the almost mystical quality of the film, reminiscent of Terence Malick's Days of Heaven, which was shot entirely during magic hour. Ultimately, this is an epic film showcasing the subversion of the American Dream, and deserves to be remembered as a true American Classic. ... Read Full Review » |
| 2 / 5 | One Hand Clapping
J. Horsley "Jake" (London) - 28 February 2008 Being a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, my expectations were high for this flick, but alas, it did not deliver. Brilliantly directed by Anderson, with a phenomenal central performance by Daniel Day Lewis, I think the problem with the film is at a fundamental and conceptual level. The work is ambitiously themed, but Anderson hasn't taken the time--or perhaps didn't have the desire--to draw us into the story or the characters. Magnolia was an epic, ambitious work also, but it was on a human scale, and Anderson never seemed to be reaching for his effects. There Will Be Blood is another matter: it's all reaching, but it comes back empty-handed. Based on Upton Sinclair's novel, the film tells the tale of oil man Daniel Plainview, a man without substance, and apparently without heart or soul, driven by mysterious forces (forces that are never revealed), whose only passion is for oil. Plainview doesn't appear to be all that interested in profit, even, and although he is a ruthless businessman, the impression the film gives is that this is more a point of principle than actual greed. We are never given a clue as to what might be behind such a principle, however, or behind the character's stubborn, almost inhuman drive. The trouble with There Will Be Blood is that, if you place a hollow man at the center of your movie, you are likely to wind up with a hollow movie. Daniel Day Lewis carries the film on his sinewy shoulders, and he keeps us gripped by the sheer magnetism of his presence; but the script doesn't provide much context for his performance, and the character seems to be almost entirely the actor's creation. Long as the film is (158 minutes), Anderson doesn't use the time to establish his characters, or appear to care about building suspense. He seems to consider such conventions beneath him, and the result is fuzzy, muted, shapeless and meandering. Individual scenes are often strong--the film is gorgeously photographed--and there's certainly a dark poetry and lyricism to the film; but because there's no central thread to tie the scenes together, and without much narrative or character drive, the various episodes just hang in a void. Since we have no clue as to what drives the central character, there is nothing to drive the scenes forward either. Violent confrontations--between Plainview and the preacher, Ely, between Ely and his father, and the final murder--should be intensely disturbing but somehow fail to move us. Anderson doesn't make us feel the tensions that lead up to these scenes, so they appear to come out of nowhere; they seem overwrought, faintly ludicrous. Inside such a dramatic vacuum, Lewis' performance--intense as it is--becomes often blackly amusing: Plainview seems not only psychotic but absurd. Yet we can't tell if he's meant to seem that way or not. For such a bleak and violent work, Blood is almost devoid of tension. And for all the care that has gone into the film's look, and despite the central performance, it's rather slack, even tedious. It's clear Anderson is aiming for something big, but I think the ambitiousness of his concepts has undone him (though this is presumably why the film is being praised so extravagantly). He's trying to paint the portrait of a soulless man, driven by greed or unfathomable obsession, whose complete lack of feeling for anyone or anything besides oil turns him, by steady degrees, into a psychopath. And he's probably aiming at a parable for our times, in which insane corporate greed strips the Earth of its blood and man of his soul. But the film may be too finely conceived: Anderson has forgotten to take the trouble to draw us into the story and make it dramatic, meaningful, and what's on the screen are his lofty intentions, but not much of a movie. There Will Be Blood left me entirely cold. I felt nothing for the characters, and besides Plainview there are no characters, really. There is the preacher Ely, who is faintly despicable but otherwise less than substantial, and Plainview's son, who barely says a dozen words throughout the film. The rest are shadows, and Anderson seems to have intended it this way (he has cast the film almost entirely with unknowns). And although Daniel Day Lewis is mesmerizing throughout, there is only one scene which gives us a glimpse of what is going on inside Plainview and allows us to see him as a human being (the scene when he admits to hating people). Mostly, he seems like some relentless force of nature, a golem, driven by sheer hatred. But there's nothing to account for this hatred: like everything else in the film, it seems to exist in a void. There Will Be Blood is a tale told by a genius, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Critics may beg to differ, but if so, I suspect they are responding to the film's intentions more than what it actually achieves. Since Anderson's film appears to be about something, even though it never connects with us emotionally, it's being treated with awe and reverence (with repeat comparisons to Citizen Kane). But I think this is Anderson's weakest film, and except for one or two scenes (such as when Plainview's son is deafened in a rigging accident), it's almost entirely lacking in the compassion, the humanity, which made his previous films so remarkable. There Will Be Blood appears to be a case of a filmmaker getting carried away by the grandiosity of his vision, being too busy mapping the forest to remember to plant the trees. It's the sound of one hand clapping. ... Read Full Review » |
| 1 / 5 | There Will Be Sleep.....zzzzzzz
BoatDrinks (Bath, England) - 9 July 2008 This film is similar to The Assassination Of Jesse James and No Country For Old Men. Why is it similar? I'll tell you. It's because all three movies are acclaimed as masterpieces but are actually detested by people who actually know something about quality cinema. There Will Be Blood manages to be even more pointless than the other two and has literally nothing going for it. The story is insultingly dull, the characters are uninteresting, the running time is excrutiating and Daniel Day Lewis' performance is far too similar to the one he gave in Gangs Of New York. Frankly, I couldn't give a toss about some meglomaniac jerk who travels the country in search of oil. If you manage to stay awake until the end credit, it's YOU who deserves an award, not Daniel. Unmitgated crap.... Read Full Review » |
RRP
£23.00
Release Date
7 July 2008
Price Range
£4.99 - £20.99