Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will be Blood may be a decade old, but its potency as a piece of thought-provoking cinema has been unchallenged by time. Set in a changing world as oil becomes a draw for profit, the beautifully captured landscapes of the Texan desert, that roll across the screen like a Rembrandt, give the perfect setting for a story of faith, family and obsession.
Set between the years 1898 and 1927, There Will be Blood tracks the rise of Daniel Plainview, portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis (who received his second Academy Award for the role), an oilman from California (despite the film being shot in Texas) who becomes obsessed with drilling for black gold. After setting up a successful drilling site in California, he is approached by the son of a rancher who has found oil on their land. Daniel, and his adopted son H.W., travel to the ranch in order to acquire the land. It is after his purchase that a community springs up as his workers arrive to drill for oil, and tensions first arise between himself and Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a devout Christian preacher that disapproves of Plainview’s lack of faith, despite a contradictory connection between the two that is symbolic of the tale from the Bible of Cain and Abel – two brothers who respected each other, but fought ultimately to the death. Plainview is as devout to oil as Sunday is to God, and this rivalry becomes a centre point of the story that is driven by Plainview’s progression from enthusiastic oilman to obsessed tycoon, resulting in Plainview’s isolation as he drives everyone who loved him away.
You cannot talk about a film starring Daniel Day-Lewis without mentioning Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance, and There Will be Blood is a tour de force on his part. The first twenty minutes, though lacking any dialogue and accompanied only by the dissonant strings of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood, give Day-Lewis the chance to soar as a visual actor: you don’t need words to begin to understand what drives Daniel Plainview, you only have to witness Day-Lewis’ method of acting. And then you arrive at the dialogue, and Day-Lewis’ accent is so perfectly fine-tuned to that of an early 20th century Californian that you would never suspect he was born in Kensington and raised in various cities in Britain. It is not difficult to see why Day-Lewis received his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his role, and it is often cited as his best performance ever, given the fact that he performs the role with such emotion and power that he practically disappears into the character.
Opposite Day-Lewis, Paul Dano plays the part of Eli Sunday, the preacher, and the exact opposite of Plainview. Softly spoken, though no less egotistical than the oilman, Dano’s Sunday plays the ‘messenger of God’, and Plainview’s counterpart, a role that is no less important. His manner is carried with such difference to that of Day-Lewis’ character that is hard not to see the resemblance to the parallels between the archangels Michael and Lucifer – good and evil, though in the film the line between good and evil itself is blurred by the corruption of Sunday’s soul and the baptism of Plainview.
Filling the canvas behind Day-Lewis and Dano, cinematographer Robert Elswit captured the barrenness of the Californian desert that remains beautiful despite the emptiness and aridity of the land. On top of this, Elswit ensured that the film features scenes symbolic of Christianity and faith, for example the way that oil is used to baptise Plainview’s adopted son instead of holy water – showing the commitment that is held to finding oil. In another scene, a drill is set aflame and Plainview falls to his knees, almost ceremoniously, and seems to pray to the spectacle before the towering pump collapses. Elswit mixes the symbolism with some genuinely beautiful shots of the land, often feeling more like a scene left on the cutting room floor from Lawrence of Arabia than Texas disguised as California.
Also prominent is Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack, that sounds like a mix between Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the original Planet of the Apes film, and the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The dissonance plays a big part in the atmosphere of the film and gives an eerie feel that counteracts against the gorgeous landscape shots. It works perfectly to create a feeling of distrust, the soundtrack never giving a positive ambiance to the story. Instead, it makes the heat of the desert feel chilling, like nothing is ever quite right. It is actually quite eerie as everything on screen is set against Greenwood’s almost unlistenable soundtrack. However, against the story, the soundtrack is an important part in the entire production and does help to create the general atmosphere of the film.
Ultimately, Anderson recreated the feel of a cutthroat industry in its relative infancy. Adapted from the 1927 novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair, an American novelist who actually worked for an oil company during the years that There Will be Blood is set, Anderson put his own mark on the narrative and as such his screenplay is only a very loose adaptation. However, it is still very much a historically-based production, and in my opinion is even more gripping than the novel which it is based on. On top of the story, Anderson set in the themes of morality and greed, religion and family. More than a riveting piece of cinema, Anderson has created a film that is thought-provoking and morally important. Can you see yourself slipping into isolation and hatred like Daniel Plainview? All for something he desires? Important questions arise from the shimmering desert.
At nearly three hours long, There Will be Blood is not necessarily a casual watch, however it is important. Cinematically beautiful; narratively gripping and with performances that burst off of the screen with their own life, you get held in the desert alongside Day-Lewis and company as you navigate a story of greed, morality and ultimately – and most importantly – what you put your faith into, and how much you believe in it.
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