7/16/2023 0 Comments There will be blood oil![]() He stares at the man from Union and calmly tells him how one day he’s going to slit his throat. Instead of happiness, he mutters “What else would I do with myself?”. Then, mid-way through the movie, he’s offered a fortune for the oil he’s discovered. Daniel is so deeply focussed on the task, it’s like every element of his personality is tightly wound around his ambition. In the first half, as we follow Daniel’s early career and his campaign in Little Boston, the tone is evenly split between fitful activity and a sad sense of dread. It’s effectively a movie where both the hero and the movie become hysterical. What makes the movie so complex, strange and unique for me is the way its tone evolves and ‘snaps’ throughout the movie. The setup for the movie is ostensibly quite simple – an extremely determined ‘oil man’, Daniel Plainview, tries to drill all the oil from a small rural town, Little Boston, but has to contend with a petulant young preacher, Eli. See here)Īdvertisement Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood. Two years later I even made a 60 second version (which *cough* was nominated for an Empire movie award, and was praised by Edgar Wright as ‘very funny’ – oh why here it is in case you need a minute long refresher on the plot. Actually I’m a little bit nuts about this movie. It took a re-watch a few weeks later, and with it came a big change in how I look at films, but I can now confidently say (if that barman happens to be reading this and still curious for an answer): yes, it’s a completely unique masterpiece. ‘The Day Lewis movie you’re all getting so worked up about, is it actually good?’ I remember going to get a round of drinks when the barman asked And I laughed too.Īfter we left I was appalled, and me and my friends sat for three hours in the Long Stone arguing about the movie. By the end of the movie the audience were laughing openly as up on the screen Day Lewis pranced about like a panto villain throwing skittles at a squealing Paul Dano. ![]() This was not the great big Citizen Kane of the modern era that I’d been promised. ![]() Then I remember being in the cinema and a little after the half way mark, it became ever so slightly daft. Weight and themes and a central conflict full of serious serious drama. A Great Movie – Capital G Great – was expected. There Will be Blood taught me that a profound movie can also be a remarkably silly one.ġ0 years ago, I was just a few months out of college, and met up with my old Film Studies class to watch PTA’s latest film on its first day. ![]()
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