In the late 19th century and early 20th century, steam power was coming to an end and oil was the new future. If you discovered oil on a piece of land, you were destined for riches beyond your wildest dreams. An important movie to add to your film collection is There Will Be Blood. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis in one of his most memorable roles, the Oscar-winning film is about a ruthless oil prospector who will do whatever it takes for fortune. With its 15th anniversary approaching on December 26th, There Will Be Blood is an important film to commemorate for its attention to detail, stellar performances, and exploring the dark side of the American dream.
What is There Will Be Blood about?
Loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil!, Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview who is a driven prospector mining for gold who becomes a self-made oilman. With each wave of success, he is overcome with greed, power, and control. He also clashes with a young preacher whose church rests on a potential drilling site. The only ounce of humanity we see in the character of Daniel is the relationship he has with his young son, H.W., who he took in after his father, a co-worker of his, died in a mining accident. But, is the love he has for H.W. real, or just is he using him as a pawn to show his future prospects that he is a family man? Any human connection made by Daniel is ruined by his love of power and fortune.
The actors that gave the most memorable performances in the movie are Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. Known for outstanding performances like My Left Foot, Day-Lewis has a commanding presence. Using a John Huston-like accent, this British actor goes on an emotional rollercoaster depicting Plainview’s power-hungry psyche. He’s a force to be reckoned with.
Paul Dano plays two distinct roles: Paul Sunday who tells Plainview about an oil deposit under his family’s property and Eli Sunday, a theatrical preacher influencing his church-goers to donate to the church. With larger-than-life emotions, Dano really gives it his all.
One of the best sequences shot is in the film’s first eleven minutes. Told without dialogue, we see Daniel Plainview bring himself out of the mining hole that he fell into with a broken leg while searching for precious minerals. Audiences are horrified by his actions but intrigued as to how far he’ll go. Anderson manages to make an oil derrick set on fire engulfed in flames look beautiful on-screen. Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood composed an excellent musical score for the movie which has an unsettling, eerie tone.
The themes of There Will Be Blood explained
The most powerful theme in There Will Be Blood is greed and control. Both Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday use these methods for their own personal gain and against each other. Daniel does whatever it takes to achieve fortune in the oil industry through ruthless business tactics, his charm and charisma for manipulation purposes, and even violence.
Eli also uses manipulation tactics to get his followers to donate to the church all in the name of God by telling them they will receive eternal damnation if otherwise. They both humiliate each other through the power of performance by causing the other to make a spectacle of themselves or admit something they believe is false. By the film’s conclusion, you see what fortune has done to Daniel in that he becomes an alcoholic all alone in his mansion. And Eli becomes a successful radio preacher but is still in a financial bind. So no one is better off than the other despite their tactics.
How was There Will Be Blood received by critics and audiences?
There Will Be Blood received box office earnings of $76.1 million worldwide on a budget of $25 million. Over thirty critics’ top ten lists featured There Will Be Blood as the best film of the year. Others like Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, Chicago Tribune, and more consider it the best movie of the decade. According to BBC, it was voted the #3 best film of the 21st century as selected by 177 film critics from around the world. At the 80th Academy Awards, it was nominated in eight categories with Daniel Day-Lewis winning Best Actor and Robert Elswit winning Best Cinematography.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s fifth movie There Will Be Blood could serve as an educational film for teaching audiences about how the American Dream was not always a triumphant one. These 19th-century heroes may have achieved success, but success can often turn you into a monster if you are not careful. With excellent visuals, performances, and fascinating moral quandaries, it’s no wonder this drama is so highly regarded. This is a must-have title for public library shelves. Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic spectacle will grab patrons’ attention and show them why it still remains a legacy after 15 years.