Every week, we in Her.ie towers will provide you with a blast from the past, a film that you cannot live without but nor should you, the classic film that you simply need to watch.
This week we take a look at the modern masterpiece starring Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood.
There Will Be Blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview, a prospector at the turn of the last century who just beginning to expand his empire. However, when an accident occurs one of his sites, he finds himself an unlikely father to the orphan of his workers. Plainview travels the country expanding his business using his new “son”, HW, as the poster boy for his wholesome family business.
During his expansion, Plainview encounters his greatest enemy, the “religious” Eli Sunday, one of twins, the local preacher who wants contributions from Plainview for his church for using the land to find oil.
The real beauty of There Will Be Blood is our attempt as an audience to figure out what kind of person Daniel Plainview really is; has he abandoned his son? Does he even love his son? Does he care about anyone at all besides his business and his wealth? Soon, we find that we are just dancing with the devil.
Besides that, the great war we witness between Eli and Daniel is just spectacular, it is rare you will see such hatred between two characters on screen but Eli views Daniel as a challenge while the “honourable” twin is a thorn in Daniel’s side.
There Will Be Blood is awesome to behold, a beautifully shot film that depends on its main characters to take you into the depths of evil. For the first 17 minutes, there is no dialogue and yet it still manages to perfectly set the tone. The script is fantastically written with enough mystery surrounding Daniel and Eli towards the end to keep you guessing long after the credits role.
However, the performances are what really takes this production to another level. Day Lewis is perfect as Plainview, evil, ruthless, heartbreaking, heartbroken, he is everything to this film. On the other hand, Dano is his perfect enemy. Sly, clever, manipulative, he never gives up on trying to ruin Plainview’s existence.
This is a modern masterpiece. Paul Thomas Anderson, thank you, from the film fans.
