There Will Be Blood

I will kick off the new movie board with my views on "There Will Be Blood", which isn't necessarily what I had in mind that would fit into this board, but I have just seen it, it is period, and it is fresh in my mind.

"There Will Be Blood" is a rated-R movie released in 2007 set in 1898 (to start) written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.  It is based on the novel "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair, published in 1927.  It is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray (which I took advantage of).

The movie revolves around the life and progressive rise of an oilman from pure prospecting to vast success.  The cost of that success comes to those who surround him, including his son and those that work for him.

It stars Daniel Day Lewis who won an Acadamy Award for his work on the film (one of two Oscars for the film - the film was nominated for 6 others).  His portrayal of the lead oil prospector in the film was truly exceptional.  It's one of those performances where you lose sight of who the actor/actress is and they have assumed the life of the person they are portraying.  He expertly presents a gradual descent from a sane businessman to the final state of madness.

Paul Dano also played a starring role in this film, with many intense scenes, but for me personally, he acts in the style of Tom Cruise - grossly overacting with that special sauce of arrogance.

I think what drove us to all want to discuss period movies on this site is the enjoyment of the sets and costumes and historical buildings.  This movie isn't a perfect fit to satiate that desire, since it occurs largely in the oil fields.

However, there is an abundance of (modest) turn of the century costumes and it is interesting to see the depictions of the (modest) period buildings and oil apparatus as it is represented in this film.

I don't think that they tried hard to get period vernacular worked into the script.  That seemed to be missing.

The movie also had ridiculous background music in my mind -often sounding like something out of a slasher film - which you will be hit in the ears with at the opening of the film.

It was also amazingly long - 2.6 hours.  While I would have preferred a shorter movie, I did not grow weary of it as I have with other long movies.  You get a sense that the writer/director wanted to create an epic film.

Overall, I recommend it, assuming the material is something that would interest you.

Hi!
Thanks for the info on this film.