There Will Be Blood (2007)

Being a fan of PT Anderson's work (Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love), I have been anticipating this film for a year. My expectations were blown quite literally out of the ground.

Daniel Planview (whose portrayal by Daniel Day-Lewis won the Oscar for best actor) seeks riches with all his being. He risks his life and others' lives while mining and then drilling for oil. Being able to play the part of a father or a Christian when opportunity knocks helps his image until image isn't important anymore. In one confession, he says that he really does not like people. Added to the plot of this oil tycoon is a religious wacko (Paul Dano of Little Miss Sunshine fame) who overtakes the community in another fashion, though with perhaps similar motives.

The film moves effortlessly across three decades and culminates in one of the most stirring and disturbing endings I have ever seen. The last two words echo for days and days.

Anderson takes this film to a new plain. The music is not typical of a sweeping western or epic drama. It resembles more a horror film. The effects of the early 20th century oil drills are stunning and so are the violent accident scenes (realistic to a fault perhaps). As I can not compare the book to Anderson's screenplay, I can't say who wrote the story better, but Anderson's version is supernatural. The film haunted my dreams through the night and into the next day.

Truths: When a person rejects what little blessing his or her father gives him or her, they take on the curse. Living for yourself yields no joy and it yields a distrust and hatred for others.

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