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There Will Be Blood (2007)

 

 

By Michael Tenzer

 

There Will Be Blood seems to be one of those enigmatic non-sequiturs that manages to pillage its way into the mainstream consciousness via heavy-handed performances and inarticulate social criticism. As with his other films, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson casts an actor so soaked with vigor for the lead role that it’s almost as if he is betting on gauche, bludgeoned acting to carry his films by themselves. He did it with Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love. He did it with Tom Cruise in Magnolia. Now he does it with Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood.

 

That’s really the shame of it all, because Daniel Day-Lewis does a sterling job as oil tycoon, Daniel Plainview. It’s clear that Day-Lewis did his part as a fine actor. He stepped into the characters shoes and got very comfortable. You can feel the volatility and greed by just looking at Plainview on screen. Underneath that half-hearted charm is a black, cast-iron heart. Unfortunately, it was the wrong film for this performance and it suffers drastically in the film’s execution.

 

Plainview and his adopted son become the focal point of the story. It begins at the turn of the twentieth century with the duo traveling around prospecting land for oil. One night, a young man who tells them of oil rich lands in Little Boston, California visits them. Plainview takes this opportunity and begins buying up all the land around the area. Through a combination of manipulation and intimidation, he is able to create a focal oil rig within the community. Plainview promises that the oil will bring progress and modernity along with it and the locals are cajoled into believing this.

 

Paul Dano’s performance as Eli Sunday is a bit of a love/hate affair. At times I could see why Anderson chose Dano, his boyish looks lend themselves to an image of naiveté, ignorance and an indomitable spirit. However, in the character’s execution, I couldn’t help but scratch my head most of the time. Sunday’s role seemed too big for Dano, his constant adolescent squeals, whether they be of torment or preaching, belied the effect the character potentially could have had.

 

Sunday and Plainview’s constant clash of morals (religion versus progress) has them at each other’s throats throughout the film. I found these interactions to be more awkward and randomly thrown in then anything else. If this was the goal of Anderson, well, bravo, I’m sure it was. It doesn’t change the fact that it took power away from the film. Power that could have made it something distinct.

 

To match the dark demeanor of the film, the cinematography seems to rely mostly on natural light. This is a method Stanley Kubrick utilized to a stunning degree with Barry Lyndon. However, where the latter managed to look like an oil canvas of rich color and Victorian grace, There Will Be Blood just looks infuriating.

 

There were often times when I was screaming inside my head, “Look total darkness is interesting and everything, but turn on a damn lamp or something once and a while!”

 

If I wanted to see total darkness for two hours and still be able to enjoy this story, I could always print out the screenplay and go sit on a rocky cliff at midnight. Oh wait, no, I’d still need a flashlight to actually read it. The darkness that shrouded this film was taxing on my patience. It’s obviously a stylistic mechanic to evoke some sense of a primitive and visceral envelopment, but it came off as merely a shallow attempt to emphasize the underlying ideas of greed and power in the film.

 

The directing seems to follow suit. Anderson was trying to portray his subjects with a careless sense of glib neutrality, however he manages to force a half-realized social critique down the audiences throat. I’ve seen the story described as a contest of greed, power and religion. Yet the film fails to penetrate any of these human qualities to an effective degree. It’s like the words were tagged on just to give the film some sort of relevance.

 

It didn’t help that the editing was unbalanced. At times it was straightforward and followed important moments faithfully. At others, the film is marred by jump cuts, ripping the viewer fully away from any sense of coherent enjoyment and plopping them right into a vaguely related situation to let them find their own bearings.  One could see that this technique might make a film intriguing, playing with the structure for dramatic effect, however with There Will Be Blood, I couldn’t help but feel that it cheapened the experience.

 

The only other bright spot of the film, aside from Day-Lewis’ acting, is the music. Johnny Greenwood’s score provides a lilting string and synthesizer decoration for the sparse desolation of California’s countryside. Never interfering with the narrative, it floats along in between moments of much consequence and moments of little consequence.

 

I was glad to see that Anderson didn’t employ his usual “playing music throughout the entire film” technique. I suppose, after all is said and done, that that is his only triumph in all this. His restraint with music placement. Wow, that’s kind of sad.

 

Copyright C. 2008 Michael Tenzer

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 at 12:37 am and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.