There Will Be Blood (directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

    Greed and corruption can destroy human beings. We all have our ambitions in what we want in life and we can try very hard to get them. But when you put a hunger for money or power in the equation, then it is not a good combination. Many great people have lost everything in their lives because of greed and corruption. If you want a film that involved greed and corruption, then “There Will Be Blood” is your movie.
    Based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel “Oil!,” the film takes place in California at the beginning of the 20th century where gold miner Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) discovers oil and starts a small business. Joined by his adopted son, who is also his business partner, they discover a piece of land in Little Boston that holds huge amounts of oil, which is owned by the family of Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a pastor at the Church of the Third Revelation. As he begins to drill for oil, Eli tells Daniel that he wants money for agreeing to let him oil on his family’s land. While Daniel knows this, he wants everything for himself, both the oil and the money. His pursuit for power goes out of control and he is willing to stop anyone who gets in his way.
    The performance that rules “There Will Be Blood” is Daniel Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis is known for his intense acting style, who digs so deep to the point where he literally becomes the character physically, vocally, mentally, and emotionally. If you watch his performances in “My Left Foot,” “In The Name of The Father,” and “Gangs of New York,” he vanishes so deep inside his roles that it’s almost like we are seeing him for the very first time. His performances as Daniel Plainview is so powerful that he destroys everything in his path as he tries to get what he wants. However, when get get everything he wants, the price that he pays is that he left all alone and has nothing, but money and his lust for power. Day-Lewis’s emotional power is strong as he is able to turn so angry that his entire face turns red and all of his veins begin to stick out of his face. It makes you think that he is going to explode, which is what makes him so terrifying in this role. This performance is definitely one of the best of Daniel Day-Lewis’s career.
    Another acting performance that stood out was Paul Dano as Eli Sunday. While we know him for his performance in “Little Miss Sunshine,” he is able to handle his own power with this role. Eli is also corrupt and greedy. He wants money so he can fund his own church. While he is corrupt and all, he does have his own flaws, just like Daniel. HE claims himself a “servant of God” throughout the whole movie, but by the end he admits that he is alone and a sinner. While Dano’s Eli may be corrupt and greedy, Daniel is the real monster.
    For his first film since 2003’s “Punch-Drunk Love,” Paul Thomas Anderson has really shaped up to become one of the finest filmmakers working today. He writes all of his own screenplays and takes his time with them all so that they are very something that is easy to interpret from the screen. He knew that there was a story somewhere in Upton Sinclair’s novel and he puts it onto the screen in a very convincing way. It’s convincing to the point where he is is almost making a political statement about corruption in the government. If there was any one who could do this film, no one could have done it better than Anderson.
    The score, written by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood, works very well with the film. It adds to the dramatic effect from Daniel’s struggles for power and his success in getting what he wants. The cinematography is amazing from all angles of the film and it gives us a wide angle of where we are in the area. The cinematography makes you feel like you are in the setting with these characters.
    “There Will Be Blood” has a very specific subject: corruption and what it does to people. There are many things that we can draw on when people can get destroyed by their own ambitions for money and power, and Anderson paints that picture very well showing that no matter how corrupt you are, you will always lose everyone one in your life except the things that you’ve wanted. If Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece is “Raging Bull” and Quentin Tarantino’s is “Pulp Fiction,” then “There Will Be Blood” is Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece.