American Gothic (There Will Be Blood (DVD))

Member Name: l-m-n-o-p

Product:	There Will Be Blood (DVD)
Date:	03/07/08 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb performances, direction, soundtrack, photography...

Disadvantages: Story meanders a lot and at 158 minutes long, many will be bored

Sitting here listening to the soundtrack as I write this, looking back on my experiences of watching this film, I'm wondering how I can possibly keep my review from simply turning into an undiluted rant of superlatives and non-stop praise. But then again why should I? I'm in awe of everything about this film.

If you're prepared to accept its eccentricities and wild ambitions, Paul Thomas Anderson's Oscar-winning adaptation of the Upton Sinclair novel, Oil!, is a work of genius in so many areas. Chronicling the career of oil prospector Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), the film begins with a fantastic 15 minute-long dialogue-free exercise in economical exposition, before Plainview's booming narration kicks in: "I am an oil man... a family man". Pretty soon, though, we see him for what he really is: a cold-hearted, misanthropic and alarmingly business-minded man, who will stop at nothing in his quest for ownership of fertile land.

In his way, however, stands Eli Sunday, an evangelical preacher at the local church. Played by Little Miss Sunshine's Paul Dano, he at first seems a pleasant, ideological young man. However, he too is shown to be a fake, just as psychotic in his own way as Plainview, and it is through these two opposing yet similar characters that Anderson conducts his study of the rise of America's two great loves: capitalism and organised religion. Their confrontations bristle with unspoken hatred which threatens to spill into cruelty, and often does. Both actors are sensational; Dano holding his own in the face of one of the most captivating performances of the last few years from Day-Lewis.

Despite their constant antagonism providing the most thrilling scenes of the film, Anderson chooses to move the story away from Eli and towards Plainview's relationships with his brother and his adopted son; a move which is sure to frustrate many viewers looking for straightforward plot development. It does meander greatly over its 158 minute running time, although Jonny Greenwood's extraordinarily experimental score and the Oscar-winning cinematography kept me glued to the screen, not to mention of course Day-Lewis' mere presence.

Although I must admit some momentum is lost midway, the final half hour changes gear completely. At times it feels like a totally different film, such is the change in tone and bizarre addition of humour. The final showdown is so wonderfully over-the-top it seems like a parody of all that has gone before it (and it will surely be parodied in years to come). But this is what, for me, makes There Will Be Blood so great. Whilst the finale is certainly unexpected, not entirely convincing and defies most of the rules of modern cinema, I loved it. As the grotesque Plainview bellowed "I'm finished!", everyone in the audience simultaneously held their breath in a shocked silence.

There Will Be Blood is one of the most ambitious, beautiful and unpredictable films of the new millennium. It's also incredibly divisive. Either you will love Daniel Day-Lewis' monstrous performance (which is generally the case) or you will find it hammy. The shrieking, atonal score will haunt or annoy you. As for the ending, well, it either will blow your mind and go down as one of the best climaxes in the history of cinema, or leave you shaking your head in disbelief that the director could do something so ridiculous after the excellent preceding two hours of the film. Either way, you have to admire Anderson's audacity.

Summary: I would have given it Best Picture and Director over No Country For Old Men