The story chronciles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a down and out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon.
When Plainview gets a mysterious tip off that there's a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground, he heads with his son, H.W. (Dillon Freasier), to take their chances in dust worn Little Boston. In this hardscarbble town, where the main excitement centres around the holy roller church of charismatic preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), Plainview and H.W. make their lucky strike.
But even as the well raises all of their fortunes, nothing will remain the same as conflicts escalate and every human value - love, hope, community, belief, ambition and even the bond between father and son - is imperiled by corruption, deception and the flow of oil.
First of all, this is not a “movie” it is a piece of art, a visually scintillating cinematography experience. Every scene looks like a painting. The score is haunting; it feels like the sound track to a Horror movie. Its purpose is to build tension & then snap at the right moment, which it does perfectly.
Daniel's performance is… Well I don't have to say – he did win the Oscar for Best Actor! Paul Dano as Eli Sunday, the young reverend of the local church, is brilliant – especially when he gives his freaky sermons at the town's church. With a title like “There will be Blood”, one would assume there might be quite a bit of blood, but there isn't – I will say however that the title doesn't lie completely. There are a few shockingly violent scenes that will keep you alert in your chair. Oh yeah… This is a long film (3hrs) so you do need patience. For example, in the first 15 minutes there is no dialog.
I loved this film a lot. I felt a variety of emotions watching it. Even though it did drag, and it was slow at times, the pay off at the end is well worth it. I watched it with four other mates, which was good as there was plenty of time for discussion.
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