Viraj's Weblog

It's been awhile since I've posted a movie review. It's not that I haven't been watching movies. In fact I would say I've been watching too many movies to review .

Today I saw There Will Be Blood. I've been anticipating this film for some time, as Paul Thomas Anderson is such an awesome director. I loved some of his previous films such as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Hard Eight. His direction is so nicely woven together that his movies seem like musical pieces.

'There Will Be Blood' is no exception. Granted, this was a pretty long movie, almost 3 hours. It was also playing on one small theater in my area, which was of course packed, and of course doesn't have stadium seating, and of course a big-headed dude sat in front of me. But this didn't distract too much from the movie. It's really a masterpiece, and the best way I can describe it is a modern Citizen Kane. If you didn't like that movie, you definitely won't like this one. It's rather slow, but punctuated with spurts of violence and intense drama. There is even some comedy in there. The final scene starts out comedic, with the audience even laughing, but it almost immediately turns horrific. These type of scenes are amazing because the audience is almost in guilt that they were laughing a second ago. For a director to pull it off seriously is a testament to his or her skill.

The movie is about oil. In fact an alternate title for the movie is 'Oil!'. That was a book by Upton Sinclair (whom I have not read). The film conveys the sheer danger involved with oil mining in those days, where there was the possibility of limitless wealth and virgin land to be divested of the treasures underneath. At many points in the movie something deadly happens while digging for oil. It's almost as if tapping into that massive ancient reserve of liquefied animal remains releases some kind of evilness before its blessing on its founders. This deadliness is shown throughout different times, as technology changes from humans wielding hammers to machines.

The scenes are very simple, and the camera-work is just beautiful. There are shrills of violins and classical music throughout which somehow complement the barren landscape. Oil is almost portrayed as a monster, similar to how drugs are portrayed in Requiem for a Dream, but in a much more subtle way. Daniel Day Lewis is absolutely amazing and embodied his character completely. He bounces from loving father to pure evil flawlessly. The scenes where there is anticipation of finding treasure underneath the land are just great. You feel that power and limitless wealth being tapped into by the oil drill.

There is a constant battle between religion and atheism throughout the movie, and at one point you can almost see the birth of evangelical Christianity. One thing about movies these days is there always seems to be a snub towards religion, almost as if atheism is the new intellectualism. Audiences seem to love this, as if they are craving to be taught there is no God. The movie does poke fun at religion, but it equally portrays the irreligious as not something to admire. I have a feeling that people will take the ending the wrong way. In fact I heard some conversations after the movie more in admiration of the violence than anything else.

There is actually not much blood in the movie (except for the end). I think blood is more a metaphor for oil, and there is definitely lots of that. Do yourself a favor and go see this masterpiece. Everything from the music, to the direction, to the acting is just flawless.

Really good documentary on ExxonMobil's role in global warming.