Were it not for the Western trifecta of No Country For Old Men, The Assassination of Jesse James and There Will Be Blood, 2007 would clearly be the worst movie year so far this decade. There Will Be Blood really is great—its originality cemented by the immediate difficulty of reconciling just what it is and its images lingering for days. Paul Thomas Anderson betters his already impressive achievements in Scorsese and Altman film-schooling (Boogie Nights and Magnolia) with the original lyricism of this doomed folk tale.
Prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) makes a deal with the people of a California farm community after a tip-off that its on a bed of oil. Even before his evil is revealed, Day-Lewis doesnt shy from Plainviews malice (hes contempt in a moustache). Rarely has a films hero been so vile, and in There Will Be Blood, its scary just watching him. More than just the performance of the year, its a role of such impact it will be difficult to watch Day-Lewis in anything else again. Plainviews rage at what he sees as worthlessness in others accentuates the psychological violence that permeates the film. Anderson pits Plainviews faithlessness against a man of faith (preacher Eli Sunday, played by Paul Dano), with There Will Be Bloods poetry of discord cutting deeper than any horror movie.
This article appears in Jan 31 – Feb 6, 2008.