*** Official THERE WILL BE BLOOD Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[L. Anton Dencklau]

I think someone drank Brett's milkshake.

 

[Brett_M]

No doubt. Wish I had a bowling pin right now.

 

[Eric Peterson]

Out of curiosity, have you ever watched any of PTA's previous films? ...or any of Robert Altman's films per chance?

I personally thought that this film was a borderline masterpiece and after I get a chance to watch it a few more times, it will probably move up.

 

[Brett_M]

I love Boogie Nights and Magnolia. I have seen and enjoyed several Altman flicks, too. This film is not like any of them.

No great ensemble.

No character development.

No great dialog (unless you count Plainview yelling everything).

PTA moved backwards in terms of storytelling, in my opinion.

The film has alot to offer: a fine, thrilling score, great cinematography, arresting visuals, and Daniel Day-Lewis' blistering performance.

I guess I wanted a more conventional narrative (plot point 1, plot point 2, climax). A character study is not what I expected and not what I like generally. I have been recommending it for the things I listed above but it's not something I'll watch again whereas Boogie Nights and Magnolia are films I can watch again and again (and do regularly each year).

 

[Holadem]

Glad to read this. A lot of people are unwilling to admit their (often wrong) expectations play a huge part in how they react to a movie.

It's a good movie, technically brilliant, but I am not sure there is truly anything underneath it all. I've read various interpretations, but none were very convincing. In the end, it felt like a Martin Scorsese flick: A near flawless study of someone that you really don't want to know (and in this case, you never do get to know).

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H

 

[Vickie_M]

I feel the same about Boogie Nights and Magnolia (and Punch-Drunk Love too) but I also feel that way about There Will Be Blood. I've seen it 3 times and I've been itching to go back to the theater to see it again, but circumstances have conspired against it. I know I'll see it at least a few more times before it leaves the theater. As with PTA's other films, even though this one is more "simple" than the rest, every viewing has given me something else to mull over or marvel at.

I can't believe how much I love this movie! I especially can't believe how much a movie I'm obsessed with is getting critical and awards attention. That's only happened 3 other times this decade (Fellowship of the Ring, Moulin Rouge! and Brokeback Mountain) and I'm loving every second of it. The only thing that makes its probable loss bearable is that it's up against No Country For Old Men/the Coen Brothers. That's a loss I can handle with a big grin. (aw man, TWBB lost...TO THE COEN BROTHERS...WHOOO!!!)

 

[Bob Spears]

Am I the only one who thought that Paul and Eli might be the same guy. Is there something in the movie that clearly indicates that they are separate characters? I had this discussion with my wife when the film was over. She disagreed but I thought at the time that Paul and Eli were the same. He was crazy.

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

I think i'm with Holodem here in that i'm not quite there yet with the film. I like it a lot, I want to see it again.

i'm not sure if I go with the scorcese character study explanation, though. It certainly satisfies on that level, but that penderecki-like score, lewis performance and that bowling ally scene at the end makes me think he's after The Shining or at least Kubrick in some form. Gotta love the black comedy in there. He's literally eating slabs of meat with his bare hands by the end! Maybe we need a good essay about the american family man and the ghosts of native americans to tie it together. The elements are there for someone to make the attempt:

1.Biblical allusions, (at a minimum Cain and Abel, but i'm sure there are more),
2.Portentous character names: the son of the oil man is named H.W., paul and eli, (more biblical) Plainview...
3.Actors as filmmakers, John Huston is mentioned as the inspiration for Lewis's character, which I wouldn't have got without reading other reviews, but is it just me, or does the young actor bear more than a passing resemblance to Anderson himself?
4.Economics: manifest destiny-->great depression. (i think that's the key arc) “nothing grows on the farm”. Sinclair lewis was openly communist: although, i'm not really seeing a pro-communism argument here.
5.Recurrent Anderson themes: Bad dads, surrogate family, Ambitious Men, California

I'm sure the film would yield much more upon further inspection. It is a rich film, but I think one may have to do some prospecting before you find the vein that lets you decode it. Does anyone have any good links to other readings of the film?

 

[Dennis Castro]

I used that term because that was one of my first thoughts coming out of it.

The overall tone of the film was unforgiving. There is no compassion or redemption in this story.

Plainview is not a nice man. He is a hard man with a brutal nature.

The geography of the land through out the film is a brutal one. This land is not soft and it is unforgiving. These characters lived hard unforgiving lives and the term brutal is what came to mind.

 

[Holadem]

Thanks for clarifying. Evidently I took the word literally.

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H

 

[Vince Butler]

When Eli atttacked his father at the dinner table he was screaming about how Paul was the one who told Plainview about their oil.

 

[Nathan V]

This is far and away the best film I've seen in a couple years (more specifically, since 2005, when Malick made The New World). Anderson's technique, and balls, are a thrill to look at. It's easy to talk about how stupendus the acting and directing is (man, those looooong takes didn't even register with me on first viewing), but it's his writing that really takes the cake.

That Anderson is able to create a realistic but imperceptibly heightened universe where lines like "brother from another mother" and "sluuuurrrpp" sound not only brlliant, but actually sound plausible, is something that amazes me. He does it with every movie. Remember Bill Macy in Magnolia: I have so much love to give / I just don't know where to put it," or Dirk Diggler saying "Jack? Could you please help me?" Just to be able to craft a story that is able to lead to that wonderful moment- it's very impressive to me. Anderson is so sincere. There is none (or I guess I should say, very little) of today's hip, aloof irony and postmodern cynicism in his work. It could so easily go flying into the deep end, but somehow he makes it work, and work it does, magnificently.

How rare and wonderful it is to see a film and know, without any doubt, that people will be talking about it for a long, long time. What's even more incredible is, this film, along with No Country (another challenging film with a difficult but perfect ending, ahead of its time), these films are actually getting all the accolades they so richly deserve! No Country looks like it is set to win the oscar, and I can't believe it. Where's Chicago or A Beautiful Mind to unfairly hog the glory? I mean really, what's going on here??

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Shawn.F]

Nathan,

This year's "Chicago"/"Beautiful Mind" is "Atonement".

If DDL doesn't get the Best Actor award this year, I'll re-enact the last scene of the film with the president of the academy.

 

[Henry Gale]

Surprised to find that this film is in pretty wide release now.
8 theater in Austin and 8 in San Antonio!
19 in the Houston area.

 

[Bob Spears]

I remember that and my take on that was that there were two personalities and they knew about each other. I am just not sure they were two different people. It seems to fit with how crazy he actually was. Eli knew exactly what Paul had done because Eli was there when Paul did it.

 

[MandyHan]

I thought that it was one character during the whole film, until I came home and read the Wikipedia page, which says that they were twin brothers. Otherwise, it was a perfect movie and the only thing I'd change would be to clarify that those two were twins and not the same person. Daniel Day Lewis' performance was enough though to make the movie one of my new favorites of all time.

 

[DavidJ]

Ok, Nathan I may need you to clarify your stance here. I am not attacking your love of the movie or the fact that it is indeed a very strong piece of work. I too liked it a lot. I don't consider it the best I've seen this year, but I am willing to concede the point that it will still be discussed and looked on fondly years from now. It is just that type of film. I just don't understand your comment on cynicism. No it isn't hip and filled with irony, but I'd be hard pressed to find a more cynical movie or "message.' whether it is "postmodern" is another matter (in my view, yes).

 

[Holadem]

Yup. And Juno is another entry in the recent tradition of the "little film that could" (LMS, Sideways, LiT). Michael Clayton is more unusual I think as far as nominees goes, mostly reminiscent of The Insider. But NCfOM + TWBB combo is like nothing else I have ever seen in that field. I don't know what got into voters this year, but we like it

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H

 

[Bob Spears]

Thanks for the info. I think I might have to read the book.

 

[Nathan V]

Thanks for your comment, DavidJ. In my sentence I think I was referring to Anderson's approach, moreso than the story or character or message. The overall tack a movie takes in conveying its story/message, etc, in PTA's films strikes me as coming directly from the gut- Magnolia is a great example. In contrast to, say, And instead of saying 'today's' films I should perhaps have referenced the glut of films that emerged in the mid-to-late 90s- all those indie releases that were just too cool and hip and self-reflexive, an attitude of self-conscious cleverness in the filmmaking that is still in fashion (arguably, to a point). 'Self-conscious cleverness' is perhaps more accurate to what I'm thinking of, and probably the phrase I should have used instead of 'postmodern cynicism,' especially since 'postmodern' is just way too broad a word now to be used for anything anymore. I suppose what I'm saying is, it's not like a Tarantino movie Although I am a fan of both styles. I don't know. It's hard for me to translate my thoughts into words sometimes, especially in such subjective subject matter.

-

The thing about Atonement, though, is that I find it much better than those other two (ABM and C). The execution of the story, the level of craft on display...we'd never see a tracking shot like that in a Ron Howard movie And Juno too, I think is above the average set by Little Miss Sunshine and others. In fact, I think I might've gotten more out of it than Sideways. At least, based on first viewing.That's a maybe though. Nice to see the excellent Clayton, arguably a genre piece, get the big nom.

Regards,
Nathan