There will be blood

[IrvingWashington]

J just saw this film today, have to say I was really very impressed. Here are some thoughts.

I must say, after seeing so many Hollywood films where, out of nowhere, a happy ending suddenly materialises, it is just so nice to see a film that doesn't think it needs to send its audience away happy. I really cannot think of a film that is as continuously cruel as this one. The last line is 'I'm finished', and by the end Daniel Day-Lewis' character really is truly finished (this is after he has just battered a church minister to death with a bowling pin). Whats also interesting is that I'm not entirely sure what the films 'message' is: yes, the main character is miserable etc, but its not as if 'good' people are rewarded; the aforementioned simple, but kind-hearted, minster ends the film murdered. Greed is bad? Well, yes, but so what? This truly is a complex film.

In many ways it reminds me of No Country for Old Men, in that both feature characters that are really just downright evil. And I suppose Daniel Day Lewis' character is actually the more unsettling of the 2, as his is a more 3D portrait.

Also - totally unexpectedly, this was a very, very funny film, in a black comedy type of way. I also couldn't help but find the unrelenting horrendousness of the plot funny. I mean - I'm not kidding when I say I can't think of a bleaker film, but it doesn't take itself too seriously.

I suppose in many respects its a vicious attack on reckless capitalism. What is interesting is that it doesn't seem to put forward any kind of alternative. It presents a problem, and doesn't give an answer. This isn't a failing at all, actually its a strength. That there is no ridiculous solution, or alternative, proposed is a good thing.

I've just noticed this isn't a review at all, anybody care to share opinions on the film?

[Anthem]

The movie is very complex. There isn't too much of a message, just that materialism is bad. More importantly, the movie is a portrait of a man so human you want to like him despite all his failings.

I could write pages on this movie. I've got a pretty good handle on everything in it if you have any specific questions.

[Wonderer]

dehumanisation at its finest.

check out "The Mist".

it sounds like you vould enjoy this movie quite abit

[The Paineful Truth]

There Will Be Blood is a classic Greek Tragedy (tragedy, from Gr.,=goat song :huh:--maybe that explains the music) which has been a favorite vehicle for actors and playwrights ever since. It does often induce great performances, as in this case, but it also feeds the need for gratuitous voyeurism in the audience, watching (enjoying?) the tragic flaws in the powerful and influential play themselves out. And here we get two for the price of one with Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday.

I expect that it was an expression of Plainview's character as well as a political statement that he is made to say that he wants everyone else to fail. I don't think you need to look any further than to say that his fatal flaw is his self-hatred that he projects on everyone else. Beyond that, it's all performance, and wondering if his latest erratic action was pertinent or just something to keep the plot moving.

Casting Hans Howes to play Mr. Bandy was great. That face! And the scene between Plainview and him was a high point.

I suppose it doesn't help that I'm not a P.T. Anderson fan, except for Magnolia, which is a magnificent keeper. Guess I keep hoping for another.

****Spoiler****
His last words, the last words of the movie were, "I'm finished", which had an ironic double or triple meaning. He was of course finished with his meal, but his life was also finished since they hung people pretty quickly back then for murder. But even if he did get off, his reputation was finished as was his soul since he had effectively succeeded in hating himself to death. What good is financial success if you come to it in such a state, despising everyone as much as you disgust yourself.

****End Spoiler****


Speaking of No Country for Old Men
******Spoilers****

Well somebody finally talked me into seeing this movie. Said it wasn't a blood for blood's sake horror movie (like Sweeney Todd), and that the story was really interesting. They were right on both counts, but then there was that #%&%$^&$## ending. It seemed like several times during the last 15 or 20 minutes, it looked like they were wrapping it up, but it didn't. I thought, they're setting me up for one of those pointless '60's good-and-evil-are-irrelevant-and-there's-nothing-you-can-do-about-it downer hanging curve ball wtf endings. Then, about the time I finally decided they weren't, they did. :wtf

It isn't that there was no resolution, there was, he got away with it--but why spend all that time and money to make a movie about that? Justice is old and tired and maybe a little bit afraid (thus the title).

There were also some unanswered questions like where was Anton hiding in the shadows when Jones went back to the motel, and why? What happened to the money, the Mexicans get it? What happened to his wife? Why was Llewelyn sitting on the bed right in line with the door when Anton was coming?

The first 3/4 of the movie is excellent if not outstanding. I thought Josh Brolin turned in the best acting, but Bardem has a presence that requires nothing but a stone face or sneer. I liked it better than Fargo (not my favorite to begin with) but not as much as OBWAT. Great dialogue in places:

Llewelyn Moss: If I don't come back, tell mother I love her.
Carla Jean Moss: Your mother's dead, Llewelyn.
Llewelyn Moss: Well then I'll tell her myself.

Appx. quote:
Carson Wells: You know, I counted the floors coming up here and there's one missing.
Man who hired Wells: We'll look into it.

Appx., very prophetic, quote:
Lewelyn (filling water jug to take to injured man in truck): I'm about to do something real stupid.

****End Spoilers****

If you're like me and can appreciate a downer ending as long as it has something positive to say, you'll be looking forward to the next movie based on this author's (Cormac McCarthy's) latest novel, The Road, which starts filming next month and stars Viggo Mortensen. I call it the antidote to NCFOM.

[Anthem]

Beyond that, it's all performance, and wondering if his latest erratic action was pertinent or just something to keep the plot moving.

Daniel had to kill Eli, or at least significantly distance himself from him. Eli was the last person he had any sort of relationship with, and to fulfill his ironic destiny of being alone but wanting someone to understand him, someone related by blood, he had to sever that contact.

It also shows us the depths of the drunken mania he's sunk to (as if shooting his shotgun at what sparse furniture he has in the hall of his mansion wasn't enough). I think the kind of unexpected, erratic nature of killing Eli shows that he no longer has any qualms with doing whatever suits his mood; it's not just there for the shock value or because Anderson couldn't figure out what to do next. Before, when Daniel killed who he thought was his brother, it took a lot of effor to follow through with it, and took more out of him than he'd be readily willing to admit. This time, it was just on a whim.

[The Paineful Truth]

Yeah, most of it was pertinent, but there were a few cases where I wondered if it was the character being erratic or the writers. Or perhaps it's my inability to understand such deep self loathing which hadn't led to suicide long before.

[Cyrene]

dehumanisation at its finest.

check out "The Mist".

it sounds like you vould enjoy this movie quite abit

I don't think either are really 'dehumanizing'

I think both movies highlight the darker parts of human nature though. I'm sure the 'mist' is an accurate portrayal of EXACTLY what would happen if i got caught in a local grocery store during such a mysterious event.

I kid you not. exact.

[Wonderer]

dehumanisation at its finest.

check out "The Mist".

it sounds like you vould enjoy this movie quite abit

I don't think either are really 'dehumanizing'

I think both movies highlight the darker parts of human nature though. I'm sure the 'mist' is an accurate portrayal of EXACTLY what would happen if i got caught in a local grocery store during such a mysterious event.

I kid you not. exact.

lol. The difference beteween me and the bagger boy is that i wouldn't be trigger shy.

[Kriswest]

None of you got any humor out of those flicks? No ironic laughter or just plain funny? They were great flicks. Wonderful portraits and changes between drama and humor. Worth watching several times.. Sweeney Todd was great too, Funny as hell.

[maryshelley]

but its not as if 'good' people are rewarded; the aforementioned simple, but kind-hearted, minster ends the film murdered. Greed is bad? Well, yes, but so what? This truly is a complex film.

Eli (he lies?) Plainview??? Think about it.

Simple but kind-hearted minister? Did you and I see the same film? The minister, Eli, is one of the most morally bankrupt characters ever to grace our cinema screens. He readily denounced himself as a charlatan and god as a superstition in an attempt to squeeze some money out of Plainview. For all his flaws, Plainview was a great judge of character. He recognised Eli's smug hypocrisy right from the start. Eli was as obsessed with money as Plainview appeared to be. As the film developed it became clear that Plainview (plainly!) wasn't really 'in it' for the money as he said to one of the oil men sent by a rival company to make a deal with him 'what else would he do'. Plainview was a driven man; driven to do the next deal but he knew that ultimately money couldn't buy happiness or redemption; but that neither does god. Plainview knew himself to be deeply flawed but he was not a hypocrite thus he had little time for those pretending to be something they were not. Hence his disgust for both Eli and Henry.

And is it a co-incidence that two most sympathetic characters; Plainview's adopted son and Eli's sister get married and leave him?

It is a complex film and one that warrants more than one viewing as a showcase for raw flawed humanity.

[IrvingWashington]

You're right of course. I watched it again, my excuse is that when I saw it the 1st time it was a whole date thing.