THERE WILL BE BLOOD

I made two resolutions at the beginning of the year - One of them was to blog at least once a day - a minimum of five times a week. These entries don't necessarily have to be longer than a paragraph or two - as long as I am writing something.

My second resolution was to watch films - classic films that all fans of cinema should see at least once. There are gaping holes in my cinematic knowledge and I'd like to fix them. And then to write a quick review of the film - as long or short as I want to.

I kicked off the New Year by watching a film I've long had in my Netflix queue but never got around to watching: Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

THERE WILL BE BLOOD: Five out of five stars.

Anchored by a mesmerizing performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, a man who slowly loses his humanity as he is overcome with greed, Day-Lewis somehow manages to make the audience empathize with a man with little to no redeeming qualities. Towards the end of the film, when the only thing he ever loved, outside of money, abandons him he delivers one of the cruelest speeches a father can give to his son and delivers it with such force you can't help but feel sorry for both men. And the final scene of the film where Plainview destroys corrupt preacher Eli Sunday so completely you can't help but admire his thoroughness I found myself applauding the last actions of this tortured man.

On a more personal note, the use of sound and the characterization of H.W. Plainview may be the best interpretation of deafness I have seen on film. There is a moment when young H.W. is sitting alone snapping his fingers next to his years in a desperate plea for a miracle - that his hearing will return. But by the end of his story he has accepted his deafness and has moved on to become his own man and has broken free of his desperate need to make his father proud.



Film List:
January 1: THERE WILL BE BLOOD (5/5)
January 2: BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID