There will be Blood is a drama/western directed by the fledgling Paul Thomas Anderson and starring the great Daniel Day-Lewis who won an Oscar for this role. Sadly, I only caught up to this movie nearly two years after its release.

The movie follows ruthless oil-man Daniel Plainview’s(Day-Lewis) life as he rises from rags-to-riches. In 1898, a lone gold miner to a few years later, an oil tycoon. Thanks to a tip by an individual named Paul Sunday (Paul Dano), he and his adopted boy H.W (Dillon Freasier) discovers a large oil well below the city of New Boston, California and he starts to buy all the land in the vicinity of the well, promising all type of things (schools, roads, bigger church, a Walmart etc..) to the locals in exchange for their land. Promises which he ends up never fulfilling because, well, he likes his money. Soon enough, tension starts to rise between himself and the local preacher, Eli Sunday (also Paul Dano), whom Plainview thinks is a charlatan.

There will be Blood is a superb story of pure greed, and corrupted morals, as well as a look into what life was at the turn of the twentieth century. Daniel Day-Lewis comes through once again with a nuanced, and rich performance. The deterioration of his soul is very gradual and full of paradox throughout the film and you almost think that he is a pretty decent guy until halfway through the movie. How can you feel almost sympathetic to his character, an outright personification of greed and evil? The scene of his first murder was so well acted by both actors I was utterly shocked that it happened and it marked a turning point for the Daniel Plainview character. Daniel Day-Lewis is an awe-inspiring actor, there really isn’t much more I need to say. The guy is intense, stays in-character 24/7 and rumor is that freaked the crap out of the first actor supposed to play Paul/Eli Sunday so they had to replace him with the fantastic Paul Dano and three weeks worth of scene had to be re-shot. Paul Dano is almost as great playing the antagonist. As Eli Sunday, he is not afraid to confronts and humiliate Plainview. He even attempts to blackmail him in the final scene of the movie which leads to the proverbial feces hitting the fans. Also props to Dillon Freasier who played the little boy H.W very convincingly. The performances truly carried the movie and the director let a lot of things dawn on the viewer without them being explicitly said.

Running at 2 hours and 38 minutes, the movie is certainly up there in terms of duration. Yet, it is even paced and doesn’t feel like it’s languishing at any point in time. The cinematography is stunning and the movie was shot in the same area as No Country for Old Men. The musical score is also first rate, made by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.

A near-masterpiece that needs to be seen and seen again to be fully comprehended.

A-