Thursday, January 24, 2008

i am a false prophet. God is a superstition.


"if you have a milkshake and i have a milkshake and i have a straw and my straw reaches across the room and starts to drink your milkshake. i drink your milkshake! i drink it up!"

again, i am left mesmerized by p.t. anderson's magic. his achievements as a writer and director are remarkable. anderson really outdid himself with his recent film, There Will Be Blood. every aspect of the film, the story, the cinematography, the acting, the score, they form a perfect harmony that carries the film. anderson moves away from his traditional ensemble work, in this stunning portrayal of a man(daniel plainview)who dreams of oil.

There Will Be Blood, tells a story of family, greed, religion, and oil. anderson's script was inspired by upton sinclair's novel, oil!, which i now have to read. anderson allows the film to speak for itself. there is no unnessesary or cliche dialogue. so many films say too much. anderson takes There Will Be Blood, in the opposite direction. the dialogue feels so carefully chosen. every conversation, so quotable.

so many of the recent film releases have been in the 2 1/2 -3 hour range. many of these films seem to drag on, leaving the feeling they could easily have ended 20 minutes sooner. i feared the same thing would happen with the 2 hour 38 minute, There Will Be Blood, but i was pleasantly surprised. from the moment it began the film swept me off my feet and into the 1900's. there was no squirming, no checking my clock, only complete submersion in anderson's haunting tale.

There Will Be Blood, is a visual masterpiece. the film has an antique look, which i later found out was partially due to one of the lenses used in the filming. anderson has a 1910 pathe camera whose 43mm lens was modified to be used in the film for certain shots. there is such attention to detail. robert elswit's dream-like cinematography captures the brilliance of the scenery. he manages to make barren land breathtaking. the thick black of the oil covering the white skin is a beautiful contrast.

anderson makes wonderful use of music in his films. There Will Be Blood, is no exception. the score from radiohead guitarist, jonny greenwood grabs you from the first moment. the music intensifies throughout the film, as plainview's hunger grows. it sets the mood and never lets up.

daniel day lewis' haunting portrayal of daniel plainview is a masterpiece. both charming and cruel, every inch of him is daniel plainview. his accent and characteristic walk combined with his confidence and growing hatred ignite the screen. anderson pulls you in, and daniel day lewis keeps you there, holds you, and refuses to let you go. paul dano is remarkable. his portrayal of paul and eli sunday is superb. originally cast only as paul, his role expanded to include eli, and how lucky we are for that. dano's, eli sunday attempts to fool us and plainview as a soft-spoken preacher, but a wildly charismatic evangelist soon ensues. plainview and eli sunday's hatred for each other is chilling. dillion freasier, also deserves mention as plainview's son and business partner, h.w.

every moment of There Will Be Blood, is phenomenal. it deserves constant praise and every award it's up for. a film i will not soon forget, in years to come it will be considered a true classic. lets hope p.t anderson continues to offer up his creations.

"i'm finished."


1 comment:

Colin Lewis said...

it is such a beautiful hate he has, I want that hate.