Saturday, February 02, 2008

There Will Be Blood: Oilman is No Citizen Kane

In Citizen Kane, there is a final scene where he whispers "rosebud," and the world is to ponder what the "rosebud" no money could by was. Its importance I never fully realized until I saw There Will Be Blood, whose man character is a monster of greed, and his lack of "rosebud" prevents us from seeing any human side. His wealth, friends, and family change, but he never does change, leaving a complete lack of development within the movie.

There Will Be Blood is adapted from the book "Oil!" Daniel Day-Lewis gives an Oscar-worthy performance as the greedy Daniel Plainview (a trusting name for someone who hides much). He walks around with his adopted son, H.W. Plainview, who is a puppet for Daniel to claim he runs a family business. He eventually admits, "I needed an honest face for people to sell their land to." The movie leads us to watch Plainview as he cheats a poor farmer into selling his land for much less than its worth. When the farmer's son, Eli, an Evangelical preacher who puts on a show of casting out demons, demands money for his church, things go bad quickly. Accidents occur and Eli claims it is because Plainview didn't allow him to bless the oil well, although none of them seem supernatural.

Another turn arrives in the form of a man claiming to be Plainview's long-lost brother. However, I find this part unbelievable. Plainview becomes extremely wealthy immediately prior to the brother's introduction. Plainview sees through Eli's act, but isn't quick to suspect his brother. He confides in his brother his hatred towards man, that he has a "competition in him" where he must see others suffer as it is the only way he becomes happy.

The movie is two and half hours of a disaster of greed, where there are only two types of people, the greedy and their victims. The storm is wonderful to watch, only we see the betraying disaster is three acts. The same disaster of betraying someone, done by the same man, in the name of greed. Isn't one single act enough? Couldn't they have removed the other hour from the movie by not giving us just scenes of deja vu and predictable second betrayals?

Don't get me wrong. The cinematography is great, with each scene set up to present itself with circus-like music and operatic tragedy. One such shoot is when Plainview strikes oil, losing a man in the process. There is blood and oil smeared over his face as he grins at a burning rig. Men scared of the fire look in fear, as Plainview shouts, "What are you so serious about? There's an ocean of oil below us!" The man asks him how's H.W., he replies, still smiling, "Not well." H.W. is deaf, then abandoned, as Plainview needed him for a puppet, not sympathy.

It's a beautiful storm, cast by a man that doesn't appear human (good or bad) in any believable capacity. The first act is captivating, followed by unbelievable and repetative.

Entertaining? No. Too many times I felt I could leave, and in the end, I realized the ending was as good of a time as any to leave.

For everyone? No. It tests the patience and is a movie about disgusting people. Rather extra depressing without a moral or explanation to tell us why we should feel such little faith in humanity.

Memorable? Yes. The images and set-up of the movie, even with such an over-written script, stay with you and feels like you're watching art with the clarity and drama, with close competition to the directing in No Country for Old Men (my pick for Best Directing).

My suggestion? Pass on it unless you are the type that usually enjoys the mort artistic, Oscar-crowd films. Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is something for the acting crowd to study. (Note: The trailer is particularly dark with the speech of Plainview's "competition." Great trailer.)

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