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Rating: 4.5 out of 5
In the film Wall Street, Michael Douglas character Gordon Gekko once famously quoted, “Greed Is Good.” The greed in people seems to drive them to excellent/terrible things at the cost of many other people. Well, ladies and gentlemen, There Will Be Blood has come along and shown the world that there is a person more devious, vile, and greedy who loves capitalism to its heights. A person that would make Gordon Gekko look like a child. That person is Daniel Plainview. Daniel begins the film by trying to get silver from the earth with a simple pick and shovel, but his eye quickly turns to something way more precious. He decides to go after the black gold that is called oil and, by the end of the film, extracts countless barrels of it while keeping every single penny to himself.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood, opens up in 1898 in the New Mexico grounds. Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), works in his silver mine and after blasting out the small mine with dynamite, falls and breaks his leg. Daniel manages to drag himself out of the mine and into the town to sell his discovery. From there, he hires a crew, including a man caring for his infant son. When the silver isn’t worth it anymore, Plainview discovers oil in the mine and soon begins his rise to being a very successful oilman. During one of the drillings, the man with the infant son dies. Plainview takes it upon himself to adopt the baby and names him H.W. Nine years later, Plainview is a successful but still minor oilman. He travels around the state of New Mexico, buying up drilling rights on private property. A young man named Paul Sunday (Dano) comes and offers Plainview the chance to survey his land in California. Plainview jumps at the opportunity to expand his oil empire. He starts buying up the farms around the area. He promises many things to the community. The only problem is that one person is standing in his way. A man and Paul’s twin by the name of Eli Sunday (also Dano) who believes in God and his church more than anything else. As the two personalities clash, the only thing that matters is the black gold that runs underneath the earth.
Now, if you want to see a character that is the epitome of capitalism in American, Anderson shows you what it looks like in Daniel Plainview. The man is mean, evil, vile, greedy, hates everything and everybody, has zero friends, and if you asked him to watch your dog or even house sit, they might be sold within the hour of you leaving them together. Plainview’s only goal in life is to be as wealthy as possible, and nothing will stop him from getting it. As the great rap lyric stated, Plainview has his “Mind on my money, money on my mind.” The man honestly puts Scrooge McDuck to shame with how greedy and money-hungry he can be. As he famously quoted, “I have a competition in me. I want no-one else to succeed. I hate most people.” That is some cold-blooded stuff right there, and it shows throughout the film, but we will get back to Plainview in a second.
The film primarily shows the rise and eventual fall of Plainview but also the clash between two personalities. One that believes in God and the other that believes in the all mighty dollar. Eli is an evangelical preacher whose only goal is to extract money from Plainview to build his church, the Church of the Third Revelation. A noble cause for the world. Well, the first clash between these two men is when Eli requests that Plainview let him bless the drill. Plainview lies straight out of his teeth and says he can do it. When the time comes, Plainview completely ignores Eli and his followers and does his own thing. This begins the major war between both characters. I don’t know if God saw it, but after that, Plainview sees his drill explode in a rage of fire, his son become deaf along with some of his men being killed. This causes Eli to strike and humiliate Plainview, this results in one of the strangest baptism scenes that I have ever seen. Eli sure did get his revenge on Plainview, but the war was far from over with these two.
Now back to the overview of Plainview. As the wealth grows inside the man, so does the evil and his obsession and madness with money. When his son becomes deaf, you would think a loving father would be there for him through this trying time. NOPE! First, Plainview sends him away, which Eli exploits, but does Plainview even care? Hell naw! We find out later on that the only reason Plainview kept the kid around was to be used as a prop to get people to trust him even more. That’s some cold-blooded shit right there. The more wealth that Plainview obtains, the more he seems to dislike people, and yet he let a snake slither its way into his life. When a man comes around and claims to be his half-brother, Plainview accepts him with open arms, even shunning his boy. Plainview consoles in the man that he pretty much hates everyone and everything. Later on, we see that this relationship wouldn’t last at all.
The ending is actually really great and entertaining. Plainview, with all his wealth, is now a recluse. Eli comes asking for money and help. Plainview, not forgetting the past, berates Eli. Pretty much talks to him no better than an earthworm. Here we are presented with the iconic, “I. Drink. Your! Milkshake! I DRINK IT UP!” As you suspect, the whole scene goes off the rails really quickly.
Only one actor needs to be praised in this film, and that is Daniel Day-Lewis. The man is a gift to the world with his acting abilities. If you want to see true art, then watch this performance. It is one thing to talk about how vile a person can be, but it is an entirely different thing to show it and have a genuine disgust for a person. Day-Lewis, as a method actor, shows it in every way possible. The tone of his voice to the way he carries himself brought the character to life. With his performance, Day-Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The man could be the greatest actor of all time.
There Will Be Blood is one of the best films that shows the greed in a person. Plainview is a man that represents everything that American capitalism is built on. A Scrooge McDuck but without any heart and soul. A man who hates everything and everyone but only cares about money and will go to extreme lengths to get it. Day-Lewis is at his best in this film and should be watched to show how great of an actor he is.
