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| Daniel Plainview |
The title “There will be blood” can evoke several reactions at the same time… for a devout Christian,
this title brings forth images of Christ on the cross, the crucifixion and the
shedding of his holy blood that led to the salvation of humanity. From another
angle, there will be blood implies a lot of war and blood-shedding…and
so on. Whatever the case, the title “There will be blood” captures the attention
of the audience and makes them curious to find out just what the film is about.
True to the promise of a catchy, almost
ambiguous title, the makers of this 138 minutes drama, Paul Thomas Anderson and
his crew do not disappoint. Set in the period between 1898 and 1927, “There
will be blood” tells the story of Daniel, a middle-aged man who struggles through
life working on oil drills. Because of the nature of the technology that is
available at the time, the conditions under which they work, Daniel and
his comrades suffer through so many hazards. Daniel eventually succeeds but
because of his mean nature and disillusioned personality, probably due to a sad and
murky past, the wealth he accrues does very little to improve him as a man.
The turning point of Daniel from a
silver miner to an oil miner occurs when he is given information about the
existence of an oil rich field, which together with his adopted son, he set
out to go and buy. The plot of the film then takes numerous twists and turns:
the disintegration of his relationship with his son who is a major part of
Daniel's life and the object of his care despite his cruel and insensitive self, is a
major turn in the film. This and other twists lead us to the final resolution
in the film.
One aspect of the narrative that stands
out from the very beginning of the film is the scant dialogue. It is actually
silent throughout the first fourteen minutes of the film, something that the audiences
hardly notice thanks to the creative and clear cinematography. This kind of
beginning tends to fasten the audience to the seat because of the ambition to
follow closely through the scenes and find out what lies ahead. An aspect of
style which is used in the film is the aligning of two scenes at the same time.
For example, when Daniel is addressing the group of people below the constructed
drill while at the same time we see the ordinary goings on in the film. What
this does, is to totally engage the audience as they move back and forth with
the story.
As I mentioned earlier, the crew did a
splendid job with the location, the costumes and props. In the era between 1892-1902, the
technological know-how of that time is represented extremely well.
Historically speaking, there was not much available at the time in terms of technological tooling and most of the
instruments that were used were almost manual through and through. Electric
power too was underdeveloped as electricity was yet to set in. All these
aspects are well represented in the film. When we first meet Daniel
at the silver mine, we notice he uses a ladder made of wood despite how
obviously weak it is. This is soon confirmed when the wooden ladder breaks and
sends him tumbling down to the bottom leaving him with a broken leg. Later when
they are drilling, we also notice that their working conditions are extremely
unsafe, a fact that makes the film very relevant and believable.
Children characters, especially if
developed fully in a piece of work, can represent an antithesis within the
narrative, the possibility of a different future. Daniel’s son, having grown up
in the shadows of the wrangles that characterized his childhood, is now out to
bring change which he eventually does when he marries Mary, his childhood
friend. This marriage is a beginning, the coming together of two previously
opposing sides as they will be settling down somewhere different, far from their
memories. This could symbolize the fresh start that the young couple, and the
society as a whole metaphorically speaking, seeks.
I may have missed something but Daniel
as a character strikes me as unexplained. Why is he filled with so much hate to
the point of killing and doing many other heinous crimes in life? I totally
appreciate how he ended up because in most societies, evil clears itself and
this is the same message that “There will be blood” sends across with the way
Daniel turns out.
In conclusion, let me say that “There
will be blood” is a film that is worth the time of the audience because of the
captivating way in which the story has been told, the timeless themes that the
filmmaker explores such as capitalism and religion are convincingly rendered by the
cinematography.
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