Plain old Greed.

There Will Be Blood, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson



The reason I'm writing this blog is because my friend Grant wrote a review on it on his Facebook page, and I want to "one-up" him. How funny is it that the movie we both saw together, and both decided to comment on is about a man who's over-weening sense of pride, competition and greed eventually leads to his total moral destruction. I would say would propose that this is somewhat ironic, except, I really don't know what the literal meaning of "irony" is. I think I'll look it up...



There has been enough ink spilled over the greatness of this movie to replenish a southern Californian oil field, and really you're not going to hear much different here. I would dare say this film is my generations The Godfather. Friggin' awesome.

This is the fourth movie I've watched in as many weeks that has greed as a story central element. Wall Street, Goodfellas, Casino and There Will Be Blood are pretty damn apt representations of the effect that greed has exhibited on human culture within my lifetime. From junk bonds to asset-backed credits, from the Savings & Loan scandal to the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, from Gordon Gekko, Henry Hill, "Ace" Rothstein, to Daniel Plainview, therein lies anything that everyone ever needs to know about the ultimate effects of greed.

In There Will Be Blood, Daniel Plainfield (as played by Daniel Day-Lewis) stakes out oil claims in early 1900's Southern California with his son, H.W. Plainfield, in tow.



But I think the key relationship in this movie, the overriding relationship that decides the fate of all characters, is the relationship between the elder Plainfield to his symbolic son Eli Sunday (as played by Paul Dano).



Both men could be kin. Both are driven by an overriding desire to acquire power, both exhibit a sense of contempt for other humans, both are unlikable human beings, but yet both have charisma powerful enough to attract others and the ability to bend their followers to their desires.

The one thing that separates them is that Daniel Plainview is self-aware. He knows he's a bastard, readily admits it, and struggles against every societal convention that forces him to pretend otherwise. Eli, on the other hand, does not even have the virtue of self-awareness. He's an opportunist who hides behind his theatre of faith. Plainview regards him with specific contempt. From his point of view, Eli builds his fortune by fleecing his flock, while trying to milk money and power from Daniel's fortune. A fortune that was built when Daniel, after a mining accident that resulted in a shattered knee, crawled on his back across miles of desert to the closest land registration office stake his first claim on an oil well.

The ultimate confrontation between these two characters is what makes this movie great. I will not even begin to spoil a climax that the movie builds with such masterful tension. I just recommend you watch There Will Be Blood, right away.

And take that Grant...