Yesterday afternoon, Watoosa and I went to see There Will Be Blood. I quite liked it, and I think it's worthy of a Best Picture nomination, although I would prefer No Country for Old Men. Watoosa would choose Juno, I think (I did enjoy that one, but I'd still give the big one to the Coens).
There Will Be Blood features a spectacular performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as the protagonist, Daniel Plainview. Day-Lewis uses an American accent reminiscent of John Huston or Jack Palance. It doesn't sound like the accent of a rough-and-tumble prospector turned oil man, but I think that adds to the character's mystique. I spent the entire film trying to figure him out. Is he a villain? Is he simply a hard-working businessman? Is he succumbing to his obsession? Just what is he up to? Only at the end does an answer begin to emerge, although I'm still trying to make sense of the character even now.
The film naturally invites comparisons to Citizen Kane. Both films chronicle the life of men who rise to prominence and wealth and ultimately suffer from it. Watching their protagonists develop, even to the point of tragedy, is what makes them compelling. But There Will Be Blood also features a foil to the Plainview character: a local faith healer named Eli Sunday, who eventually becomes a famous radio preacher in Los Angeles. These two characters could easily be seen as embodiments of the American century: a business tycoon and a celebrity revivalist preacher. But if they were nothing more than types, this movie would have been a lot less interesting.
The film also uses music to remarkable effect--some have likened it to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. And there are lots of shots that are beautifully composed; we especially loved the scenes of the Central California countryside.
I think it gets a bit out of hand toward the last 20 minutes or so (although it allows Day-Lewis to go completely nuts), but it's definitely worth seeing.
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Now, which parts of the Central Cali Countryside were you enjoying? Was it the scenes that weren't filmed in Marfa, TX (incidentally, the same place where No Country was filmed)? I know that majority of the film was shot in Texas. I guess there must've been some ocean scenes filmed in CA.
Kelley and I saw this film with my parents this weekend. We were all impressed by it. As you wrote, the Plainview character is an enigma wrapped inside a riddle, for sure. I found him to be dissimilar to Charles Foster Kane is one way: Kane had regret, in the end. There was never a 'Rosebud' for Daniel Plainview. The man hated everyone including himself and his sales-prop son.
Having said that, I ask you this: Why did Plainview have such compassion for Mary Sunday? what was it about her, in particular, that he relented for. Notice, she was really the only female character in the movie.
IMDB lists numerous shooting locations in California, plus Albuquerque. I didn't notice that they shot in Marfa, too. But there were several scenes that looked a lot like the area just over the Santa Ynez mountains from Santa Barbara, which we loved.
I think the scenes that showed Plainview's compassion for Mary Sunday showed that he was not just monstrous from the get-go. I think he also genuinely cared for H.W., and was also hurt by Henry's duplicity.
It sounds trite to say that he eventually began to care more for success than people, but that's probably part of it. But only "part." He's very complex.
BTW, I love that scene where he threatens to slit the Standard Oil rep's throat! It's so unnerving because of DDL's delivery, and it comes out of nowhere. Geez.
I would suggest Plainview's sympathy with Mary had to do with her being beaten by her father (for failure to pray sufficiently frequently). If you recall, his son told him that Mary was beaten by her father, which immediately instigates a quiet anger in Plainview. Given Plainview's general antipathy towards most everyone, I might suggest that he was beaten as a child, which would help explain his misanthropy. And indeed, later in the film, his half-brother-pretended mentions that he knew Plainview did not get along with their (supposed) father.
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