There Will Be Blood

I'm not quite sure why, but I always treat a Daniel Day Lewis film with some trepidation; he doesn't exactly produce films at the same rate as Samuel L Jackson. But There Will Be Blood has been talked about with such great praise, that I was really keen to see it.

The distributors have gone for a limited release in the first week that seemingly builds word of mouth, so that next week when it opens nationally, I'll have told all my national friends (well those who don't read this blog) that it's wonderful and that they should rush out to see it.

It'd be a shame to say much about the plot, involving the birth of the oil industry, but so much more than that. The two key performances are those of Daniel Day Lewis who plays Daniel Plainview, a man who is driven to succeed, paying lip-service but perhaps not much more, to those around him as he strives for success, and Eli Sunday, upon whose family's land oil is found. Eli is a preacher, and he and Daniel continually fight and strive against one another as each somehow needs what the other has.

At 158 minutes, the film might seem long, but when the end finally comes, you know that you could have easily watched another thirty minutes.

As it is, the film opens with a long sequence in which no dialogue is spoken, but we do get to hear Jonny Greenwood's incredible score which is like no other, and yet is completely appropriate. For some reason it's not eligible for an Oscar because some of it predates this film. Just another reason why I don't like the Oscars (actually, the more I think about, the more I hate all awards ceremonies).

Anyway, you need to go and see this film, you really do.