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RE: Hmm. - 25/8/2008 3:23:58 PM

Dantes Inferno

Posts: 5885
Joined: 27/10/2007
From: Norway

quote:

ORIGINAL: directorscut

This is undoubtedly an excellently made film.� However, and I am surprised that I haven't heard or read it somewhere else, there�does seem to be a distinct case of "I've seen this before."� There Will Be Blood is pretty much Giant + Citizen Kane + Once Upon a Time in the West with a little sprinkling of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre thrown in.� For a film that "creates a new cinematic language" (para, Kermode) and�that is�terrific in most other regards�I'd expect something a little less derivative and something with a little more of its own ideas.

It does have a 'familiar'-feeling as you say, and you are spot on when picking which films it resembles (though maybe not so much for Leone's film).

Still, there are some parts of this film that is virtually unseen in the ones you mentioned. The dialog-free opening scenes, the gloomy score, the tremdendous derrick fire-scene, and let's not forget its ace of spades: the ending, which I found to be 2007's best and most iconic scene.

I also find that while the films you mentions are very relaxed, There Will Be Blood has that feeling to, but occasionally it's like a kid with ADHD who just won't stay calm. Like most of PTA's movies, it has some real "wtf??"-like moments.

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Post #: 181

RE: There Will Be Blood - 3/9/2008 7:39:32 PM

nmurtagh88

Posts: 4
Joined: 2/9/2008

[/quote] QUOTE gooner_no1

There is no plot, no character development, the dialogue at times is cringeworthy and would be rejected by an Eastenders script writer - what keeps the attention in spite of all this is Day-Lewis' performance, which is exceptional.

The direction is all over the place, the artistic and narrative decision-making deliberately precious and obtuse; the best possible word to describe this film is pretentious.

It pretends to depths it most certainly does not achieve.

The subject matter alone has set a lot of people off on the head staggers, willing themselves to like it before they've seen a single frame: America, Oil and Religion.

If that doesn't spell Geroge W Bush and current disdain for the US regime, then I don't know what does.

Audiences are willing to sit bored rigid watching a pantomime for the chattering classes (on both sides of the pond) because they somehow think this is all rather profound.
.
[/quote] UNQUOTE

I agree some audiences do watch films, even though they're bored, and all because someone said they were meaningful. That's fair enough.

However, I totally disagree with the rest of your comments. Firstly, your whole anti Bush criticism is ridiculous. A film that explores the oil business in the early 20th century is going to involve oil and America, honestly, at what point in the movie did you think about the Bush admin?

Moving on, the direction was excellent. PTA used alot of long, one shot one camera scenes to good effect. They gave Daniel-Day and Paul Dano loads of room for good improvisation, that worked brilliantly. Furthermore, they gave the film a raw feel to it, that resonates with the rawness of the oil business at that time. [Spoiler Alert!]. My favourite scene was when the derrick set on fire. PTA shot that scene in a way you don't see alot in films, one shot, following Plainview to and from the flames. I'm sorry, but that was artistic. I was overwhelmed when I first saw the scene in the theatre. In awe, I felt I had experienced pure class in modern film making, and I was reminded of the power of good direction.

With all that said, this film isn't to everyone's taste, you're right there. But it is wrong to say it pretends to be profound. It is profound, well it is in my opinion, just in a very subtle way. [Spoiler Alert!]. The essence of the story lies in Plainview's disintegration into becoming, totally, the monster that was always within him. His own stubborness and ruthlessness is how he became this monster. That is why his feelings of depression, isolation and self disgust at the end are so profound. He alienated himself his whole life and only has himself to blame. He utters in his final dialogoue, "I'm finished", meaning that in it's total literal sense.

For me, both Daniel-Day's performance and PTA's direction were excellent, and also the fable is profound and deep. However, the screenplay wasn't so excellent, making some parts exhausting and a bit boring, but hey, those parts were small, so I give it ****.

Sorry don't understand how to quote only what you want to quote yet.

< Message edited by nmurtagh88 -- 3/9/2008 8:46:46 PM >

(in reply to gooner_no1)

Post #: 182

RE: Crap - 8/9/2008 6:11:14 PM

andy399

Posts: 20
Joined: 22/7/2008
From: Billericay, Essex

The most overrated film ever. The worst soundtrack ever. BORING~!!!!!

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Post #: 183

There Will Be Blood - 12/9/2008 2:46:26 PM

Maria Nunes G. P.

Posts: 9
Joined: 22/7/2008

There will be blood it is a movie about a man called Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) who starts as hard worker in the search for oil. And one day he ends up finding an oil well alone and starts to get more ambitious and thirstier for wealth…
This movie directed and adapted to the big screen by Paul Thomas Anderson is kind of a blend between a western and an epic although it is not like most westerns or most epics, it’s not a very easy to watch movie and there may be always a certain felling of discomfort around while watching; it happens that this movie just like it’s main character seems to be cold an distant, but at the same time this is not an easy-forgettable movie.
The characters are strong and the performances are more than solid… The main star Daniel Day-Lewis is really remarkable as the cold blooded oil man, Plainview is no ordinary movie character, from the firs movie scene (a hole scene with no speech just the noise of the mine work and some unease-situation-denouncing whispers – it’s an odd welcome card to the movie…) where he seem to be a simple introverted worker, to the last scene where the man just blows up screaming a rage full speech and hopping all around in what seems to be an insane-hysterical choreography. If Plainview is a titan in this movie he is not alone for Ely Sunday equals him. Ely is a fervours religious man (or so it seems…), he is very intense, all his infatuation for god, his disquieting and perturbing sermons where he shouts and shivers and turn around his eyes… For some moments we really think the boy does idolatries his religion, but inevitably we understand that either Plainview or Sunday are trying to deceive everyone with different means, one uses oil as a promise of better days to everyone while the other uses the faith as a promise of a better life and a better afterlife, but both are being selfish and doing it with the same goal: win more money. Talking about characters and performances H.W. (Plainview’s accidentally adoptive son) his very good too as he is very expressive in his incapacity to talk.
The plot, and the characters were taken to epic proportions, and the movie is a classic.

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Post #: 184

Oil Road - 26/9/2008 2:50:53 PM

Ingmar Tarkovsky

Posts: 3
Joined: 22/6/2008

From Magnolia to Punch Drunk-Love,without forgetting Boogie Nights and Hard Eight,Paul Thomas Anderson dazzled us with his savoir-faire,his impressive and human subjects/screenplays and his capacity to direct actors(I'm thinking Mark Walbergh's performance in Boogie Nights,Adam Sandler's performance in Punch-Drunk Love or Julianne Moore's in Magnolia).But I could never imagine Anderson to step onto something as big as this.With it's symbolic,actual subject,it's devastating landscapes,it's incredible performance by Day-Lewis,it's evocative personification of oil, it's mind-twisting directing and it's captivating,haunting and absorbing music,There Will Be Blood easily ranks as the year's best.Anderson slowly studies Plainview,his fears,his demons,his obsessions,while throwing him into a world of vanity and self-destruction that is oil-digging.For Plainview is searching for a missing part of his life,not only oil,in this deserted dsert of incredible symbolism...Anderson charges with impressive styles,demonstrate realistic characters,and digs for answers.And that's why Anderson has the caliber of a Ford,that's why I called the title Oil Road.It's a reference to Tobacco Road.And THAT is a very,very good sign.

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Post #: 185

There Will Be Boredom. - 28/9/2008 2:13:33 PM

joanna likes films

Posts: 987
Joined: 27/10/2007
From: Bexhill

I watched the movie last night and boy, it was the longest two and a half hours in my life. It takes fourteen mintues for someone to say a word with lots of events unfolding during the uneasy silence. Then Daniel Plainview begins with his deep and cool voice, it's like he's telling the story to you. As the story goes on: meeting a disturbing Preacher, the oil going up in smoke, his son going deaf and meeting his brother only to find he might not be, it twists and turns until the brutal and horrifying ending that really didn't make sense. But the pefomances are brilliant, Daniel-Day Lewis really desevered his Oscar as a man who was determimed to get whatever he wanted in money only to find his downfall and succumb to madness. Paul Dano, who played Eli and Paul, is very good with his disturbed way and his girly-like voice. The others like Ciaran Hinds, H.W and even Benny from the Mummy were good but very much pushed at the back. There are strong problems in this, it's VERY VERY LONG and extremely slow to get going. The music sounds very odd against this, the ending is horrific but it's over within a flash. What was the point of it all really? It's very boring but there are some things to sort of boost it up like the pefomances and the settings which were beautiful to look. A worthy three stars.

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Post #: 186

RE: There Will Be Boredom. - 23/11/2008 10:57:53 PM

krudler

Posts: 7018
Joined: 30/9/2005

Finally got round to watching this on shiny bluray as I missed it in the cinema, have to say its not an easy watch but DDL is incredible in it, a lot of strange scenes and especially the music, but the oil well fire was one of the best things I'd seen in a movie in ages, the whole scene was incredible to watch, the ending is very strange not to mention brutal, its almost like the twins were parts of Plainviews conscience, one the spiritual side and one the capitalist side, and the capitalist one prevailed, will have to watch it again soon

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Post #: 187

RE: There Will Be Boredom. - 25/11/2008 2:42:18 PM

hatebox

Posts: 942
Joined: 14/2/2008

I won't quote anyone but some of the inane criticisms I've read on this thread make me despair slightly.

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Post #: 188

RE: There Will Be Boredom. - 26/11/2008 3:48:45 PM

shawshank prisoner

Posts: 1650
Joined: 20/4/2006
From: Norwich

Best film of the year. 10/10. People who don't like it are, quite frankly, idiots.

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Post #: 189

- 23/12/2008 11:42:46 AM

gepete80

Posts: 19
Joined: 31/8/2006
From: Tooting, SW London

It’s a usual occurrence to not see Daniel Day-Lewis for quite a long period of time after he makes a movie. The reasons given are wide and varied, but in all honesty I am glad he does cos all of his movies tend to be of the kind that seriously test you mentally. After two and a half hours of this, a break is most definitely needed.

There Will Be Blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview, a ruthless Oil baron, who will stop at nothing to lie, cheat or steal his way into high riches and more oil. Starting in 1898 as a one man show the film transcends 2 decades showing the growth of Plainviews empire. It elaborates on the innate and encompassing paranoia that he suffers, the dirty tricks and methods he will go to in claiming the rights to dig (including lying to the church, no less). However as with stories of this ilk his quest forsakes all others and in his wakes he leaves a trail of destruction including his relationship with his young son and ‘business partner’.

It sounds pretty intense stuff, and in all honesty it is. Too much so in fact. I’m not one to shy away from a ‘thinky’ movie, but I struggled to find much to get involved in here. As was put to me halfway through the movie, and very correctly so, There Will Be Blood is rather all style but no substance. Some shots are remarkably well done but for me there seemed to be no discernable structure to it. Most films have a beginning a middle and an end, but this didn’t really do that. It ambled along with no real purpose, and at a marathon 2hrs and 30mins just seemed to go on forever. To describe this film as a slow-burner is an understatement and there was an element of using 10 words when one would do.

It will be easy for some to pick on me after reading this because this film obviously won Oscars galore, and I must simply have missed the point or something. But in all honesty I just found this to be a dull affair, with no real direction or purpose. Yes Day-Lewis is one heck of an actor, but he is one of those that I just struggle to watch. And with no real support, barring his little kid as a side show this has nothing to offer to anyone other then the toffs who might consider this to be…. Well art?

I can see a lot who might get this film and I applaud them if I do but I cannot.

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Post #: 190

There Will Be Blood - 3/1/2009 3:46:00 PM

Uncle_Ethan

Posts: 80
Joined: 7/1/2006

Fantastic performance, average film.

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Post #: 191

There will be blood - 20/1/2009 6:31:39 PM

Blue Ryan

Posts: 185
Joined: 31/7/2008

If reading one of the user rating reviews, please ignore uncle-Ethan and his gang of inane followers who choose to submit the review of this film four times on a mediocre score. Instead read Ingmar Tarkovsky and shawshank prisoner as they deliver pitchperfect short reviews on this simply mesmerising film. To put it simply, this has to be one of the finest films ever made with a "cliched" performance of a life-time from Day-Lewis. "I drink your Milkshake". Anderson certainly drank mine.

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Post #: 192

There Will Be Brilliance - 28/1/2009 12:38:38 PM

THE DALTONATOR

Posts: 80
Joined: 17/2/2008

yes it was long and very very strange but the performances, score and paul thomas anderson set this film apart from the rest. daniel day lewis and paul dano dominate the screen with their searing, intense and gripping rivalry with a film with themes such as oil, religion, money, greed, family and rivalry. the score by johnny greenwood is immense and carries the film through the opening 15 minutes where there is no dialogue. also the directing and scirpt by paul thomas anderson completes the package and makes this a classic film which should have won more oscars.

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Post #: 193

OIL! - 5/2/2009 3:54:50 AM

WiseGuy101

Posts: 57
Joined: 4/2/2009

WITH SUPERB ACTING FROM DAY-LEWIS AND PAUL DANO, BRILLIANT CINEMATOGRAPHY AND EAR-SHREDDING MUSIC, THERE WILL BE BLOOD IS A MODERN CLASSIC. THE 2ND BEST FILM OF 2007.

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Post #: 194

Excellent - 10/5/2009 10:53:41 AM

dhowdy

Posts: 967
Joined: 29/8/2008
From: London

Mesmerising performance from Day-Lewis who always guarantees your moneys worth at the DVD store. Over 2 hours long, I never looked at my watch once. Fascinating study of a man obsessed by his ambition whose soul diminishes as fast as his bank account rises.

yet another triumph for PT Anderson...

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Post #: 195

RE: There Will Be Blood - 29/5/2009 2:07:39 PM

Gamba

Posts: 173
Joined: 17/3/2009
From: West Midlands

A very powerful piece - It's like a study of the character that Daniel Day Lewis plays, as you slowly get to see more and more of this terrifying man, rather than a story with a beginning, middle and end. It's very uncomfortable to watch at times, but fascinating at the same time.

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Post #: 196

RE: There will be brilliance - 1/6/2009 4:48:05 AM

skeleton

Posts: 21
Joined: 13/5/2009

I do not like that kinds of movies!

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Post #: 197

RE: There will be brilliance - 1/6/2009 9:25:50 AM

tftrman

Posts: 3192
Joined: 15/11/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: skeleton

I do not like that kinds of movies!

Grammar aside, what types of movie don't you like?

< Message edited by tftrman -- 1/6/2009 9:30:44 AM >

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Post #: 198

Amazing.......... - 14/9/2009 5:18:08 PM

natman_begins

Posts: 67
Joined: 30/12/2007
From: eeaarrrttthhhh

but even better with a phat "herbal cigarette".

< Message edited by natman_begins -- 14/9/2009 5:21:50 PM >

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Post #: 199

Still dull - 22/12/2009 9:45:12 PM

Uncle_Ethan

Posts: 80
Joined: 7/1/2006

Apparently according to some rather pompous members of this website, people who do not rate this film are idiots. Really - well I would apply that term to anyone who rates a person's intelligence based solely upon their taste in film.

As for There Will Be Blood it still seems dreary, disjointed and quite frankly as disappointing on a second viewing as it was the first time.

Citizen Kane does it all so much better.

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Post #: 200

RE: Good but what is the point? - 22/3/2010 8:39:29 AM

JagLover

Posts: 447
Joined: 11/5/2007

I thought the performance by DDL was very good and some of the themes interesting, but it ultimatly was unsatisfying.

My first problem with the film is the score, the dreadful overpowering score, every moment while they peacefully prospect for oil the score giving a "the killer is behind you" ominous music.

the second problem is what is the point of it all in the end. He slowly decends into madness that much is true, is this supposed to as crude a message as this is all due to the pursuit of wealth?

Spoilers
I didn't actually feel he was a monster, I just felt sorry for him. If anyone beliefs he just kept the boy around as a sweet face for pitches the haven't watched the movie properly IMO.

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Post #: 201

RE: Good but what is the point? - 22/3/2010 10:03:11 AM

TheSpleen

Posts: 1292
Joined: 11/7/2009

Each to his own. Some people have said it dragged for them but for me it was the most gripping two and a half hours i have ever experienced in a cinema. I was fascinated from the opening shot and not only is Daniel Day Lewis brooding and terrifying and inhuman but is a great juxstaposition to Eli until we begin to realise how similar they are. In my opinion criminally overlooked in awards season.

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Post #: 202

RE: Hmm. - 22/3/2010 6:57:26 PM

Axel Foley

Posts: 731
Joined: 15/10/2005

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dantes Inferno

quote:

ORIGINAL: directorscut

This is undoubtedly an excellently made film. However, and I am surprised that I haven't heard or read it somewhere else, there does seem to be a distinct case of "I've seen this before." There Will Be Blood is pretty much Giant + Citizen Kane + Once Upon a Time in the West with a little sprinkling of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre thrown in. For a film that "creates a new cinematic language" (para, Kermode) and that is terrific in most other regards I'd expect something a little less derivative and something with a little more of its own ideas.

It does have a 'familiar'-feeling as you say, and you are spot on when picking which films it resembles (though maybe not so much for Leone's film).

Still, there are some parts of this film that is virtually unseen in the ones you mentioned. The dialog-free opening scenes, the gloomy score, the tremdendous derrick fire-scene, and let's not forget its ace of spades: the ending, which I found to be 2007's best and most iconic scene.

I also find that while the films you mentions are very relaxed, There Will Be Blood has that feeling to, but occasionally it's like a kid with ADHD who just won't stay calm. Like most of PTA's movies, it has some real "wtf??"-like moments.

Just to look at it in terms of the story is also to ignore the scale of ambition and sheer scope of There Will Be Blood. There are few films that have explored the potential of cinema to quite the degree that PTA managed. The derrick fire is a stand out. It is a perfect blending of image, action, camera moves, editing, music and sound. It's a year or so since I last watched the film (although that was the fourth time I had viewed it), but it isn't hard for me to immediately bring to mind the scene's pounding, incessant scoring and the quite staggering moment where H.W. is blown over.

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Post #: 203

Like and old-classic me thinks - 21/4/2010 5:33:47 AM

monkeyhumour

Posts: 254
Joined: 12/2/2006

Not boring, not dut dull
I found it to be very pacy and thrilling, it's my favourite of P.T.A anderson movies

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Post #: 204

Each to their own.... - 18/8/2010 4:23:03 AM

otacons folly

Posts: 18
Joined: 30/12/2008

I see a few on this site struggling to be sucked into the worldview of Plainview and that's understandable because it's a tough watch.
However,i personally was impressed by TWBB first time around and the second time i started to appreciate it more,much as i did with Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia(both films i consider worthy of my top 25).
Daniel Day Lewis is indeed brilliant here and Dano puts up an admirable if losing fight both in performance and character,the music,for me works as it keeps the sense of Plainview's mindset degrading until it finally collapses into furious violence but you wouldn't understand that as well on one viewing.
A powerful film but it's not,in my opinion,as good as Punch Drunk or Magnolia as they did far more with actors who aren't known for dominating movies with the way they perform.

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Post #: 205

There Will Be Oscars - 24/10/2010 11:49:38 AM

hjfleeds

Posts: 21
Joined: 9/12/2009

Tremendous film powered by an astonishing performance by Daniel Day Lewis. This is quite slow throughout, but never boring, and it has a brilliant final hour. Paul Dano is also brilliant as Paul and Eli Sunday, but this is Lewis' film. Showing quiet menace, his descent into madness is chartered well throughout. There are some masterful scenes here, the best of which is the oil rig explosion, that is one of the dramatic scenes I've ever seen. There's a reason this is an oscar winner. It's amazing

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Post #: 206

i drink your milkshake - 28/5/2011 12:41:48 PM

Dirk Diggler 619

Posts: 16
Joined: 22/5/2011

Day lewis almost steals the spotlight from p.t andersons direction but steals it back in the end. there must be something behind Paul sunday, thats what intrigues me!!!!!!! CLASSIC

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Post #: 207

There Will Be Blood Review - 3/3/2012 10:26:37 PM

the film man

Posts: 598
Joined: 13/10/2010

Widely touted as a masterpiece, this sparse and sprawling epic about the underhanded heroes of capitalism boasts incredible performances from both Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano, and is director Paul Thomas Anderson's best work to date.

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Post #: 208

PTA's Masterpiece - 9/2/2013 12:23:45 AM

Mr Gittes

Posts: 440
Joined: 3/2/2013

The best film so far this century, in my opinion. Easily in my top ten of all time. Day-Lewis also gives the most outstanding performance I've ever seen by an actor.

Yeah, as you can probably tell, I love this movie.

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Post #: 209

DREEENAAGE.....a.k.a Andersson's MASTERPIECE and Lewis ... - 12/4/2013 3:55:02 PM

Ralph25

Posts: 43
Joined: 30/3/2013
From: Portugal

A film that hits you like a fever, "There Will Be Blood" is not the kind of movie that someone will have the pleasure of watching or reviewing. It is a portrait of several layers of everything that comes with the desire for power, will leave the audience feeling exhausted and with a bitter taste in the mouth.
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film is submitted safely and confidently. Anderson proves to be one of the best director of all time, a fact that is evident here. Packed with shots and scenes of breathtaking intensity of boiling, the film makes no apologies about his tendency toward grandiosity inherent in telling an epic story that spans decades.
Perhaps the first thing that will strike viewers will use the images as dark and gloomy, almost impossible to see. We watched the movie as we were covered in oil. Batway, oil is simply the central theme of the film.
The story begins with the oil tycoon Daniel Plainview, he is a very intelligent man and cruel that does whatever it takes to achieve your goals. He works hard, but he also takes advantage of the people around at your expense, if necessary. His business partner is his son H.W, that he actually "acquired" when the H.W biological father, who worked on one of the platforms of Daniel, was killed in an accident at work.
Daniel is deeply protective of H.W, but only for that H.W brings to the society, a serene and innocent face. When both know Eli Sunday saying the land of his father has oil everywhere, making an offer to Daniel to buy the imovel from his father. Eli is the local preacher and a healer "self-proclaimed" wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church.
The lives of both characters change completely when Daniel decides to buy all the land outside the property of the father of Eli and tries to acquire all the land around, at bargain basement prices to be able to build an oil industry. And always with H.W at your side to strengthen the bu

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Post #: 210