 There Will Be Blood opens with a helpless wailing sound echoing across a rocky and hilly land. Cut to a miner (Daniel Day-Lewis), whom a short while later we learn is Daniel Plainview. He is deep underground hacking away at rocks with his pick. His is a desolate world, abandoned. This is one man versus nature. We see him struggling to lift his tools out of a shaft, which he has rigged with a pulley system that evokes back breaking labor. His dynamite at the bottom the shaft goes off early. Either that or he took too long in hoisting up his tools. When the smoke settles he climbs back down into the shaft but a broken ladder rung sends him down the hard way. He breaks his leg. However, his hard work is rewarded: he finds a nugget of silver. Only now he must climb the shaft up a ladder with a broken leg. This part seems almost too easy now that he has his nugget. It also foreshadows the direction this film will go. Plainview will climb with his minerals no matter what the cost.
And so we are now deep in the world of Daniel Plainview, a turn of the Century—am I allowed for that to still mean 19th Century?. If I say he is an oil man, I am sure you will agree. This film is about his, I dunno, passion for finding oil. Maybe it is a family study on basically how not to raise one. Maybe it is more like a study in monomania. Daniel Plainview, an aptly titled character if there ever was one, is cut and dry as the rocks he chips away at. He is also as unctuous as the black crude he harpoons from the back of the Earth—like Captain Ahab striking deeply into the back of the White Whale. And I might continue to invite a comparison to Captain Ahab at this point. Daniel Plainview is consumed by oil and a certain way of living. I am not sure I will call it a philosophy. He is driven, consumed and as the film progresses, increasingly insane. In the early goings of the story, he is a doting father if not a somewhat psychotic one. He matter-of-factly and coldly tells folks that his son’s mother died at birth. His son, H.W. Plainview is sort of along as the witness in watching his father be all consumed by a passion to find and reap the riches of oil. Ultimately, we learn the truth about his son, but I’ll get to that. Plainview is approached by Eli, a local boy who knows the oil on his father’s land is worth money, oil that is seeping through the ground. The kid appears stupid, but is actually quite shrewd, if not greedy. He charges a finder’s fee. Plainview shows up on the property where it appears the boy led him to his parents’ place. Eli turns out to be a local priest of some fervent born again group, Church of the Third Revelation. His father is somewhat dimwitted. Later Eli calls him stupid for selling the land so cheaply to Plainview, who now is bent on tapping the fire pits of hell to make a buck. And it should be mentioned the relationship with the priest goes south after Plainview slaps the crap out of him and dunks him in oil. Despite success, Plainview becomes increasingly filled with frustration and rage. A long lost brother turns up, whom Plainview takes in. The brother seems nice enough and somewhat alarmed at his brother’s honest assessment of his own hatred. Plainview essentially says that he sees nothing but the worst in people. He confesses to his brother that he doesn’t like anyone to be successful but himself. His brother soon takes a place on his side, but slowly he begins to suspect him. Either that, or simply does not like him anymore. After his brother can’t name a farm or something he should have know, the man confesses that he actually assumed his brother’s story when he died. He finds out the real story about him and then blasts him. Luckily, he knows a guy handy with a pick and shovel, himself. There is something inside Plainview that clearly tortures him. It appears to be a sentimental soft spot for some sort of notion of family. He never beats his kid, but clearly can’t deal with his son’s issues of setting their house on fire. So, he abandons his child. Did you hear me HE ABANDONED HIS CHILD. HE ABANDONED HIS CHILD! Okay, I am emphasizing a very intense scene where Plainview must convert to The Third Church of The Revelation (If I got that right) to get an intransigent landowner willing to sell his lot to him. All this for the pipeline to the ocean. Whether Plainview buys into the conversion is doubtful. Even if he had an inkling of personal reform, he is far too consumed by a driving desire to succeed. He seems hurt that the rest of life doesn’t fall in place with his massive oil empire. By the end of the film, Plainview’s descent into insanity is all but complete. We end up in 1927 where Plainview is shooting pistols inside his mansion. His deaf son shows up, now somewhat successful. He wants to start his own company in Mexico and take his wife. Dad finally tries to patch up things by telling his boy he was an orphan. He tells him needed a sweet face to buy land. To emphasize the point he yells it several times, “You were a bastard in a basket. YOU WERE A BASTARD IN A BASKET. YOU WERE A BASTARD IN A BASKET.” Now the film caps with what surely is one of the most made-to-be-legend scenes in some time. I would clearly put it as a signature scene in 2000s. Eli comes to Plainview’s mansion for a scheme to get money. But Plainview has ideas. First he wants Eli to admit he was a false prophet. Then, he must say God is a superstition. He must repeat this mind you to the imaginary congregation gathered in Plainview’s Bowling Alley, which is inside his home mind you. Then we get the “milkshake speech”. A clearly insane Plainview explains how a long straw enables him to drink Eli’s milkshake. This is the signature scene in the film and it is saved for the end. I’ll save this for the end. This movie is a Ace. It does have some flaws. For instance, I thought it odd that Daniel Plainview would even attempt to convert to the Church. It would have seemed more in character if he would have killed the lone holdout on the land. Also, the quite dramatic scene where Plainview converts doesn’t seem to fit when we learn his son was merely a sales prop at the conclusion of the film. Overall the film is a top notch effort. Daniel Day-Lewis was reminded me of his role as Bill The Butcher from Gangs of New York. The direction, the soundtrack and the acting in every aspect was fantastic. This film won many accolades and for good reason. Now then, who drank my milkshake?
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