nuts4chic - film review
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| Daniel Day-Lewis is superb in the main role and offers an amazingly nuanced portrait of a misanthropic man obsessed with power and with himself |
The saga of American oil entrepreneur Daniel Plainview begins in 1898, when he finds oil in his silver mine in New Mexico, and digs his first oil well. A few years after he has built a small empire and is constantly accompanied by his adopted young son, H.W.
One day, a creepy young man convinces Plainview to invest on an oil-soaked land in Little Boston, California, inhabited by a deeply religious community.
There he meets fanatic preacher and healer Eli Sunday, who will become his worst enemy. In a crescendo of greed and violence, Plainview erases all affection from his heart, including H.W.’s – but a bitter surprise awaits him at the top of his power…
How do you make a great film from a very good script? Given that Paul Thomas Anderson is the helmer, it shouldn’t be that difficult. But forget about the messianic tone, meaningful speeches, hovering camera movements that were typical of Anderson’s cinema - and that won him lots of detractors who called his masterpiece Magnolia patronizing and rhetoric.
This time around, Anderson makes a wise choice and leaves the story speak for itself. Which of course makes it all the more effective and scary. Daniel Day-Lewis is superb in the main role and offers an amazingly nuanced portrait of a misanthropic man obsessed with power and with himself; but young Paul Dano is equally subtle as the uncanny, raging mad preacher.
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Read our exclusive interview with Daniel Day-Lewis |
Their interplay grows more and more violent, psychological pressure gives way to physical abuse. And of course, the relationship between oil, economic power and religious fanatism has parallels to today’s situation we all know very well. 14-years-old H.W. is the powerless spectator of his father’s struggle and will finally find his own way in the heart-rending, cruel ending.
Although this film is amazing from all points of view, a special mention goes to the soundtrack by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood: melody is hardly used to signify the dryness in Plainview’s heart; on the contrary, a rich texture of strings and abstract sounds (among which the famous “Martenot Waves”) lies underneath the heavy dialogue, contributing to the disquieting atmosphere of the film.
Clearly the best contender for this year’s Academy Award as Best Film, There Will Be Blood is the first masterwork of the new year.
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