There Will Be Blood – Critique of Capitalism
Movie Analysis
The first twenty minutes of the turn of the 19th century epic There will be Blood of director Paul Thomas Anderson often amaze the audience. Anderson introduces Daniel Plainview, the main character, without a single word. Pictures of harsh deserted landscapes tremble with harsh loud sounds of accompanying music. Amidst that, a single man mines for silver in a hole he has dug out with his hands. Metallic clangs of tools interrupt the scores. Then accident happens and Daniel with a broken leg crawls for miles to the nearest town not to see a doctor, but to exchange his silver for money which enables him to start a bigger enterprise—his first oil rig. Anderson pays such a hold to an …show more content…
A good example is a relationship of Plainview with his adoptive son H.W. Daniel adopts H.W. as a baby after his father died in a rig accident. The scene when they travel together on a train and he let the baby touch his face is a rare, if not the only one, expression of intimacy Daniel Plainview allows. Next, the story jumps several years ahead when Plainview, now a profitable oil prospector, introduces himself to a group of farmers: “I’m a family man—I run a family business. This is my son and my partner, H.W.” Anderson reinforces this admirable relationship of father and son in harsh conditions of American frontier at the beginning of 20th century in several scenes. Plainview takes his son everywhere (to a pretended quill hunting) and teaches him all the tricks of the trade (getting the “quill prices” for a land rich in oil). But Plainview also uses his adoptive son as a tool to sell family side of his business to the settlers. He grooms H.W. as his heir, but one who would listen to him adoringly, who would not oppose to him, and who would endorse his self-image of a family man. Shortly after the accident that leaves H.W. deaf—the same explosion of gas that brought up the underground oil and that makes Plainview rich— Daniel Plainview dissposes of his adoptive son as he is no more of use to him. Eventhough he brings himback later, their …show more content…
Sitting in his luxurious study in an empty mansion, he disownes his, now adult, adopted son after H.W. has decided to go his own way in pursuit of his business ideas in oil trade, calling him a „bastard in a basket“, a „pretty, trustworthy face“ he needed to carry out his business schemes. Daniel’s decline reaches the climax when he, first, humiliates his rival Eli Sunday forcing him to admit that he is a fraud, and then he beats him to death with a bowling pin as if he is some nasty cocroach. Bowling alley as a place of the last scene is symbolic. Plainview, all his life viewed people as pins in his private game he knocked down as he needed: I've worked people over and gotten what I want from them. His famed last words in a movie, “I am finished,” concluded his quest on multiple levels: he finished off his rival, he is done with his pursuit of money and power, and he also finally got away from
Movie Analysis
The first twenty minutes of the turn of the 19th century epic There will be Blood of director Paul Thomas Anderson often amaze the audience. Anderson introduces Daniel Plainview, the main character, without a single word. Pictures of harsh deserted landscapes tremble with harsh loud sounds of accompanying music. Amidst that, a single man mines for silver in a hole he has dug out with his hands. Metallic clangs of tools interrupt the scores. Then accident happens and Daniel with a broken leg crawls for miles to the nearest town not to see a doctor, but to exchange his silver for money which enables him to start a bigger enterprise—his first oil rig. Anderson pays such a hold to an …show more content…
A good example is a relationship of Plainview with his adoptive son H.W. Daniel adopts H.W. as a baby after his father died in a rig accident. The scene when they travel together on a train and he let the baby touch his face is a rare, if not the only one, expression of intimacy Daniel Plainview allows. Next, the story jumps several years ahead when Plainview, now a profitable oil prospector, introduces himself to a group of farmers: “I’m a family man—I run a family business. This is my son and my partner, H.W.” Anderson reinforces this admirable relationship of father and son in harsh conditions of American frontier at the beginning of 20th century in several scenes. Plainview takes his son everywhere (to a pretended quill hunting) and teaches him all the tricks of the trade (getting the “quill prices” for a land rich in oil). But Plainview also uses his adoptive son as a tool to sell family side of his business to the settlers. He grooms H.W. as his heir, but one who would listen to him adoringly, who would not oppose to him, and who would endorse his self-image of a family man. Shortly after the accident that leaves H.W. deaf—the same explosion of gas that brought up the underground oil and that makes Plainview rich— Daniel Plainview dissposes of his adoptive son as he is no more of use to him. Eventhough he brings himback later, their …show more content…
Sitting in his luxurious study in an empty mansion, he disownes his, now adult, adopted son after H.W. has decided to go his own way in pursuit of his business ideas in oil trade, calling him a „bastard in a basket“, a „pretty, trustworthy face“ he needed to carry out his business schemes. Daniel’s decline reaches the climax when he, first, humiliates his rival Eli Sunday forcing him to admit that he is a fraud, and then he beats him to death with a bowling pin as if he is some nasty cocroach. Bowling alley as a place of the last scene is symbolic. Plainview, all his life viewed people as pins in his private game he knocked down as he needed: I've worked people over and gotten what I want from them. His famed last words in a movie, “I am finished,” concluded his quest on multiple levels: he finished off his rival, he is done with his pursuit of money and power, and he also finally got away from