There Will Be Blood (2007)

In this article, we will be looking at 2019’s book “1001 Movies to See Before You Die” and going through each film in a random order that I have chosen. We will be looking at what constitutes this film to be on the list and whether I think this film deserves to be here at all. I want to make perfectly clear that I won’t be revealing details from this book such as analyses by film reporters who have written about the film in question, so if you want the book itself you’ll have to buy it. But I will be covering the book’s suggestions on which films should be your top priority. I wouldn’t doubt for a second that everyone reading this article has probably watched many of these movies anyway. But we are just here to have a bit of fun. We’re going to not just look at whether it should be on this list but we’re also going to look at why the film has such a legacy at all. Remember, this is the 2019 version of the book and so, films like “Joker” will not be featured in this book and any film that came out in 2020 (and if we get there, in 2021). So strap in and if you have your own suggestions then don’t hesitate to email me using the address in my bio. Let’s get on with it then.

There Will Be Blood (2007) dir. by Paul Thomas Anderson

I am not going to lie to you, the first time I ever saw this movie it scared the living daylights out of me. It was like watching cruelty with no redemption and I think I just sat there with my head in my hands for a very long time. I was wondering about why anyone would have so much hatred and be so sociopathic as to adopt a kid just for the purpose of using the kid in gaining people on his side. It was just a weird complex that a thirteen-year-old should not have been subjected to. I thoroughly remember watching that movie for the first time because it was only a year or so after the movie came out on DVD. I have watched it about fifteen to twenty times since and to this day, it scares the hell out of me.

Obviously, the praise for the film was amazing with The Guardian Newspaper recently calling it the greatest film of the twenty-first century. Esquire lauded the film with applause, stating on the movie that:

"...what's most fun, albeit in a frightening way, is watching this greed-meister become more and more unhinged as he locks horns with Eli Sunday … both Anderson and Day-Lewis go for broke. But it's a pleasure to be reminded, if only once every four years, that subtlety can be overrated."

Unfortunately, I whole-heartedly disagree with Roger Ebert's view of this film because I felt that "There Will Be Blood" was a million times better than "No Country For Old Men" - even in its scripting. I do not think they are comparable at all as well, they are two entirely different movies. But here we go:

"There Will Be Blood is the kind of film that is easily called great. I am not sure of its greatness. It was filmed in the same area of Texas used by No Country for Old Men, and that is a great film, and a perfect one. But There Will Be Blood is not perfect, and in its imperfections (its unbending characters, its lack of women or any reflection of ordinary society, its ending, its relentlessness) we may see its reach exceeding its grasp."

The American Film Institute put it on their top ten list and had something different to Roger Ebert to say. Here is what it stated about "There Will Be Blood" on the AFI list:

"There Will Be Blood is bravura film-making by one of American film's modern masters. Paul Thomas Anderson's epic poem of savagery, optimism and obsession is a true meditation on America. The film drills down into the dark heart of capitalism, where domination, not gain, is the ultimate goal. In a career defined by transcendent performances, Daniel Day-Lewis creates a character so rich and so towering, that "Daniel Plainview" will haunt the history of film for generations to come."

Yes, definitely, the protagonist of "There Will Be Blood" will definitely haunt me for the rest of my damn life. Even though Daniel Day-Lewis's Oscar-winning performance was amazing, the more amazing it is the more real it feels and therefore, it will haunt me to the day I die.