museless aiming

There Will Be Blood

Although I don't see many new films, I enjoyed There Will Be Blood tonight, even though I can relate to someecards' take on it.

I've just finished reading the Wikipedia entry and learned a few interesting things -- e.g., that the well-cast Dillon Freasier was picked up from a random school in Texas. His acting is really quite good; better, I think, than Day-Lewis' less-than-brilliant performance. Naturally his character was meant to be over-the-top, but his accent was tiring to the point that it lessened the tragedy of his son's deafening, making it seem a merciful and even enviable respite from his father's over-acting intonation.

It's also worth reading the Edward Doheny entry, on whose life the Sinclair novel Oil! was partially based. It sounds like the book focused more on the tycoon's bribery, which doesn't feature in the film -- yet Plainview like Doheny is from Fond du Lac, and the end of the film was shot in the tycoon's real mansion in Los Angeles (with carefully renovated basement bowling alley!).

As I watched the film I thought most often of Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which the entry confirms as an inspiration for the film. The feel is fairly typical Anderson, oddly not so different from Boogie Nights (1997) in its gratuitous (if not particularly brutal) violence and lackluster narrative. There's also more than a little Scarface (1983) in the film's overall arc.

Unimpressed as I generally am by Radiohead, one of the best things about the film was Jonny Greenwood's score, which reminded me of When a Stranger Calls (1979). The Brahms violin concerto was also well-chosen.

I also enjoyed the cinematography -- even though I'm not normally one for landscapes it did have some spectacular shots -- and just the view of the early west. Enough attention was paid to detail to make it an intriguing (if not particularly informative) period piece.

rating: 6/10

: film : : reviews :
Sun Mar 9 02:44:15 GMT 2008