There Will Be Blood (2007)

Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writers (WGA):

Paul Thomas Anderson (screenplay)
Upton Sinclair (novel)

Release Date:

11 January 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

When Ambition Meets Faith

Plot:

A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.

Plot Keywords:

Drunkard | Oil | Renovation | Father Son Relationship | Spiritual Healing

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 47 wins & 42 nominations

Cast

Daniel Day-Lewis	...	Daniel Plainview
Martin Stringer	...	Silver Assay Worker
Matthew Braden Stringer	...	Silver Assay Worker
Jacob Stringer	...	Silver Assay Worker
Joseph Mussey	...	Silver Assay Worker
Barry Del Sherman	...	H.B. Ailman
Harrison Taylor	...	Baby H.W. Plainview
Stockton Taylor	...	Baby H.W. Plainview
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Prescott
Dillon Freasier	...	Young H.W. Plainview
Kevin Breznahan	...	Signal Hill Man
Jim Meskimen	...	Signal Hill Married Man
Erica Sullivan	...	Signal Hill Woman
Randall Carver	...	Mr. Bankside
Coco Leigh	...	Mrs. Bankside

Also Known As:

Oil! (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence.

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | American Sign Language

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Malaysia:U | UK:15 (re-rating on appeal) | Australia:M | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:15A | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Finland:K-13 | Norway:15 | Greece:K-13 | USA:R (certificate #43414) | Brazil:14 | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Taiwan:R-12 | Austria:16 | Czech Republic:15 | Canada:14A (Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | Argentina:13 | France:U (with warning) | Germany:12 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Sweden:15 | UK:12A (original rating) | New Zealand:R13 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:16LV | Hong Kong:IIA

Filming Locations:

El Mirage Dry Lake, California, USA

Company:

Ghoulardi Film Company

Trivia:

Daniel Day-Lewis based his voice for and characterization of Daniel Plainview in part on old recordings of the director, writer, and actor John Huston. An article by Christopher Goodwin in the Sunday Times (of London) revealed Paul Thomas Anderson sent Day-Lewis documentaries about Huston while Day-Lewis was preparing to play the role.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: During the tracking shot from the train tracks that follows the car of Daniel Plainview, you can see the dolly track for a moment when the camera pulls back, just before the camera pans to the right.

Quotes:

Prescott: [Plainview has just stormed out of a town meeting] Mr. Plainview? No! Mr. Plainview, where are you going?
Plainview: I don't need the lease, thank you.
Prescott: We need you, we need you to...
Plainview: Too much confusion! Thank you for your time.
Prescott: No, no, no! There's no confusion! If you just...
Plainview: [stops in his tracks, stares down Prescott] I wouldn't take the lease if you gave it to me as a gift.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-01-22)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Popcorn Superhet Receiver

Stunning

This film raises the game for everyone out there. I have loved all of Paul Thomas Anderson's work, including his greatly underrated Punch-Drunk Love, but this is a huge leap from any of the previous movies into a realm, as others have said, inhabited by classics such as Treasure of the Sierra Madre - and then some. Every element of this film is astonishing, from the opening twenty minutes, which feature virtually no dialog, to Jonny Greenwood's score, which I have heard criticized as too imposing but which seems just about perfect to me (and brings to mind the non-Blue Danube elements of 2001 at its most experimental). Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is in a league of its own: his voice, his mannerisms, his physical movement, his stunted emotions, are flesh and blood, and hauntingly so, in a way that even Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah (which I thought was a pretty staggering performance) can't quite attain. I will watch this film again and again simply to see something so raw and so moving and so gut-wrenching. This is why I love movies; this is what made me want to make movies when I was fourteen years old.