The opening sequence has no dialogue and minimal music. It’s quite impressive and almost a short film in itself.
The moment Daniel Day Lewis, as Daniel Plainview, speaks, it was like being hypnotised. I was reminded more than a little of John Huston in his characterisation of Daniel Plainview. At least his thick growl was uncannily akin to Huston’s voice I thought. This is very much right for this character – he has a gruff air of sincerity and earthy common sense but it’s only a facade. A trick to get what he wants. He shamelessly uses his son in the same way. And it works every time. Daniel Plainview is a deeply unpleasant man but he is utterly mesmerising to the people who meet him and we, the audience, are as much in thrall I feel. Slowly and insidiously he steals the land, left and centre, right from under the people’s noses. In fact, apart from the odd exception – Eli and Mr Bandy – everyone gladly hands it too him on a plate. But even Eli and Bandy have their own agendas for not giving in to him. Bandy for righteous reasons and Eli for greed.
Paul Dano, as Eli Sunday, has a lot to act upto and it’s to his credit that he holds his own in the scenes the two men have together – as they constantly lock horns, one trying to get the better of the other. When we first meet Eli he’s meek, mild mannered. He seems kind and thoughtful. But he is just another snake in the crib. And it’s not long before he starts hissing. Daniel calls Eli a false prophet. He’s right of course but so is Daniel (it takes one to know one!). He’s just more successful at it. That’s because he knows that the immediacy of money is always more seductive than the path to righteousness.
This is a stunning looking film and much of the story is told with the point of the camera. One very subtle moment, Daniel is telling the towns-folk of what he will do for them. As he preaches, the camera moves in slowly and seems to pan towards his son, who stands at his side and so you watch him and you become aware of him – empathise with him as his face twitches slightly and you note the lost expression. But then the camera carries on panning towards Daniel and the boy is forgotten as we – like the towns-folk – are in thrall of Daniel’s words again. This is why I love this film. This film is full of these subtle moments but you don’t even realise it. How else can you feel so much for H.W. – a character who hardly utters a word? Consequently, when Daniel packs his son off on a train, his loss as a screen presence is so great, that when he returns, the relief is palpable.
The score is like nothing I’ve heard before. Greatly enriching what is also a very densely constructed film. A great example of this is when the oil-well explodes. The pandemonium is all the more highlighted by the strange percussive cacophony played out on the soundtrack. When H.W’s eardrums burst, it would have been very easy to hammer the message home and to play the whole scene in silence but the makers know we only need those few seconds of muffled near-silence to get this message across and it’s what we are given. Then the percussion carries on.

There Will Be Blood is as near to perfect as a sprawling craggy epic can get. There is very little wrong with it. It’s flaws are minimal and it’s greatness is overwhelming.