films friday // there will be blood

The other night David suggested that we watch There Will Be Blood. He hadn't seen it since it was still in the theaters and I hadn't watched it in quite a while either, so I said, "Why not?"

I forgot just how much I love this film. It's no feel-good flick, but it really makes you think about human nature and pride and greed and power and betrayal. Many moments make me laugh out loud at the brutal honesty of it.

Daniel Day-Lewis is one of my top three favorite actors. I really feel like this character is one of my favorites of his. It's the little subtleties he brings to Daniel Plainview that make him come alive. And there's much more to it than the "I drink your milkshake" scene (it kind of bothered me how much crap was on the internet about that scene. it really turned it into something I don't think it wasn't meant to be, even though it is pretty funny).

Also, the score is incredible. It's unconventional, it's eerie, it's strange and it's pretty epic.
Jonny Greenwood, of one of my favorite bands, Radiohead, spent only 3 weeks creating it and I can't imagine it being any more perfect for this film. When interviewed by Entertainment Weekly regarding his contribution he said,

"I think it was about not necessarily just making period music, which very traditionally you would do. But because they were traditional orchestral sounds, I suppose that's what we hoped was a little unsettling, even though you know all the sounds you're hearing are coming from very old technology. You can just do things with the classical orchestra that do unsettle you, that are sort of slightly wrong, that have some kind of undercurrent that's slightly sinister."


I definitely recommend you see this film if you haven't already. As a warning, there is some violence here and there.

p.s. I haven't read the book "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair which this film was based, but I really want to. Have any of you?

{original photo sources}