There Will Be Blood: Sketches, Fragments, and Other Half-Baked Ideas

I'll admit it – I've become obsessed with Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, easily the best film of the year. It's been burning inside my brain for weeks now, and I've spent countless hours dissecting Anderson's stylistic, thematic and directorial nuances, for I believe this to be that rarest of things – a perfect film. There isn't a wrong note, or single unnecessary moment, shot, or line of dialogue throughout. I've made several attempts at writing a proper review of the film, but just couldn't come up with anything sufficiently cohesive (or coherent, for that matter.) Though I've seen the film twice already, and have had some wonderful discussions with several other fans of the film, there are a handful of disparate threads regarding influences, allusions and allegories that I've not been able to tie-up. Rather than remain silent, I've decided to post some of these miscellaneous thoughts in the hopes of encouraging discussion. What follows are notes I've jotted down at various moments, thoughts that occurred to me while in the shower, or connections I thought of on the subway. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments, even if it is to tell me I'm completely insane about any of this. I'm treating this as a work in progress, and I may add or remove sections over the next few days. [Note: Spoilers follow!] BUSH / POLITICAL ALLEGORY One question that's been nagging me is whether or not Anderson is consciously engaging in a bit of political allegory. With a film about an oil tycoon set at the intersection of industry and religion ("When ambition meets faith" is the film's official tagline), it's hard not to think of both Bush 41 and 43. Like Plainview and son H.W. (as in Herbert Walker, or mere coincidence?), the Bush father-son team also made their millions in the oil industry, and control of the precious liquid has resulted in actions that mirror Plainview's, but on a much larger, global scale. What almost convinces me of a political agenda is Anderson's inclusion of There is Power in the Blood, the Protestant hymn which George W. Bush stealthily quoted in his 2003 State of the Union Address, a wink and a nod to his fundamentalist base. Bush's line, "there's power, wonder-working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people" is an unquestionable twist on the hymn's repeated refrain, "There is power, power, wonder-working power/In the precious blood of the lamb." At the same time, however, There Will Be Blood speaks of the triumph of business over religion, which is certainly contradictory to the current state of affairs in Bush's America, where the two have become increasingly intertwined. When Plainview first speaks to the people of Little Boston, he employs standard political rhetoric ("the children are the future") and then unsurprisingly fails to follow through on his promises. After successfully obtaining the land from the pious Sunday (natch) family and cheating them out of a fortune, Plainview becomes something of an authority figure over the community, having power such that he can put an end to the beatings that patriarch Abel Sunday inflicts on his youngest daughter Mary for not praying enough – the first of his triumphs over faith, which will continue for years until he announces "I'm finished" after snuffing out the final vestige. But what are we to make of this ultimate triumph, nearly twenty years in the making? Anderson doesn't play favorites – there's equal corruption on both sides, and neither Daniel nor Eli are particularly worthy of our sympathy. Daniel's contempt for Eli's church is palpable, but he'll play the game, which includes public humiliation, in order to achieve his goals. Eli will in turn do the same thing. Is the final confrontation simply one man versus another, or do they represent something greater? Eli is a charlatan, and a self-confessed sinner. Is Daniel's destruction of the false prophet merely fulfillment of biblical prophecy? And where's the political allegory in this? (Sigh.) KUBRICK Anderson has always worn his influences on his sleeve, and just as Boogie Nights owes a debt to Scorsese, and Magnolia to Altman, I'm convinced that There Will Be Blood is his ode to Kubrick, and in particular 2001: A Space Odyssey (and to a lesser extent, The Shining). Thematically the two films couldn't be more different, yet there are Kubrickian elements throughout. Let's begin with the simple. MUSIC There are traces of Penderecki and Ligeti (two composers whose work can be found in several Kubrick films) in Jonny Greenwood's magnificent score. Compare Ligeti's pre-credit opening sequence from 2001 with Greenwood's track, Henry Plainview. Ligeti - Overture-Atmospheres Jonny Greenwood - Henry Plainview STRUCTURE Like 2001, TWBB is broken up into distinct, inter-titled sections which indicate leaps in time. Both films open with lengthy sequences that play out without a single line of dialog – 2001's The Dawn of Man, TWBB's 1898 – and both end with a discovery that results in advancement. The mysterious monolith in 2001 leads the apes the discovery of tools (which will ultimately lead man to space), while Daniel Plainview's accidental discovery of oil advances him from battered creature in a hole to successful oilman. (Yet as we later learn, a suit and wads of cash makes him no less a monster.) TONE/THEME Like many of Kubrick's later films, TWBB is filled with a sense of imminent dread, and fear. It's an extremely tense film, yet a slow burn, like The Shining. Societal alienation, a staple in Kubrick's work, is also at the forefront here. SHOTS (Unfortunately, I don't have a screener of TWBB, so I can't properly illustrate as I'd like.) The final sequence in TWBB is the only one not set on the plains, in a wooden shack, or in a hole in the ground, and the difference is as severe as the post-Jupiter scenes in 2001. There are two establishing shots of Plainview's mansion:

The first is vaguely reminiscent of the grand lobby of The Overlook hotel in The Shining. The second, of a bowling alley, calls to mind the room that Dave Bowman finds himself in after the Jupiter sequence. Speaking of that scene...

...here we find Dave Bowman who, like Plainview, is now an old man, alone in what appears to be a stately home. True, his meal is a bit more dignified than a steak on a bowling lane, but the similarities are interesting. Then there's the final scene of There Will Be Blood, which takes us right back to the opening of 2001:

Daniel Plainview dealing with his adversary.

A reminder once again that the title of this post does refer to half-baked ideas. Please feel free to contribute your thoughts below, or the number of a good psychiatric hospital.

Comments

[Manny]

I too felt that 2001 vibe as soon as i heard the music. But the part that really felt like 2001 was the part where the workers raised the the steel thing that broke through the oil releasing the oil. When the steel thing raised to the top one of the workers put one of his palms on the oil covered steel.I immediatley thought of the scene in 2001 where the 1st ape/man laid his upon the monolith for the first time.

[Mark Roder]

Without reading any of this, the lack of dialogue at the start immediately smacked of 2001, I even turned to a friend I was watching it with to remark on the similarity. Also by coincidence, we had watched the Shining just a week before, and both immediately pointed out the very close (almost exact) match between the string stabs at the start and various Shining string stabs. So yes, the Kubrick connection suggests itself almost immediately.

[John]

What does Lolita say to wake Humbert Humbert when he is sleeping on the cot? I can't find the exact quote from the film, but it is similar to what Eli says to wake Daniel at the end of There Will Be Blood.

[Merlin]

Moreover don't you think There Will Be Blood is about the folly of following two extremes. One, the man of the earth, digging deep for his salvation and intent on proving Man's superiority, or victory over God. The other, the man of the spirit, hell bent on finding salvation in his unmerciful God. Both fail to find the treasure they are looking for, both end up lonely and faithless - all their work having brought them nothing but emptiness and disillusion.
Ultimately it may be a tale of the irreconcilability within man, and his quest to find meaning in life. One that leads both aspects of that self to clash inevitably with each other, leading to the inevitable realization of the proclamation there will be blood. Perhaps life is that inevitable clash, that thunder blow that falls on Eli as he is sacrificed, or becomes symbolic of the collision of two insane opposing but equally paralytical lusts.
One looks for part of himself in the other, and because neither can find it, the frustration gives way to violence. Plainview looks for some evidence of what he considers makes a man in Eli i.e someone prepared to stand up for himself (ultimately against God), while Eli looks for some charity, some Godliness in plainview. Neither man is capable of meeting the other and Eli's desperate pleas for Plainview to recognize him, Eli as his 'old friend' provide the secret to both their downfall and the only possible path to their real salvation.
Is it not so that both have worshipped false idols throughout, both have been false prophets, and neither have looked to the human race and one to another where they will find the gold that they either bent down to dig or asked of from the skies. This plaintive remark, this desperate cry of Eli's for human solidarity, beyond money or religion, is the middle ground, between the heavens and the earth, where all men should meet, and indeed where both God and wealth reside together. But Plainview has already pushed himself too far away from others and, in his final act of rage, kills the last drop of love from his life and is literally finished as a human being.
Thus, friendship, tolerance and understanding, none do we see here. And perhaps it is posited by this film that never is the human race destined to find them. Therefore of course There Will Be Blood.

[pininfrna]

Great post. I found this page after a Google search for "there will be blood" "kubrick", because I wanted to see others' thoughts on the subject. In my mind, your post is the definitive There-Will-Be-Blood-Is-An-Homage-To-Stanley-Kubrick resource on the entire Internets. :)

[Juan Guerra]

Daniel and Eli were in a battle to the death. Right to the end, Eli came into to the bowling room and yelled, "Daniel wake up. There's a fire in the house." He thought he was in a position of power. Daniel knew that Eli was in a weaker position when he said, "What's wrong Dear Eli. Are times not good for you." Eli replied, "Oh no, but I'm here to give you bad news...." When it came out Eli had made a mess of his finances and Daniel knew he had come to him to bail him out.. Drainage Eli:)