Wednesday

There Will be Blood is almost a masterpiece. Instead, it is just a very, very good film, which isn't a bad thing, of course. I hesitate to say what you would need to add or remove to make it better, but the answer has to be 'not much'. It is a remorselessly intelligent movie which treats its audience as intelligent. Someone told me P. T. Anderson is too contrived, but I think they have a different meaning of that word than me. The music sustains a grim mood, and the lack of sound effects and silence in horrific moments makes them even more horrifying. The humour at times seemed out of place, and this may have come from the book, but was missing in the rest of the film. Daniel Day Lewis, on screen for almost the entire film, puts in an amazing performance. At times, however, it felt too intense, too 'method', and the difference between this and his role in Gangs of New York seemed minor. The ending was perhaps the only major blemish, turning the film into a biography of the man, rather than a portrayal of part of his life. The brief flashback to happier times, and the last scene itself, felt out of touch with what had gone before. But these are minor complaints. This is easily one of the best films I've seen in a long time.