There Will Be Blood (2007)

A story of family, religion, hatred, oil and madness, focusing on a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.

Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson

Writers:

Paul Thomas Anderson (written for the screen by), Upton Sinclair (novel)

Stars:

Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds

Top Rated Movies #152 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 107 wins & 136 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 HW
Stockton Taylor	...	Baby HW
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Prescott
Dillon Freasier	...	HW
Kevin Breznahan	...	Signal Hill Man
Jim Meskimen	...	Signal Hill Married Man
Erica Sullivan	...	Signal Hill Woman
Randall Carver	...	Mr. Bankside
Coco Leigh	...	Mrs. Bankside

Storyline

The intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California presents miner-turned-oilman Daniel Plainview, a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner/son (H.W.) is, in reality, an "acquired" child whose true biological single-parent father (working on one of Daniel's rigs) died in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, a local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline to the ...

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Plot Keywords:

oil | misanthrope | loss of hearing | false prophet | alcoholic | 

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Taglines:

When Ambition Meets Faith

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English American Sign Language

Release Date:

25 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Oil!

Filming Locations:

Shafter, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$190,739, 30 December 2007

Gross USA:

$40,222,514

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$76,181,545

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Vantage, Miramax, Ghoulardi Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

158 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was the original actor in mind when PTA wrote the role of HM Tillford, but Anderson decided to cast someone else as a means of distancing himself from his past works & have a sort of rebirth in his career without any loose ends connecting him to other, more lighthearted films such as Boogie Nights (1997) or Punch Drunk Love (2002). Hoffman was also busy filming Synecdoche, New York (2008) at the time Tillford's scenes were being shot anyway.

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Goofs

In the early scenes where the two miners are hauling buckets up the wells, a modern "bow" shackle is used to hold the bucket to the rope.

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Quotes

Plainview: Eli! Tragedy at the well last night.
Eli Sunday: Yes, I heard.
Plainview: Joe Ghunda was a man of considerable faith, so if you wish to say a few words, his burial's at noon, tomorrow.
Eli Sunday: Daniel, this accident could have been avoided. It is terrible to think of that well working away out there, unblessed...
Plainview: Yes, it could have. These men are working twelve hour shifts and they need their rest. If they don't have it, they start to make stupid mistakes...
Eli Sunday: I've seen some of the men drinking. Don't you think that has ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, except for the title

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Connections

Referenced in Lethal Weapon: There Will Be Bud (2019)

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Soundtracks

Gradh Geal Mo Chridh
(uncredited)

User Reviews

Original but Flawed Work

There Will Be Blood (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Ambitious film about an oil man (Daniel Day-Lewis) who will stop at nothing to find the black gold. I must be honest and say I don't know what the whole point of this film was or if it was just trying to show evilness in the world but this 158-minute film kept my interest throughout. I think the film drags somewhat right before the final act but outside of that this is a very good epic that certainly has the look and feel of epics from decades ago. The visual style of the film is the most impressive thing as Anderson's camera takes us on quite a journey and also shows off some amazing locations. Another great thing is how we see how oil was produced back in the day and all the small details on the screen make for a very impressive history lesson. I also loved the first fifteen or twenty minutes of the film, which are done without dialogue. We see Day-Lewis' rise and how he got started within these opening scenes and even though there isn't a line of dialogue spoken we still learn everything we need to know about him. A lot has been said about the performance from Daniel Day-Lewis and while it is a great one I wouldn't call it the best of his career. I think he played this same type of character in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York and I think he was a lot better there but that's certainly not a slam against his performance here because he's great here as well. That snake quality the actor brings to this role is quite memorable and even when he's doing something good or worthwhile, you can still see that evilness in his eyes. The supporting cast were mostly good but they are miles behind Day-Lewis and I think this hurt in several scenes including the ones with the preacher (Paul Dano). Dano is pretty good in the role but the part needed someone a lot stronger who could match wits with Day-Lewis.