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 110 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

Every shot in the film follows the "rule of thirds"

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Goofs

In the final scene, in the bowling room, Eli Sunday downs one of three drinks and sips on the second. He gets up, but in the next shot there are two empty glasses instead of one.

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Quotes

Plainview: [pitching his company to the people of Little Boston] Ladies and gentlemen? Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much for visiting with us this evening. Now, I've traveled across half our state to be here and to see about this land. Now, I daresay some of you might have heard some of the more extravagant rumors about what my plans are; I just thought you'd like to hear it from me. This is the face. There's no great mystery. I'm an oilman, ladies and gentlemen. I have numerous concerns spread ...

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, except for the title

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Connections

Referenced in Californication: Vaginatown (2008)

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Soundtracks

What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Written by Joseph M. Scriven (as Joseph Scriven) and Charles Crozat Converse (as Charles Converse)
Performed by Church of the Third Revelation

User Reviews

Stunning

This film raises the game for everyone out there. I have loved all of Paul Thomas Anderson's work, including his greatly underrated Punch-Drunk Love, but this is a huge leap from any of the previous movies into a realm, as others have said, inhabited by classics such as Treasure of the Sierra Madre - and then some. Every element of this film is astonishing, from the opening twenty minutes, which feature virtually no dialog, to Jonny Greenwood's score, which I have heard criticized as too imposing but which seems just about perfect to me (and brings to mind the non-Blue Danube elements of 2001 at its most experimental). Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is in a league of its own: his voice, his mannerisms, his physical movement, his stunted emotions, are flesh and blood, and hauntingly so, in a way that even Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley of Elah (which I thought was a pretty staggering performance) can't quite attain. I will watch this film again and again simply to see something so raw and so moving and so gut-wrenching. This is why I love movies; this is what made me want to make movies when I was fourteen years old.