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 #158 | Won 2 Oscars. Another 106 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:

There Will Be Greed. There Will Be Vengeance.

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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:

$302,845, 30 December 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$40,222,514

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$77,208,711

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

The infamous "I drink your milk-shake!" is, in part, a real quote. Paul Thomas Anderson found the metaphor in congressive transcripts from the 1920s Teapot Dome scandal, in which New Mexico Republican Senator Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes for oil drilling rights to various lands. According to Anderson, "I think it was Albert Fall, who was asked to describe drainage before Congress. And his way of describing it was, 'If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake, and my straw reaches across the room ...' I'm sure I embellished it and changed it around and made it more Plainview. But Fall used the word milkshake, and I thought it was so great. It was mad to see that word among all this official testimony and terminology - a fucking milkshake. I get so happy every time I hear that word."

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Goofs

When Eli Sunday lists the towns he will be visiting on his mission, he includes Taft, which would have been named Moron until the 1920s.

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Quotes

Plainview: I want you to look over there.
[points towards H.W]
H.M. Tilford: Daniel, let me introduce you...
Plainview: Look over there. You see? That's my son. You see him?
H.M. Tilford: Yes.
Plainview: You SEE?
H.M. Tilford: I see him.
Plainview: You don't tell me how to raise my family. I told you not to tell me how to raise my family.
H.M. Tilford: Daniel...
Plainview: So, what do you see?
[...]

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, except for the title

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Connections

Spoofed in There Will Be Cum (2008)

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Soundtracks

Pärt: Fratres for Cello and Piano
Composed by Arvo Pärt (as Arvo Part)
Performed by I Fiamminghi (as I Fiamminghi, The Orchestra of Flanders)
Conducted by Rudolf Werthen
Courtesy of Telarc International Corporation

User Reviews

Wow

If Daniel Day-Lewis doesn't win an Oscar for this performance, there is something horribly wrong. His performance and this film were amazing. I don't give this kind of accolade out generously. I was at the screening at the Chelsea West. We waited outside in the cold and rain for a good two hours to get in there and get some good seats and I can honestly say, I would have waited double that amount of time. Enough of my rambling though. In regards to the film itself; it was very well done. The cinematography was amazing as well as the set design. As usual, PTA gives us a flawless script with terrifying, humorous, and compelling dialogue. All of the acting was spot on. Paul Dano played the role of a two-faced, maniacal, and power hungry preacher. The young man who plays H.W. Plainview was also very solid. As PTA stated during the Q&A last night, he seemed to know everything about the story and his character and seemed to be a natural. Daniel Day-Lewis. Need I say more? He was breathtaking in TWBB. Amazing is all i can say. You will need to see the film to see for yourself. Some may become bored with the film at times, which is what i gathered from the people sitting around me. I had no problem with the "slow" scenes, but the general public may have a problem grasping this film. If anything, this will be the reason if it gets snubbed at the Oscars.