Quality oozes from "There Will Be Blood"

Director-writer Paul Thomas Anderson's stark masterpiece, There Will Be Blood, is the story of Daniel Plainview (as played by Daniel Day-Lewis), a heartless man whose unbridled ambition turns him into a ruthless oil tycoon at the beginning of the 20th century. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel, Oil!, the film chronicles Plainview's vicious rise to power, through both blood and oil. Today, as the world finds its oil supplies dwindling away, the story is more relevant than ever because it shows the true price of a natural resource we take for granted.

Daniel Day-Lewis not only delivers the finest performance of his career, but one of the finest performances in recent memory. He brings the character of Daniel Plainview to life with an incredibly well-nuanced performance. Everything is spot-on, from his facial expressions to his savage limp. His performance alone will make you sit through the film. For the most part, Plainview is a calm, composed man whose very smile, which seems sincere enough, can send chills down your spine. When he becomes enraged, he invokes the fear of God, not only on his victims, but in members of the audience. Day-Lewis's performance is so convincing, so believable, that you will forget you are watching a film, and instead think you are watching someone's life. The life of someone you would never want to cross, and preferably, never meet.

"What sin are you referring to?" Plainview nervously asks a man who tells him that he must repent for his sins in order to get the black gold buried beneath his land. Plainview wears a look of serious concern because his sins are far too grand and are so embedded into his life that he has forgotten what they are. Plainview is every bit as evil as the devil himself, and at times looks to be even more malicious and inhuman. In the opening scene, we are introduced to him and shown just how far he is willing to go to get ahead. And in the spell-binding finale, all his fury and hatred culminate in a brilliant, brutal scene that will leave you stunned, but not surprised.

At the center of the movie are Plainview's relationships with other people. The most important one is with his young son, who he sees as a business partner. The young boy makes a great partner because he has a cute face that people can't say no to.

Plainview's relationship with another con-artist, Eli Sunday (played by Paul Dano, whose career will certainly take off after this performance), is at the heart of the film. Eli is another power-hungry, manipulative man, filled with that same unbridled ambition. As Plainview admits, "I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people." And probably none more than Eli, who is a fire and brimstone pastor with some control over the minds of the people Plainview exploits. Eli tries to stand up to the tycoon, ineffectively, and their interactions are some of the most intense moments in the film.

Something that often gets overlooked in film is sound. There Will Be Blood has one of the greatest scores I have ever heard. It is provided by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and you would never know that by listening to it. The delicate timbre of the strings and cascading classical arrangements add to the film's already intense atmosphere. Much of the story takes place in the desolate countryside, which is beautifully, painfully, perfectly captured on film. The film's world is filled with sand and silence, so the score is crucial in keeping the viewer engaged, and ultimately, it is what holds the film together. The music pulls you in, toying with you, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It pumps intensity into moments that would otherwise seem lacking. At times, the music is as foreboding as the film's brilliant title, which promises that blood will be spilled in the pursuit of oil, in the name of greed.

If the film has a flaw, it may be its length. Clocking in at 158 minutes, some viewers will undoubtedly find the movie slow, but this thought never occurred to me while watching because I was so engrossed in what was happening on screen.

Quality oozes out of the film at every seam. It certainly deserves every one of the eight Oscars it was nominated for, including best picture, best director, best actor, best cinematography, and best sound-editing. Only time will tell how many it will win, but frankly, I don't see the academy doing anything other than honoring Daniel Plainview with the highest praise. They should be scared not to.