Daniel Day-Lewis

Continuing to wend my way through the Sight and Sound Top 250 Greatest Movies of All Time. This week, it’s #207 on the list, Paol Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood. For a longer introduction to this series and a look at the full list, just click here. And if you want a heads-up on what I’ll be watching for next week in case you want to watch along, just head on over to the Facebook page or follow me on Twitter (both of those links are in the sidebar) where I’ll generally be posting that info later in the day.

The title promises us blood, and it is certainly there in abundance.

There is blood, and there is oil, and there is greed, and there is religion, and there is revenge, and there is pride.

There is so, so much pride.

Interestingly, Paul Thomas Anderson‘s There Will Be Blood is one of the most recent of all of the movies on this list, making it, I suppose, what one would deem an “instant classic”. And perhaps there is some value in asking if it is too soon for a real long-standing value judgement to be placed on a movie like this. However for now I am going to let that discussion pass, and simply say that in my own opinion, this is a film that will succeed in passing the test of time.

Clearly, Anderson is one of those directors who not only understands film, but he understands both his actors and his audience, and knows how to get the actions he needs from the first and the reactions he desires out of the second. Anderson has set out to make a film of epic scale, and he has succeeded in a way that few before him have managed, and I have no doubt that his is a name that, as the years go on, we will see even more times on this list.

So what is it that makes this movie stand out so much? I suspect that a lot of it is because in the end, this movie is truly a great traditional tragedy. It is a film that takes its central character’s main flaw and builds upon it so well that it’s ending, while shocking (and yes, bloody) in retrospect seems inevitable, and even though Plainview may come through the experience alive in body, it is obvious that he will never again be the man that he thought he was, nor that he wanted to be.

So what is this “main flaw” that I mentioned? Well, in Plainview’s case it is pride. Or perhaps it is actually a search for pride or at least for accomplishment and recognition that is equal to the pride that he wants to feel within himself. It’s that longing, that yearning, that need for everyone else to say “Yes, you are better then me, yes, you got the better part of this deal, yes, you are stronger, smarter, richer than I am.” that drives his every move, whether good or evil. And because he needs that external praise, rather than being able to generate or accept those feelings internally, Plainview is never going to be satisfied, never going to be really happy.

Even at the end of the film, when Plainview has seemingly even conquered God himself in the form of the preacher Eli, he is left a whimpering mess, and even though he declares to his butler “I’m finished..”, one is left to wonder whether the statement is literal or figurative, because, of course, for a man like Plainview the question remains: now that he has “killed God”, what can be next? Will even that be enough to finally fulfill his ambitions? And if not, then what will it take?

Obviously, the cinematography throughout the film is outstanding, and the performances, from Daniel Day-Lewis on down are superb. Anderson manages to draw the most out of every performance and performer, and his deft hand shows a maturity that was only hinted at in his first feature, Hard Eight (which I only recently watched and really enjoyed) and seemingly found it’s full fruition in 2012’s The Master. Personally, Anderson is a director that has me really looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do next, and hoping has a very long and fruitful career.

As always, here’s the trailer:

So what are your thoughts on There Will Be Blood? Is it a movie that you’ve seen or would like to? If you have seen it, is it one that would make your own Top 10 list? Or would it not even crack your Top 250? Also, I’m curious about what you think about my argument that some movies simply have to be seen on the big screen before one can even really judge them. And if you agree with it, what films you would put into that category. Let me know in the comments below.

A Beginner’s Guide to…Paul Thomas Anderson (oneroomwithaview.com)
Ranking Paul Thomas Anderson’s Filmography (thereelnetwork.wordpress.com)
My Top 10 Tracking Shots (henrybevan.wordpress.com)

Al Pacino (Photo credit: Martin McKenna)

In some ways, it’s become something of a joke. There are certain actors who lose themselves so deeply into a movie role that you lose sight of the actor and see nothing but the character. These are the actors who tend to get the acclaim when it comes to awards season. As a matter of fact, all you really have to do is look at the two strongest contenders in this year’s Academy Awards Best Actor category – Daniel Day-Lewis and Joaquin Phoenix – for examples of this. The actor somehow seems to “become” the character in a way that seems almost incredible.

Pacino turns it up... — Pacino turns it up…

Then there are the other actors. The ones who have become so recognizable for playing a certain type or for something that is so inherently “them” that it’s become impossible for them to really take on any role other than themselves, or at least the onscreen persona they have developed over the years. Again, all one has to do is look at last year’s Lincoln for a perfect example of this. Whereas Day-Lewis seems to become Lincoln to the extent that you have to look for the actor behind the character, Tommy Lee Jones, who plays Thaddeeus Stevens, could be no one but Tomyy Lee Jones. He has become a Type. As in “if you can’t get me Tommy Lee Jones for the role, get me a Tommy Lee Jones Type.”

Other actors who fit this category are people like Nic Cage and Jack Nicholson. When you see their name on a poster or in the credits for a movie, you know precisely what you’re going to get from them. They have become predictable, they have, in a way, lost the ability to surprise us in any role. Oh, sure, there are the occasional exceptions, but for the most part, that’s just the way it is. And in a lot of ways, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Going to see a Nicholson movie can be like putting on a well-worn but beloved pair of shoes. You do it precisely because they’re comfortable and you know they’re going to be without having to think about it.

Which brings us to Al Pacino. There was a time when Pacino still had that ability to surprise, and if you look at some of his early work, it’s obviously there. But after awhile – I’d say most likely after Scarface – Al Pacino became known mostly for playing “Al Pacino”. Again, if you talk to somebody who has seen the latest Al Pacino movie – whatever it might be – and you ask them how Pacino was in the flick, you’re going to get the answer “He was Pacino”.

So what is it that makes Pacino “Pacino”? Well, there are a number of things, I’m sure, little ticks and quirks, a certain way of talking, of carrying himself, that simply cannot be hidden or disguised. But whatever other things might encompass a Pacino role, one thing you can be sure of: at some point, Al’s gonna lose it. He’s gonna start yelling. He’s gonna start cursing. And from there on out HE’S GONNA F#^@*ING BE F#^@*ING AL PACINO AND THERE’S GONNA BE NO F#^@*ING COMING BACK DOWN!!!

And that’s what today’s video is about. In it, Nelson Carvajal has compiled a great sequence of scenes that show exactly those moments in Pacino’s movies where he cranks up the intensity and the volume, and you know that, once again, no matter what the character’s onscreen name may be, you are watching Al Pacino. Here, take a look:

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying these are bad movies or that Pacino is a bad actor. Far from it. I love Pacino, and I almost always enjoy seeing him turn it up. Sure, there are times lately when it’s seemed more like he was “phoning it in”, and there are times when I wish a director would try to get something more from him, that he would surprise us with something new and different, but at the same time, like that well-worn pair of shoes I mentioned earlier, there’s something comforting about knowing what your going to get from a particular actor before you walk into the theater or pop in that DVD or Blu-Ray disk.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m off to watch an Al Pacino flick.

Until next time, Happy Viewing!