There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood
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Name	There Will Be Blood
Director	Paul Thomas Anderson
Producer	Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer	Paul Thomas Anderson
Based on	Oil! by Upton Sinclair
Starring	Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Ciarán Hinds, Kevin J. O'Connor
Music	Jonny Greenwood
Cinematography	Robert Elswit
Editing	Dylan Tichenor
Production companies	New Line Cinema, Annapurna Pictures, Ghoulardi Film Company
Distributor	Paramount Vantage
Released	2007
Runtime	158 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood is a 2007 American epic historical drama film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and partially adapted from the 1927 novel Oil! by Upton Sinclair. The film follows an ambitious oilman and an enigmatic preacher in the early twentieth-century California oil boom, featuring an acclaimed performance by Daniel Day-Lewis. Praised for its direction, cinematography, and score, the film became a touchstone in 21st-century American cinema and provoked wide commentary across film criticism and academic circles.

Plot

The narrative centers on Daniel Plainview, a ruthless prospector who transforms from a silver miner in Arizona into a wealthy oilman exploiting fields in Southern California during the 1890s–1920s oil boom. Plainview adopts a foster son, encounters contested land rights involving local farmers and landowners associated with San Fernando Valley parcels, and tangles with Eli Sunday, a charismatic preacher connected to religious institutions and revival movements. Conflicts escalate around well ownership, corporate consolidation echoing themes from mergers seen in Standard Oil history and early antitrust disputes culminating in personal and moral collapse. The plot tracks events resembling real-world episodes such as oilfield strikes, drilling innovations that recall advances in petroleum engineering tied to figures like Spindletop pioneers and geological surveys by institutions like the United States Geological Survey.

Cast and characters

Daniel Plainview is portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis, an actor noted for roles in films by Jim Sheridan, Lynne Ramsay, Jim Jarmusch, and collaborations with Martin Scorsese alumni. Eli Sunday is played by Paul Dano, whose career includes work in films by Christopher Nolan and Ang Lee. Supporting performances include Ciarán Hinds, a veteran of Joe Wright and Kenneth Branagh projects, and Kevin J. O'Connor, known for roles in M. Night Shyamalan productions. The ensemble features many players tied to stage and screen traditions from Royal Shakespeare Company alumni and American repertory theaters. Crew highlighted in credits includes cinematographer Robert Elswit (who worked with Steven Soderbergh), composer Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and production designer influenced by period work in Sidney Lumet films.

Production

Principal photography took place in locations across California and New Mexico, with period sets evoking early 20th-century Los Angeles outskirts and oilfields near communities historically affected by drilling booms. Anderson's screenplay reconfigures elements from Upton Sinclair's Oil! while omitting direct depiction of political figures associated with Progressive Era reform. The production involved collaborations with technical consultants from petroleum history archives, period costume houses with ties to museums such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences conservation programs. Cinematography by Robert Elswit used naturalistic lighting techniques reminiscent of work by Roger Deakins and camera teams that served on projects with Joel and Ethan Coen. Composer Jonny Greenwood integrated avant-garde textures influenced by composers like György Ligeti and Krzysztof Penderecki, creating a score that prompted discussions in musicology and film studies circles including scholars from Juilliard School and Royal College of Music.

Themes and analysis

Scholars and critics linked the film's themes to capitalism critiques present in Upton Sinclair's writings and to broader American myths exemplified by figures such as John D. Rockefeller and events like the Gilded Age expansion. Interpretations invoked religious commentary tied to revivalist movements and preachers comparable to historical actors in the Social Gospel era. Analyses explored ego and isolation motifs paralleling characters in works by Herman Melville and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and drew cinematic lineage to auteurs including Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick, John Ford, and Akira Kurosawa. Film theorists compared Anderson's mise-en-scène to paintings by Thomas Eakins and Edward Hopper and to narrative strategies in novels by Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris. Environmental historians referenced the film in discussions about the ecological consequences of extractive industries and regulatory histories involving agencies like the Interstate Oil Compact Commission.

Reception and legacy

Upon release, the film received widespread critical acclaim from publications like The New York Times, The Guardian, Variety, and The Los Angeles Times, and generated debate on awards prognosis among organizations including the National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics. It influenced subsequent filmmakers and was cited in retrospectives at institutions such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the Museum of Modern Art. Academic courses at universities like Harvard University, Yale University, University of California, Los Angeles, and New York University incorporated the film into curricula on film studies and American history. Its stylistic choices affected cinematographers and composers working on later projects for directors like David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, and Greta Gerwig.

Awards and nominations

The film earned multiple accolades including Academy Award recognition from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, with wins and nominations across categories that placed it alongside contemporary award contenders such as films backed by Paramount Pictures and New Line Cinema. It featured in year-end best-film lists compiled by entities including the American Film Institute, the National Board of Review, and critics' circles in New York, Los Angeles, and London, and influenced voting in guilds including the Directors Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America.

Category:2007 films Category:American drama films Category:Films directed by Paul Thomas Anderson