Review: There will be Blood

There will be Blood adapted from an Upton Sinclair novel, hinges for more than two-and-a-half hours on the story of Daniel Plainview who absolutely loathes humankind, writes Rashid Irani.

What most of us seek from cinema is emotional sustenance – we want to be with men and women we can admire, be amused by or even detest. Now, Daniel Day-Lewis is an oil tycoon in the America of the 1920s, who has a deep hatred for most people and thinks he can justify that by making pots of money, which he does.

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In other words, There will be Blood adapted from an Upton Sinclair novel, hinges for more than two-and-a-half hours on the story of Daniel Plainview who absolutely loathes humankind - to the extent of caring a damn if his adopted son’s hearing is impaired after an accident. This man who would be demigod cares for no one but himself, and is self-reliant to get over his hurts and wounds without expecting anyone’s sympathy or care.

Ordinarily, such a character would not have rooted your interest after a while. He is a kind of a megalomaniac Citizen Kane but without Orson Welles’ manic brilliance.

If we stay with the cheating, greed-driven, woman-hating oil king, it’s essentially because he is played superbly by Day-Lewis. Chances are that he will grab his second Oscar (after My Left Foot) for this performance which could have ruined by a lesser accomplished actor.

Still, the movie’s worth look because of Day-Lewis who’s guaranteed to make your matinee.