There Will Be Blood

Genre: pioneer drama

With: Daniel Day-Lewis (Daniel Plainview), Paul Dano (Eli and Paul Sunday), Dillon Freasier and Russell Harvard (Daniel's son, H.W., as a child and an adult), Kevin O'Connor (Henry), David Willis (Abel Sunday, the father), Christine Olejniczak (Mother Sunday), James Downey (Al Rose, Daniel’s assistant), Ciaran Hinds (Hamilton Fletcher), Vince Froio (Daniel’s servant), Hans Howes (Bandy), David Warshofsky (H.M. Tilford, from Standard Oil)

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson (based on Upton Sinclair’s novel ‟Oil!”)

Release: 2007

Studio: Paramount Vantage, Miramax

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.6/10

 

The Creed of Greed 

 

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Story-line: when he began prospecting circa 1898, Daniel Plainview worked relentlessly, risking his neck (and other men's lives) to hit a motherlode or strike a gusher. A decade or so later, we find him a craftier man still determined to hit pay dirt… and as he listens to Paul Sunday’s description of a property out west that oozes oil like a wet sponge, he can feel it in his bones: there’s wealth out there to be pumped from the ground.      

Pluses: outstanding acting by Daniel Day-Lewis (a soft-spoken but calculating Plainview) and Paul Dano (very convincing as the Sunday brothers), excellent direction, a vigorous and realistic screenplay full of atmosphere and dust, discoloured cinematography that enriches the narrative with its striking recreation of the early 1900s, well-conceived production values (notably costumes), Jonny Greenwood’s nightmarish musical score and an unpredictable ending that you may find tragic, funny... or both.

Minuses: none I can think of.

Comments: ablaze with entrepreneurial spirit, rampant ambition and religious fervour, THERE WILL BE BLOOD is a different, captivating work about oil, dealmaking, family issues and plain greed. Inspired by Upton Sinclair’s brilliant story, Paul Thomas Anderson has fashioned an impressive work for all to see, one more in his fine career as a director.  

 

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Little Women

Genre: historical coming-of-age drama

With: Winona Ryder (Josephine ‟Jo” March), Trini Alvarado (Margaret ‟Meg” March), Samantha Mathis (Older Amy), Kirsten Dunst (Younger Amy), Claire Danes (Beth March), Christian Bale (Theodore ‟Laurie” Laurence), Eric Stoltz (John Brooke), John Neville (Mr. Laurence), Susan Sarandon (Mrs. Abigail ‟Marmee” March), Florence Paterson (Hannah), Gabriel Byrne (Friedrich Bhaer)

Director: Gillian Armstrong

Screenplay: Robin Swicord (based on Louisa May Alcott's novel)

Release: 1994

Studio: DiNovi Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation

Rating: PG

MBiS score: 8.1/10

 

 

‟I am longing for transformation.”

 

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Story-line: Concord (Mass.) during the Civil War. Jo, a budding writer and the most spirited of the four March sisters, recounts the problems faced by her family while their father was serving in the army.

Pluses: an evenly competent cast led by Winona Ryder (as the direct, enterprising Jo), Kirsten Dunst (the rascally Amy), Christian Bale, Trini Alvarado, Claire Danes and Gabriel Byrne, adroit direction, a clean, sturdy and disciplined screenplay featuring juicy dialogues and highlighting the different personalities of the March girls, polished cinematography, irreproachable production values and a touching musical score by Thomas Newman.

Minuses: after a cutesy, distant and anecdotal first half that belies the family’s predicament (and the risks incurred by the father at war), the film picks up the slack with a noble and more dramatic second half. 

Comments: at this point in movie history, it must be a special challenge to tackle LITTLE WOMEN, considering the novel’s hallowed place in American literature and the number of filmed versions Hollywood has produced (this was the third, after those in 1933 and 1949, with the most recent in 2019). And the challenge was met handsomely by Gillian Armstrong and a lovely group of young actresses who went on to greater things after their portrayal of the March sisters. On a moral level, I’ll give credit to LITTLE WOMEN for its wholesomeness, social conscience and strong insights about life’s pivotal moments. Variety, they say, is the spice of life… and movie buffs won’t regret seeing this kind of heartfelt cinema.      

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