Ruthless silver miner, turned oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, moves to oil-rich California. Using his son to project a trustworthy, family-man image, Plainview cons local landowners into selling him their valuable properties for a pittance. However, local preacher Eli Sunday suspects Plainview's motives and intentions, starting a slow-burning feud that threatens both their lives.
Rated 4.5 / 5 from 1 log on Katalog
The first however many minutes that are with no dilagoue whatsoever, combined with the striking soundtrack, really set my expectations sky high. Most of them were met, but I did feel like a bit more could've been said by the film, perhaps I need another watch? Despite having already seen the final confrontation in the film I was bought into Daniel's facade for a good amount of the film. Daniel Day Lewis is just a master of his craft and I don't think many actors could've executed this performance to the level that he did. And that can be said for almost every other aspect of the film, it's all nearly flawless. I've already mentioned the music, the directing and cinematography are stunning as well, I was completely pulled into the screen despite most of consisting of boring dusty vignettes of Southern California. All in all a fantastic film, I do wish I had the time to watch it again through a new lens.
I loved the early Paul Thomas Anderson films but I just couldn't get into this one. The acting is great and it is superbly shot, but I felt that the second half dragged on a bit and was nowhere near as interesting as the first.
