When Two Heads Really Are Better

I find it misleading and even unethical, that you failed to mention that Paul Thomas Anderson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay because of his script for BOOGIE NIGHTS. It obviously doesn't help prove your point does it? Also, even though No country for old men is adapted, you seem to say that that is the only reason why it is good. i beg to differ; the book was mediocre at best, and had any other director/s been at the helm, it wouldn't have been as great as it turned out to be. As Roger Ebert said, "flawless."

a

There Will Be Blood was such a great film. I think the writer of this article needs to see it a few more times to understand what is going on. Anderson is an excellent writer/director. I hope that trend doesn't change. I hate formulaic crap that comes from Hollywood. More classics please!

As an Evangelical Christian, I was apalled at the portrayal of Eli'scharacter. But just as 'wolves in sheep's clothing' are in real life, he and Daniel Plainvew's real nature are revealed slowly to viewers, and there is cinematic beauty in that, which is brought out partly through the dialouge. I see the film as a modern long-view commentary set in an out of history context. Corrupt preachers and capitalists have existed together for as long as both have been around. Today they've been shown to be capable of using each other for gain, and when one demands payment (Eli) he is turned on and 'there is blood'. What parallel can I be drawing but the one between the rise of the religious right to power and influence in the Bush administration and the Iraqi-Oil-War making this administration has done under the false guise of fighting terrorism, and marketing 'freedom' (which G.W.B. has stated is a gift from God) and Democracy. Freedom as taught in the New Testament (spiritual freedom) is vastly different from political and economic freedom. This administration wouldn't have been able to garner support for the war if it hadn't been gray marketed between the lines to our Chritian majority as a struggle between forces of good and evil (Christianity and Islam) and as a necessary step to set the stage for the second coming of Jesus Christ. For a true Christian, the end does not justify the means. Radical religious right power leaders have found that their constitutional reconstructionist (Christian Theocracy) adgenda is increasingly being rebuffed as their former political cheerleaders are being convicted and defeated (Tom DeLay for example). In Iraq, the proof isn't in the pudding, yet, only because a comprehensive Iraqi Oil law to permit increased production by US and multi-national oil companies hasn't been completely ratified by the Iraqi Congress.

Pure and utter hogwash. Compare the Numbers on a ratio basis just as they do in the finance world. Divide the number of writer/director films by those that made a profit, and do the same for films that had a seperate writer and director. Your analysis assumes there are an equal number of each in existence and that lends to the "folklore" that it shouldn't be done. It's like comparing Wal-mart to the Mom and Pop curio shop down the street. We are going to see a lot more films written and directed by the same person and that's exciting. As for "There will be Blood" it's up for more than one Oscar and made it there ahead of many other films written and directed by seperate people. SheRoarFilms.com

I think that many writers may have a hard time producing and directing films. It's difficult enough putting it on paper, but actually filming and cutting and directing are very complicated also. ActorEd.com

I'm frustrated by the common critical interpretation that "There Will Be Blood" is about the struggle between commerce and religion. In my opinion, this interpretation of the film's premise attempts to shoehorn it into a conventional structure that does not fit the film, and elevates the importance of the Eli Sunday, the Paul Dano character, while minimizing other characters who are of equal significance.

The narrative premise of "There Will Be Blood," is that Plainview, the Day-Lewis character, advances and protects his interests by attacking potential adversaries with a mercilessness that outstrips the capacity of those enemies to do him real harm. The film is about who Plainview presents himself as, who he sees himself as, and who he really is, and his dealings with Eli Sunday are a piece of that, the same as the disposition of a man fraudulently claiming to be Plainview's brother, and Plainview's vicious dealings with the man from Standard Oil, who attempts to buy out Plainview's stake in the area.

The film's much talked-about final scene is only an escalated version of the resolution of the other story threads, where the audience's identification with Plainview is ruptured as he presses his triumphs further than he needs to.

The central relationship of the film is Plainview's relationship with his adopted son, H.W. His emotional connection to the boy is a raw nerve for him, and this is illustrated clearly in the dealings with both Sunday and with the Standard Oil man, who attempt to use Plainview's connection to the boy to their advantage and end up inciting Plainview's rage.

The irony of the film, and Anderson's final judgment on Plainview, is that, through his cold and unbending nature, he transforms the only person he loves into the only adversary that can destroy him. The last scene between Plainview and Sunday is only a postscript to the confrontation in which H.W. breaks Plainview, illustrating that the experience has left Plainview no less vindictive and dangerous than before.

That being the case, it's not Day-Lewis who Anderson indulges, but Dano, whose character has more screen time than he ought to. Maybe Anderson felt that giving Dano more screen time added to the impact of the final scene, or maybe he just liked watching Dano's entertaining performance. Whatever the reason, the prominence of the Eli Sunday character obscures the real point of the narrative.