Saturday 29 March 2008

There will be an Oscar


Having seen There Will Be Blood over Easter, it's impossible to dispute Daniel Day-Lewis's Oscar win. His portrayal of aspiring oilman Daniel Plainview is astounding. The character is gruff, harsh and distant but has charisma in spades.

It's a long film that chronicles the rise of a man who has a lucky strike down an oil shaft he has built on his land. He has a son and tells people who ask that his wife died in childbirth. He's a strange fellow: quiet, but driven, and also pretty menacing. I won't give away too much of the plot; suffice to say it isn't Hollywood but somehow manages to be epic.

Without Daniel Day-Lewis, I doubt this film would have succeeded – he was simply amazing.

4 comments:

  1. He was good but I found the scene near the end on the in-house bowling lane strayed almost into comic territory although the end result was horrific.

    I thought the actor playing the clergyman was pretty good too. Of the Oscar films, I definitely prefered this to No Country for Old Men.

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  2. I keep hearing so much about this movie - I'll have to go and see it! Nice to see DDL out in a movie again.

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  3. Sanddancer,I agree. It was almost comic but really horrible. And Paul Dano (Eli/Paul) was great. I haven't seen No Country For Old Men yet but will probably wait till it's out on DVD.

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  4. Hi Vanilla, yes, go and see it – it's such a well-made film. DDL is one of the best actors around at the moment, methinks (esp after this film!).

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