There Will Be Blood ***
Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007
US
@ Clearview Chelsea
I'm surprised so few people reference Stanley Kubrick when writing about this movie, particularly since almost everyone brings up at least a few monumental titles or directors. The misanthropic protagonist, the soundtrack, particularly the strings, the placid camera contrasted with the demonic screen presence, close-ups of faces behind which minds are discovering their destiny. The final scene in particular reminded me of Kubrick's three films of the seventies, give or take a few months. Daniel insane behind his expensive desk in a mostly empty, lavish residence, plotting the ruin of his family; the cool, calculated violence against intensely light white walls (multiple scenes in Clockwork Orange); the mental, verbal manipulation of an opponent, not even for any strategic purpose, just because. Granted, Kubrick was an expatriate, but there's nothing particularly foreign about his grossly selfish characters.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic
Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007
US
@ Clearview Chelsea
I'm surprised so few people reference Stanley Kubrick when writing about this movie, particularly since almost everyone brings up at least a few monumental titles or directors. The misanthropic protagonist, the soundtrack, particularly the strings, the placid camera contrasted with the demonic screen presence, close-ups of faces behind which minds are discovering their destiny. The final scene in particular reminded me of Kubrick's three films of the seventies, give or take a few months. Daniel insane behind his expensive desk in a mostly empty, lavish residence, plotting the ruin of his family; the cool, calculated violence against intensely light white walls (multiple scenes in Clockwork Orange); the mental, verbal manipulation of an opponent, not even for any strategic purpose, just because. Granted, Kubrick was an expatriate, but there's nothing particularly foreign about his grossly selfish characters.
See also: IMDb | Metacritic
Labels: 2007, 3 Stars, Paul Thomas Anderson, US
1 Comments:
Wow, having just seen the movie, you are dead on. As soon as I read your first sentence, I made the stylistic connection between the final scene in There Will Be Blood, where Day-Lewis hunts Dano with bowling pins, and the scene in A Clockwork Orange where McDowell chases the woman with the penis statue. Great call.
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