Does Paul Thomas Anderson movie ‘There Will Be Blood’ enter the realm of science fiction?
It was Paul Thomas Anderson’s second film, Boogie Nights, which shot the filmmaker to widespread fame. Cramming in humour, emotion, various overlapping plotlines, complex characters, and an overall atmosphere that was extremely true to the 1970s, Boogie Nights felt like a film made by someone far more experienced than Anderson. Yet, the director has possessed incredible skill from the get-go, helping him to become one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of his generation.
He followed Boogie Nights with another highly successful work, Magnolia, before taking an idiosyncratic approach to the romantic comedy genre with Punch-Drunk Love, daringly casting Adam Sandler as the lead. However, the filmmaker would truly prove his greatness with his 2007 film There Will Be Blood, which would come to be considered one of the best films of the 21st century.
To bring the film to life, Anderson found the perfect cast to lead the dramatic picture. Daniel Day-Lewis starred as Daniel Plainview, a money-hungry businessman who will do anything to get his hands on the lucrative oil supply that is sitting on the land owned by the Sunday family. Eli and Paul Sunday are both played by Paul Dano, who holds his own against the terrific (and terrifying) Day-Lewis.
Eli, a preacher who pretends to heal people, receives Daniel’s wrath, getting dragged and beaten by the despicable oilman. It’s a compelling tale of greed, power and deception, with Anderson seemingly commenting on the way that capitalistic thinking can completely destroy one’s morals.
Even though the film is a period drama set in the early 1900s, Anderson considers the film to be almost like a “sci-fi”, despite the fact that there is nothing typical of the genre to be found within the movie. Rather, Anderson once used this term to describe There Will Be Blood since he felt so far removed from the time period in which it is set.
He told Filmmaker Magazine, “There Will Be Blood almost felt like a science fiction movie because I didn’t know anybody who was alive at the time – for something like that you’re counting on photographs to guide your way.” Anderson had to interpret his own ideas about a time period that is unrecognisable from the one we’re living in today.
That’s the thing with filmmaking. When making a movie set in a period that existed only a few decades ago – or one based on people who are still alive – directors don’t have to worry as much about the accuracy of sets, costumes, how people talked, and how those contemporary characters would have actually acted. Yet, with There Will Be Blood, Anderson had to do plenty of his own research and hope that everything was as historically accurate as possible.
Anderson continued: “You’re always trying to make it real and authentic, whether you’re referencing images from the period or your own imagination, or in this case the book – not that there were a lot of descriptions in the novel of the interiors. But sometimes what happens is you get something that’s very authentic and honest to the period but it just doesn’t fit – especially in this era, when there’s such a lack of taste.”
Getting things right might not even be the right decision, Anderson attests. “Something can be right but so outrageous that it’s distracting, and you have to monitor that – if it’s accurate but it looks like you’re trying too hard, you have to find another way.”
