Genre: Drama/Crime

Directors: Paul Thomas Anderson

Certificate: There Will Be Blood was rated 15A by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for persons of 15 years of age and older.  Those under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Violence = strong. Drugs = none. Sex/Nudity = mild. Language = moderate.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: There Will Be Blood

Last night I witnessed one of the finest acting performances I have seen for a very long time…  the portrayal of Daniel Plainview by the acting colossus that is Daniel Day Lewis.  It's a film that left me pondering for a very long time after the credits had rolled as there's so much to think about, and in my humble opinion it's director Paul Thomas Anderson's best work to date.

For the first ten minutes or so of the film you don't hear one single word of dialogue which cleverly sets up the film for what is about to unfold...

Plainview, a budding oil baron, is one of the most odious and loathsome characters you'll see on screen - an intriguing multi faceted mix of utter greed, power driven insanity, and  with the odd flash of  maniacal humour thrown in, that totally dominates every scene he appears in . He cuts a powerful swathe across the landscape with his young son in tow tracking down oil fields and building his empire with dogged determination. 

During his quest he comes into contact with Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) a young fanatical preacher who attempts to hamper Plainview's plans with his religious zeal, but has no idea of who or what he is dealing with, and the juxtaposition of the supposed religious element, and the utter greed, hatred of his fellow man, and single-mindedness of Plainview is just breathtaking to watch.

Set in the late 1890's  it's a slow moving film, with a well thought out, if chilling, soundtrack, sweeping vista's of the west that are lovingly captured with some excellent cinematography, and a period piece that is so well crafted the bleak but beautiful environment becomes in essence one of the pivotal ingredients of the film.

I won't go into in-depth plot analysis as this is definitely one that needs to be watched and savoured.  However, suffice to say this film belongs to Day Lewis - not sure whether it was intentional or not but his voice sounds very much like John Huston's, it's a powerhouse performance that you just can't stop looking at even though much like 'Bill the Butcher' his character is repellent and totally detestable on all fronts.

I can now fully understand why Mr Day Lewis has long periods in between films as if this is the calibre of performance he can produce it's well worth the wait.  This is a film that I can confidently predict will be in my top ten favourites of the year at the end of 2008, it's as near to perfect as it gets.

In a word - Awesome.

Reviewed by Mary Kate, Premier Movie Reviews 2008

• Daniel Day Lewis
• Martin Stringer
• Kevin J. O'Connor
• Jacob Stringer
• Ciarán Hinds
• Paul Dano

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