There Will Be Blood: Character Development
While Daniel Plainview is clearly not your average “good guy” protagonist, I felt that his role in the movie wasn’t done by the time the intended. Over the course of the film, we watch Plainview progressively lose his mind in what I would call the comedown from a powertrip. Plainview had a monopoly on oil, had completely dominated the surrounding area, all with his sidekick son, HW. However when the accident happened, we quickly began to see Daniel’s sanity begin to slip, as he decides to ship off his son and starts threatening to cut peoples throats before they even get the chance to question him.
As the story progresses, Daniel begins to question his own actions more and more, and continues his downward spiral to insanity. It seems to me that his sanity goes hand in hand with his interactions with HW, starting with his accident and ending with the “bastard in a basket” dialogue. Although there’s a clear change in his character over the course of the movie, Daniel didn’t reach the point that I felt he should have. For a movie called There Will Be Blood, there honestly just was not enough blood. They spent hours building up a characters insanity only to have his pinnacle “snap” be beating a man down with a bowling pin. I was waiting for an absolute bloodbath including some businessmen or HW or something to complete the full circle of craziness and end with a bang. The ending just wasn’t quite satisfying I guess, and i felt like there was just a little more room for him to grow before it was acceptable
I agree with your analysis of Daniel Plainview. I believe he had changed a lot throughout the film and a lot of this change is derived from money and greed. He is not your average "good guy" protagonist, but he is still the protagonist of the story and the central focus. Good analysis of character development.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with that the ending was not satisfying. In fact, I think the ending was very satisfying. It wasn't only Daniel who changed during the flash forward; Eli changed much as well. Him asking Daniel for money and a movie role after treating him badly earlier in the film is a foolish act from a desperate man. The roles of Daniel and Eli are reversed, and Daniel now has the upper hand. The role reversal continues when Daniel "baptizes" Eli as Eli had done to him. Daniel forces Eli to say he is a false prophet and that god is a superstition just as Eli forced Daniel to say he abandoned his son. Then, just as Eli poured water over Daniel, Daniel strikes Eli with a bowling pin. The bowling pin murder is more satisfying than you might think because it is not an isolated event; rather, it is the culmination of an unexpected and clever reversal of roles.
ReplyDelete