By Rick Grant
A Rated R 158 min
In this dark but riveting drama set at the turn of the 20th Century, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil, is a scathing study of a psychopath, Daniel Plainview. Brilliantly characterized by Daniel Day-Lewis, Plainview seeks power by becoming a wealthy oilman through the strength of his will and hard work alone. His superior persona veiled his contempt of other people.
Anderson created special formalized dialogue for Day-Lewis to utter, exposing a deeply disturbed man who could turn on the charm using straight talk to the simple folk to whom he was selling his ideas for oil-rich communities. In his pitches to the townspeople, he painted himself as family man – a single father who believed in a hard work ethic. It was a ruse to con as much oil rich land as he could out of the landowners.
At first, I admired Daniel’s determination and tenacity as he toiled relentlessly in a self-dug hole to mine silver nuggets to earn his seed money. With his son in tow, Daniel works his first oil rig and strikes a large oil field. He surrounded himself with a cadre of handpicked loyal associates who would do his bidding without question. However, as the story unfolds, Daniel reveals his twisted megalomania and psychotic personality.
Daniel’s strategy was to get an oil rig pumping $5,000 per week and move on to the next drilling site, building rapidly increasing wealth on massive cash flow. Never satisfied, Daniel exhibited dark moods and out-of-control diatribes. His heart was cold, driven by greed and a ruthless nature. When crossed, Daniel held a grudge and schemed to get even with his enemies, especially other oilmen who were working claimed sites nearby. Daniel never learned the art of diplomacy even when it was in his best interest. He had to win at all costs.
Tipped off that Standard Oil was operating in a certain Texas region, Daniel moved in to grab as much land as possible. His experience at finding oil served him well. He found a tract of land that could produce unlimited amounts of oil, but he needed labor for this dangerous work. So he literally created a town around his drilling operations. In this idyllic setting, Daniel meets his nemesis, a phony preacher and healer, Eli Sunday, skillfully acted by Paul Dano.
Anderson’s script uses the war of wills between Daniel and Eli as a subtext to exposing Daniel’s true colors. Ironically, Eli was a lot like Daniel. But he wanted status and power as a religious icon on the back of Daniel’s hard work. Eli, who was bitter that Daniel reneged on his agreement to compensate the Sunday family for taking their land, needs Daniel’s oil money to build his empire. A con man himself, Eli uses his influence with the townspeople to punish Daniel, but his scheme backfires. Daniel is smarter than Eli and forces him into a powerless position, yet Eli’s healing sessions and hellfire-and-brimstone preaching catch on with the townspeople. This results in a stalemate between the two con men.
By now, viewers see Daniel as a man tortured by his past but determined to put it behind him. His endgame is unclear, but he has become very wealthy. Nonetheless, his mental state is deteriorating, exacerbated by his massive consumption of whiskey. Day-Lewis skillfully guides his character into madness as he gets older and meaner. Despite his status as a wealthy oil baron, Daniel can’t enjoy it. He is harassed by internal voices and his descent into mental illness seems profound. His son is a fine young man but Daniel doesn’t respect him. He only sees him as a threat or competitor.
The haunting score by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood serves as a fitting audio backdrop to Daniel’s trip into hell on earth. Greenwood’s avant-garde symphonic music highlights Daniel’s extreme emotional mood swings as he gradually loses control. When Daniel’s faux brother shows up to hang out with him, he brings some peace to Daniel’s soul. But when Daniel finds out the man is an imposter, his true psychotic nature manifests itself.
Day-Lewis’ characterization of Daniel Plainview will forever be fused in viewers’ brains as an indelible memory. No one will forget Day-Lewis’ penetrating performance as this hard-working man who single-handedly carved out an oil empire, but whose mental illness trapped his mind in a prison of pain and psychosis. All his money and power could not save him from himself.
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