History Film / ThereWillBeBlood

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Milkshakes aren't a random, unexpected example of AnachronismStew: Milkshakes (at least whiskey and whiskey cream-based ones) have been around by that name since the early-to-mid 1880s, and are appropriate for a metaphor by an alcoholic oil baron. PTA also based that line off of an actual quote from U.S. Senator Albert Fall during a Congressional hearing in the 1920s surrounding his involvement in the Teapot Dome Scandal; it amused Anderson that a term such as "milkshake" would be used as an analogy in a senator's testimony.

** As it turns out, the milkshake-drinking-as-oilfield-drainage metaphor is actually paraphrased from the 1924 testimony of United States senator Albert Fall, who was convicted of bribery for selling off oil-drilling rights in what became known as the Teapot Dome scandal. One of them men who bribed him was Edward Doheny, the real-life inspiration for both Plainview and his fictional precursor in ''Oil!'', James Arnold Ross.
-->'''Fall:''' "Sir, if you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake and my straw reaches across the room, I'll end up drinking your milkshake."

* AbusiveParents: Daniel himself, as well as the Sunday father.

* WhamLine: The ending scene contains one. [[spoiler:Daniel tells Eli "Those areas have been drilled." In short, he made a fool of Eli and left him with nothing. Shortly after, Daniel kills Eli with a bowling pin, so he just did it to get in one more dig at Eli [[ItAmusedMe for his own personal amusement]].]]

-->'''Daniel Plainview:''': I told you, Eli! I told you I would eeeeeeeat you!

-->''"...I'm finished."''

* AloneWithThePsycho: [[spoiler:Eli winds up in this situation when he approaches Daniel years later in Daniel's personal bowling alley out of financial desperation. He predictably doesn't leave the room alive.]]

%%* Bludgeoned To Death: At the end of the film, Daniel [[spoiler:beats Eli on his head to death with a bowling pin.]]

* TheDanza: The script was written with Daniel Day-Lewis in mind as Daniel Plainview, so it is probably not coincidental the actor and character share the same first name. Possibly also played out with Paul Dano's portrayal as Paul Sunday.

* EnthusiasmVersusStoicism

* BadassMoustache: Daniel's got one.

* SocietyIsToBlame: Arguably one of the major points of the movie, although there is some question as to whether this is [[spoiler: A man with questionable morals being forced down the path to becoming a villain by his peers, who never seem to prove him wrong in his belief that all humans are horrible people that should be shunned or profited from, or whether he was evil to begin with, and society is to blame because it allows him to prosper so much.]]

!!!'''''"I! Trope! Your! MILKSHAKE! I TROPE IT UP!"'''''

Unlike most Hollywood films, ''There Will Be Blood'' eschews conventional plotting in order to focus almost entirely on exploring its protagonist, making for a considerably more complex and, for some, confusing experience. One might say that in this case, the character ''is'' the plot. Which is not to suggest that not much happens. Plenty happens. And [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin there IS blood]].

The film was universally acclaimed and is oft regarded as not only the best of the year but one of the best of the 21st century, with similar magnitudes of praise going to Day-Lewis' performance, for which he won most every honor that the year's award circuit had available for Best Actor, including his second UsefulNotes/AcademyAward. It further won an Oscar for Best Cinematography (Robert Elswit), but lost its six other nominations (including Best Picture), half of them going to another Paramount Vantage/Miramax co-production with a winter 2007 release: ''Literature/NoCountryForOldMen''.

Unlike most Hollywood films, it eschews conventional plotting in order to focus almost entirely on exploring a character, making for a considerably more complex and, for some, confusing experience. One might say that in this case, the character ''is'' the plot.
Which is not to suggest that not much happens. Plenty happens. And [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin there IS blood]].

''There Will Be Blood'' was nominated for seven other UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s including Best Picture. It also won Best Cinematography for Robert Elswit.

A controversial but critically acclaimed 2007 film starring Creator/DanielDayLewis, for which he won the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Actor. Written, directed, and co-produced by Creator/PaulThomasAnderson, ''There Will Be Blood'' was nominated for seven other UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s including Best Picture. It also won Best Cinematography for Robert Elswit. Loosely based on the first half of the novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair.

The story takes place in the late 19th century and early 20th, during the Southern California oil boom. It centers on Daniel Plainview, an oilman who travels the state buying people's land to drill. He is accompanied by his young adopted son and "business partner", H.W. One day he gets a tip from a young man named Paul Sunday about undiscovered oil fields on his family's land in Little Boston. As he buys up land in the town and starts drilling, tension builds between Daniel and Paul's twin brother Eli, a young charismatic evangelist who runs the local Church of the Third Revelation. (Creator/PaulDano plays [[ActingForTwo both of the Sunday brothers]].)

It is a complex and even confusing movie. Many left the theater asking themselves, "What was that about?" Unlike most Hollywood films, it eschews conventional plotting in order to focus almost entirely on exploring a character. One might say that in this case, the character ''is'' the plot.

** The entire Sunday family

--> '''Daniel''': Are you an angry man Heny?

--> '''Henry''': I don't think so no.
--> '''Daniel''': I have a competition in me, I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: The milkshake speech is this, combined with some general EvilGloating. "You're just the afterbirth that ''slithered'' out on your mother's ''filth''! They should have put you in a ''glass jar'' on the mantlepiece. Where were you when Paul was suckling at his mother's teat? Who was nursing you, poor Eli? One of Bandy's sows? [...] Stop crying, you sniveling ass! Stop your nonsense!"

* LaughingMad: Paul laughs for a few seconds after [[spoiler: the burning wooden oil rig collapses.]]

* TheChessmaster: Daniel.

!!"I! Trope! Your! MILKSHAKE! [loud sucking noises] I TROPE IT UP!:

* BadassBoast: Daniel does an epic one while chasing a helpless, panicking Eli in the closing bowling alley-scene.

* CameraAbuse: Occurs in a shot of workers in the shaft of Daniel's oil derrick, a streak of oil splatters onto the lens, and again when Plainview attacks Eli at the climax, he knocks over a bucket of water, some of which gets on the lens.

** Daniel ''Plainview''. Just in case you don't quite get it, it's referring to the saying "Devil in plain view."

* AbusiveParents: Daniel and the Sunday father.

* DogDidNotBark: Henry fails to laugh with Daniel over an amusing story, thereby drawing the latter's suspicions