There Will Be Score

Yes, I'm one of those critics (if you want to slander me by calling me that) who shamefully praises most things that Radiohead does. This isn't a matter of following the herd. This is a matter of taste — there are few artists in the last 15 years that have been as groundbreaking as Radiohead while maintaining vast mainstream appeal.

If their latest In Rainbows — a musical achievement by their standards, ignoring the uncharacteristic pay-what-you-want initial release tactic — isn't testament enough to this, you should see the latest Paul Thomas Anderson-directed film, There Will Be Blood.

If you see the movie for one reason, see it for Daniel Day-Lewis' unflinching and unparalleled performance of personified evil as Daniel Plainview. As the Oscar drumbeat gets louder, it's worth nothing that Javier Bardem was chilling, creepy and intimidating in a command performance in 2007's No Country for Old Men, so this isn't to take anything away from him.

However, next to Day-Lewis, Bardem's Anton Chigurh looks cartoony. That's probably because Plainview is so human. He's calm, collected and frighteningly misanthropic all at once. Just hear how quietly and calmly he delivers the lines "I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people" in the trailers to know how damaged this cat is.

To veer from music to movies for a bit longer, Day-Lewis is one of the finest actors of his generation. He's so selective that Plainview is his third role this decade. Fellow Oscar winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in Charlie Wilson's War, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead and The Savages in 2007 alone.

In There Will Be Blood, Day-Lewis' Plainview is the personification of much of the murkier, despicable parts of American history — corruption, greed, deception and holding personal satisfaction and achievement above all else.

If anything emphasizes Day-Lewis' performance as Plainview, it's what Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood brings in scoring the film. I'm not sure I would enjoy the music without the context of the picture, but what it brings is unsettling fury that embodies the film's seething, simmering undercurrent. Violin's crash and heave, like the sound a breaking plate would make if it could scream. I've heard Radiohead's name tossed out as an artist so many actors and directors wanted for their pictures (Vanilla Sky and Fight Club immediately come to mind). Make no mistake — Greenwood's material sounds nothing like a Radiohead album and if you are expecting that, you will be disappointed. Judging it on its own merits and what it brings to the film, though, it's so fitting and so perfect that its intelligence and craft is undeniable.

At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, when talents such as Greenwood, Day-Lewis and Anderson come together, it's the conch shell being sounded to call you to the theater. And love it or hate it — as many who've seen it seem to do — you're almost guaranteed to walk out of There Will Be Blood feeling something.

Comments

[film dude]

one thing you gotta say about radiohead is they are consistently "cutting edge"

[Alice Fair]

"In There Will Be Blood, Day-Lewis' Plainview is the personification of much of the murkier, despicable parts of American history — corruption, greed, deception and holding personal satisfaction and achievement above all else."

I never was taught those things about our history. I understood corruption was countered by "one person, one vote" - the greed you describe is belied by our incredible contributions in vaccines, aids medicines to Africa, food stuffs, cash, disaster relief, cadres of volunteers such as the Peace Corp, renumeration and complete exemption of US income tax to American Indians and their reservations... i could go on but it might jar you out of your coolaid break.

I will check out Radio Head, maybe you're right about that. My latest musical discovery is RobZombie.