There Will Be Blood
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There Will Be Blood

Year:
Duration:
158 min
Genres:
Drama
IMDB rate:
8.1
Director:
Paul Thomas Anderson
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 111 wins & 93 nominations
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 2008-01-25
Filming Locations: Shafter, Texas, USA
Earnings
Budget: $25,000,000
Opening Weekend: $302,845 (USA) (30 December 2007)
Gross: $40,218,903 (USA) (27 April 2008)
Cast
Actor
Character
Daniel Day-Lewis
Daniel Plainview
Martin Stringer
Silver Assay Worker
Matthew Braden Stringer
Silver Assay Worker
Jacob Stringer
Silver Assay Worker
Joseph Mussey
Silver Assay Worker
Barry Del Sherman
H.B. Ailman
Harrison Taylor
Baby HW
Stockton Taylor
Baby HW
Paul F. Tompkins
Prescott
Dillon Freasier
HW
Kevin Breznahan
Signal Hill Man
Jim Meskimen
Signal Hill Married Man
Erica Sullivan
Signal Hill Woman
Randall Carver
Mr. Bankside
Coco Leigh
Mrs. Bankside
Paul Dano
Paul Sunday
Ciarán Hinds
Fletcher
Sydney McCallister
Mary Sunday
David Willis
Abel Sunday
Christine Olejniczak
Mother Sunday
Kellie Hill
Ruth Sunday
James Downey
Al Rose
Dan Swallow
Gene Blaize
Robert Arber
Charlie Wrightsman
Bob Bell
Geologist
David Williams
Ben Blaut
Joy Rawls
Eli Follower
Louise Gregg
Eli Follower
Amber Roberts
Eli Follower
John W. Watts
Oil Worker
Robert Caroline
Oil Worker
Barry Bruce
Oil Worker
Irene G. Hunter
Mrs. Hunter
Hope Elizabeth Reeves
Elizabeth
John Chitwood
Little Boston Doctor
Kevin J. O'Connor
Henry
David Warshofsky
H.M. Tilford
Charles Thomas Doyle
J.J. Carter (as Tom Doyle)
Colton Woodward
William Bandy
John Burton
L.P. Clair
Hans Howes
Bandy
Robert Barge
Bartender
Ronald Krut
Standard Oil Man
Huey Rhudy
Standard Oil Man
Steven Barr
Standard Oil Man
Robert Hills
HW's Interpreter
Colleen Foy
Adult Mary Sunday
Russell Harvard
Adult HW
Bob Bock
Priest (as Reverend Bob Bock)
Vince Froio
Plainview Servant
Phil Shelly
Plainview Servant
Mary Elizabeth Barrett
Fanny Clark (uncredited)
Brad Carr
Signal Hill Man
Kathryn A Davis
Village girl (uncredited)
Rhonda Reeves
Elizabeth's Mother (uncredited)
Beau Smith
Blacksmith (uncredited)
Arne Starr
Signal Hill Resident (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Paul Thomas Anderson planned to have the restored bowling alley (used at the climax) located at the Greystone Mansion to be entirely painted in white to give some Kubrick symmetry and menacing quality (also a nod to A Clockwork Orange (1971)). However, he changed it to its original state when it was later decided that the bowling alley was to be given away for ownership after filming.
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Ranked #51 on Entertainment Weekly's "100 New Movie Classics" list in 2008.
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Paul Thomas Anderson stated that he watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) every night before filming this movie.
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Goofs
During the tracking shot from the train tracks that follows the car of Daniel Plainview, you can see the dolly track for a moment when the camera pulls back, just before the camera pans to the right.
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When H.W. shoots his double-barrel shotgun twice at some quail, there is no apparent recoil. Even the smaller-gauge shotguns will visibly "kick", especially if fired by a small child.
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When Eli Sunday lists the towns he will be visiting on his mission, he includes Taft, which would have been named Moron until the 1920s.
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Quotes
Paul Sunday: This is us, here. Spur Station, here at Little Boston. The Sunday ranch is what you're looking for. There's a sheep trail that takes you there. It's a mile out of town, headed west, not far. Just through a small pass here, near the base of the hills. You'll pass a church, and just follow the sheep trail.
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Plainview: There she is. There she is.
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Plainview: Are you an angry man, Henry?
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Faq
Q
Why are Paul and Eli Sunday played by the same actor?
A
Paul Dano was originally cast as Paul Sunday only, while Kel O'Neill was originally cast as Eli Sunday. When O'Neill left, Dano was recast as both Paul and Eli because, at that point, it was too late to re-shoot scenes, so the film plays out that Paul is Eli's identical twin. Paul Dano stated to an NPR interviewer that he had less than a week to prepare for the role of Eli.
Q
How did Daniel discover that Henry was not his true brother?
A
In the beach scene, Daniel makes reference to a memorable incident at the "Peachtree Dance" which they both supposedly attended, and he looks at Henry as if expecting an immediate response. Henry clearly doesn't recognize what Daniel is talking about, and Daniel begins to suspect that he is a fraud. He later interrogates Henry further before shooting him.
Q
Why did Daniel kill Eli?
A
It's rather obvious that Daniel (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Eli have been feuding ever since Daniel snubbed Eli publicly at the dedication of the Little Boston well. Coupled with the money that Daniel never paid Eli, $5000 of an agreed-upon $10,000 total and that Eli was really a fake in his faith-healing -- Daniel roars at him about not being able to restore HW's hearing -- and that Eli's motivation in having Daniel be baptized was to humiliate him publicly, it's no wonder that Daniel cracks in the last scene and kills Eli.Additionally, the fact that H.W. Plainview (Russell Harvard) was now going to be a rival to Daniel caused more fury and anger in him, which Daniel projected onto Eli. When Eli visited and told Daniel about Mr. Bandy's land, Daniel had already drained the areas with the wells he'd drilled surrounding that area. Daniel wanted nothing to do with Eli. He killed Eli out of greed and hate. The last line "I'm finished!" meant he was finished with his guest along with his life. It could also mean that Daniel had eliminated his last possible source of competition, Eli.Another explanation lies in Daniel's view of family. He accepted H.W. as his son, as he had control over the child. As H.W. became autonomous, he withdrew from Daniel, destroying Daniel's attempt at family. Eli arrives, telling that he and Daniel are now brothers -- HW had married Eli's younger sister. As Daniel never sought this creation of family with Eli, he decided to destroy it. A popular explanation of Daniel's killing of Eli and the meaning of the film's final line is that throughout the movie, Daniel devolves into a purely evil human being. From the beginning where he is so poor that he is willing to crawl on his back for miles to claim a silver find to the end where he has become rich and is now almost completely insane, Daniel has descended into becoming truly demonic. Ultimately, he is so evil that the murder of Eli means absolutely nothing to him, and his final line, "I'm finished," cements the fact that he has "finished" his descent into evil. Another interpretation to the final line could be that Daniel meant that he was finished "eating". This could either mean finished eating the meal that can be seen when the two were talking, just before the murder or that he was done "eating" Eli as Daniel can be heard saying "I told you I would eat you up." while he chases Eli around the bowling lane.
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