*****SPOILER CITY FOR THERE WILL BE BLOOD***** DON’ T READ IF YOU HAVE YET TO SEE THE FILM.
As metal clashes stone, sparks fly, illuminating a man in a hole fervently chipping away at the earth like a slave under the gaze of a taskmaster. The man who labors is Daniel Plainview, and he serves no master of flesh and blood, but of ambition and the driving desire to win. Injured at the movement he struck gold, he cries not, and climbs forth from the hole with a big enough chunk to pay his medical bills and fund his next endeavor – Oil.
The true confession of Plainview is this; “I’ve got a competition in me”. Like a haunting proclimation of damnation, and without reasons why, we learn that the driving force behind this man is the desire to win. All that is good in life is put aside to serve this end, in hope that victory will bring the ultimate satisfaction.
Plainview is bent on industry and has no, or little time for people. After he shores up a legendary land deal, he meets another oil man that was a day late for the bounty. In a humorous moment, Plainview rubs the man’s face in the dirt, only to offer up a tip on land to the east. Plainview bestows this knowledge upon the man as a deity; and he, in turn, accepts the tip as gospel. A man who respects Plainview, is a neighbor he can handle. In fact the only people that seem to be tolerated by Plainview are those that revere him. Those that doubt him, or pay him no mind, are less than insects.
Plainview seems to meet his match (for a few years anyway) in the dueling Sunday twins. Paul Sunday uses his knowledge of oil rich lands to strike a deal with Plainview, and in so doing hopes to throw the devil himself (Plainview) at his brother Eli, the preacher. Plainview admires the candor of the cocksure deal maker and promises him $10 000 if the claim brings forth oil; and if it doesn’t – there will be blood to pay.
The preacher then steps up and tries to get a piece of the pie using religion as a way to control both the town and the employees of Plainview. Plainview and the boy go back and forth wrestling for control, punches are thrown, time passes and eventually the kid gets a leg up on him. A parishioner of Eli’s church owns land needed by Daniel to complete his pipeline. In order to get the last plot, Eli blackmails Plainview, forcing him to convert and confess his most embarrassing secret in front of the congregation. Plainview smiles during his baptism of defeat because he can see the big picture, and although he lost the battle – he knows the war is won.
Plainview is as good a salesmen, as he is an industrialist. Using smoke, mirrors and impeccable manners, he smoothes out deals like the devil himself. He admires and loathes those with similar skills in this regard. In a few instances he seems genuinely impressed at the skill of the young preacher to control his flock, and welcomes a con man as a brother (for a time). He can appreciate the skill they wield, but finds it off putting that they can see through his bullshit (as he sees through theirs).
Killing his impostor brother, Plainview soon follows suit at the film’s climax, killing the preacher man that sees himself as a brother in arms to Plainview. Daniel informs the reverend Eli that he has an affinity for Paul Sunday (the twin that first struck the deal). He was true to his word, got $10, 000 “cash in hand” and used the revenue to begin his own oil business. Plainview makes it well known to the preacher that he’s a fraud, and that his brother (the self made oil man) is the one that could be seen as a kindred spirit to Plainview, not he. He then proceeds to mock and belittle Eli until he is hulled of all pride and worth. It’ s at the preachers lowest moment that Plainview kills him. He striped him down, only to beat him into oblivion as a sniveling coward.
Daniel Plainview takes the Klingon Proverb: “Revenge is a dish best served cold” to new heights.
As the movie begins, so it ends. With no opponents left to test him, and not a friend in the world, Plainview is left alone in a hole of his own creation.
