May 2024

Blood for Oil: There Will Be Blood

This article was originally published in AC Jan. 2008. Unit photography by Francois Duhamel, SMPSP and Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP There Will Be Blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis), a gruff, misanthropic oil prospector plying his trade in the American West at the turn of the 20th century. Using an orphaned boy to disarm potential clients, Plainview takes full advantage of the oil boom, cutting a single-minded swath through untapped gushers in Southern California. Along the way, he clashes with anyone who dares cross him, including a pious small-town preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), and a man claiming to be Plainview’s half brother, Henry (Kevin O’Connor). Plainview wins most of his battles, but his contempt for...more