SIXinternational.txt

Another recent movie, slightly lower on my scale than No Country but still fantastic is There Will Be Blood, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano. These three people, and mostly the first two, are who make the movie what it is, everyone else is very minor. Each plays their role brilliantly and masterfully, no doubt there, but I think the fact that the movie can be summarized down to two people is both powerful and ultimately less fulfilling than a true ensemble like No Country. Though distinctly different, the two movies have many ties between them, not the least of which is the landscape as a character. In both of these movies, the harshness of the West plays a clear role in both setting the mood and forming the personalities of the characters. As a northeasterner who has never been to the southwest US, it is an alien and engrossing setting. Johnny Greenwood’s score is also fantastic, working to enhance our experience of the strange, desolate landscape and era, similar to how Ennio Morricone’s scores enhanced Sergio Leone’s classic spaghetti Westerns.

However, unlike the general symbolisms that No Country discusses, Blood is more straightforwardly and plainly about American Capitalism and the greed, negativity, and isolation that comes with being a successful capitalist in America, particularly in the early 1900s. Daniel Plainview, as rich and unique a character as he may be, is clearly a capitalist everyman. Capitalism is a very mixed subject for most people; it has its excesses and inhumanities, but it also (ideally) provides opportunity and equality. I think Plainview embodies both sides of this to the keen viewer’s eye.

Paul Dano’s character, Eli Sunday, is also an interesting symbol for religion in America, though less so than Plainview representing capitalism. Interestingly, Sunday may not be his own symbol but may also be representative of the capitalist influence on religion.

Regardless of what symbolizes what, Blood is another fantastic movie with similar stylings as No Country. This will be another instance where I plan to buy the collector’s edition.

Soon: my take on the 2008 Presidential primaries so far.

I recently downloaded No Country For Old Men (:filez:) and absolutely fell in love with it. The adaptation from Cormac McCarthy’s work is impressive, and with an author well known for his symbolism, the Coen Brothers carry over the symbols effectively yet leave plenty up for interpretation. I could go into detail about what I feel the characters represent but I’d prefer to leave that to the viewer. Ultimately the movie is about the conflicts between old and young, fate and chance, good and evil - with good and evil having by far the most grey area between them in which where every character falls. The movie ends with a soliloquy from the Ed Tom Bell character, and while initially disappointing upon first impact with all of the action leading up to it and the expectation for a huge blowout at the end, it really is fitting that the movie end with an introspective, bleak whimper that makes us fear aging for more reasons than coming closer to death. Anyways, I’ve seen it twice and I can’t wait to see it again, and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt that way about a movie.

And although it was much better seeing it in its glory in the theatre, I was surrounded on three sides by old people ‘whispering’ about the movie (including 10 minutes spent trying to think of the name “Tommy Lee Jones”) at a level that is considered talking by 90% of human beings today.

I received some minor satisfaction when they all were disappointed by the ending.

For me, this movie is a “go see it in the theatre and then buy it the collector’s edition on DVD”. I loved it and look forward to further analyzing the meaning behind it for years to come.