Upton Sinclair’s Oil! is a didactic, socialist critique of the Teapot Dome scandal and the exploitation of labor. Anderson strips away the political proselytizing, retains the ruthless father-son dynamic, and reframes the narrative as a character study. He replaces Sinclair’s focus on systemic reform with a focus on individual pathology.
Plainview is less a character than an elemental force. His opening twenty minutes—wordless, alone in a mine shaft, dragging a broken leg—establishes him as a creature of pure will. Key traits: There Will Be Blood 2007
It is impossible to discuss There Will Be Blood without acknowledging the revolutionary score by Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood. At the time, the score was controversial; the Academy deemed it ineligible for an Oscar because it contained pieces of pre-existing concert work Greenwood had composed. However, time has vindicated the score as essential to the film's identity. Upton Sinclair’s Oil
Eli is Daniel’s mirror, not his opposite. Both are performers, both are ruthless, and both seek dominion. He replaces Sinclair’s focus on systemic reform with
Released in 2007, There Will Be Blood is a sprawling American epic directed by Paul Thomas Anderson that explores the dark intersection of capitalism, religion, and the human spirit. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil! , the film follows the ruthless rise of Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oil tycoon, during the Southern California oil boom. A Masterclass in Acting
There Will Be Blood is not merely a film about the oil boom of early 20th-century California; it is a searing, mythic exploration of the roots of American power. Directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson (loosely adapted from Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel Oil! ), the film dissects the twin, intertwined pillars of the American identity: aggressive, unbridled capitalism (embodied by Daniel Plainview) and performative, morally compromised religion (embodied by Eli Sunday). The film argues that these forces are not opposed but symbiotic, born from the same well of greed, performance, and a hunger for dominance. Through its austere visual language, avant-garde score, and a career-defining performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, the film stands as a 21st-century cinematic landmark—a bleak, brilliant treatise on the corruption inherent in the pursuit of a "primitive" American dream.
The film captures the transition from the Gilded Age to the Roaring Twenties. This was an era of: