striking gold

dragging his body across the screen after falling into the oilpit he was digging Daniel Day Lewis has already done more in the first few minutes into the haunting There Will Be Blood to present a character than other actors will ever accomplish in their entire careers (made even more impressive by the fact he really fell and kept acting even though he had broken his ankle). And that's without uttering a single word. What follows is 2 1/2 hours of pure acting bravado, on a level that reminds us why we bother going to the movies in the first place. DDL is Daniel Plainview, a scheming, opportunistic, hard-working, evil and undeniably charismatic oilman building his fortune in early 20th Century California. Through his story emerges a portrait of American capitalism itself, in its relation to others, to nature, to religion.

What makes the movie so palpably exciting is the way director PT Anderson captures this energy with other tremendous actors (most notably Paul Dano as the flawed small-town pastor, and Dillon Frasier -in his film debut!- as Plainview's young son) to craft an enthralling tale of greed, dedication and family bonds. There is a lot of the great Stanley Kubrick in the restrained way in which the movie unfolds, and I'm not talking about Eyes Wide Shut-Kubrick. But at its heart, this movie is about what is, simply put, one of the great performances of all time. It might take a few years for Mr Day Lewis to make a new movie, as he has never been one to rush into projects, but when you create something this extraordinary, you're allowed all the time in the world. And one Oscar too, it goes without saying.