Cinema surveillance images are loading at the bottom of the page

There will be blood - Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J O'Connor, Paul Thomas Anderson

Threat advisory: Guarded - General risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

When ambition meets faith.

A sprawling epic of family, faith, power and oil, There will be blood is set on the incendiary frontier of California's turn-of-the-century petroleum boom. The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon.

When Plainview gets a mysterious tip-off that there's a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground, he heads with his son, HW (Dillon Freasier), to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. In this hard scrabble town, where the main excitement centres around the holy roller church of charismatic preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), Plainview and HW make their lucky strike. But even as the well raises all of their fortunes, nothing will remain the same as conflicts escalate and every human value - love, hope, community, belief, ambition and even the bond between father and son - is imperilled by corruption, deception and the flow of oil.

Theatrical propaganda posters

There will be blood theatrical one sheet image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

  • Film drama history USA oil petroleum Texas tea capitalism government bribery ranch

Persons of interest

  • Daniel Day-Lewis .... Daniel Plainview
  • Kevin J O'Connor .... Henry Brands
  • Ciarán Hinds .... Fletcher Hamilton
  • Dillon Freasier .... HW Plainview
  • Barry Del Sherman .... HB Ailman
  • Russell Harvard .... HW Plainview - Older
  • Harrison Taylor .... Baby HW
  • Stockton Taylor .... Baby HW
  • Paul F Tompkins .... Prescott
  • Randall Carver .... Mr Bankside
  • Coco Leigh .... Mrs Bankside
  • Paul Dano .... Paul Sunday/Eli Sunday
  • Sydney McCallister .... Mary Sunday
  • David Willis .... Abel Sunday
  • Christine Olejniczak .... Mother Sunday
  • Kellie Hill .... Ruth Sunday
  • James Downey .... Al Rose
  • Dan Swallow .... Gene Blaize
  • Robert Arber .... Charlie Wrightsman
  • David Williams .... Ben Blaut
  • Irene G Hunter .... Mrs Hunter
  • Hope Elizabeth Reeves .... Elizabeth
  • David Warshofsky .... HM Tilford
  • Tom Doyle .... JJ Carter
  • Colton Woodward .... William Bandy
  • John Burton .... LP Clair
  • Hans Howes .... Bandy
  • Colleen Foy .... Adult Mary Sunday
  • Upton Sinclair .... Author: Oil!
  • Paul Thomas Anderson .... Screenwriter
  • Paul Thomas Anderson .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

You know, I just don't know what There will be blood is about. If it was a biography of Daniel Plainview I could understand someone wanting to make a film about him because he's involved in some interesting times and he's a real character but it's not a biography, it's a drama and this is not how you make dramas. Dramas have a purpose; even a bildungsroman (or perhaps that should be "bildungsfilm") gets to a point where you understand it. In There will be blood you just have a misanthrope who struggles for a while and then gives up.

It's a well-photographed film (the desert is as dry and dusty as you could make it) and Daniel Day-Lewis gets to chew off some of the scenery but the soundtrack is overbearing and Paul Thomas Anderson makes the mistake of having the main character tell us the essence of his being. Characters are supposed to show us their essence, not come right out and say it. We're all grown ups, let us figure these things out for ourselves; don't ram them down our throats.

The drama, history movie There will be blood is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J O'Connor.

Government security censorship classification

M (Moderate violence and themes)

Surveillance time

158 minutes (2:38 hours)

Not for public release in Australia before date

Film: 9 February 2008

Cinema surveillance images

There will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood imageThere will be blood image

[ Top of the page ]