If you have been waiting for a film for a while, watching it alone in a theater is probably most satisfying. For various reasons, but the most important being – I don’t have to justify why the film is worth someone else’s time. It would have been a very tough sell in There Will Be Blood’s case.
I am not sure if it was Raja Sen’s review on Rediff that tipped it for me, or the bulging veins on Daniel Day-Lewis’s forehead in some best actor award nomination preview – I had to watch this one.
What’s my verdict? I am not sure. Morally corrupt love has always perturbed me. Oxymoron?
There are moments in this film, or vignettes, if you will, that showcase this very corrupt kind of love that elevate it above your usual saga. Love for what you stand for, what goes through your veins, on one side – and on the other side, you have love for another person whom you have internalized as your extension.
ps: I walked out of the theater feeling somewhat like this.
May be greed, for the lack of a better word, is good. But the payoffs of its goodness are not necessarily reaped by the greedy, the likes of Mr. Plainview. Worse, those who reap the payoffs, like Mr. Plainview’s employees and the so far impoverished landowners, may not realize the goodness of greed.
On a more positive note, the movie graphically sketches the moral and emotional downsides even successful entrepreneurship might bring in. In the larger scheme of things, even a successful entrepreneur is pro’ly no more than a joker, who unfortunately fails to entertain anybody. And yes, there has always been another variety of jokers who package themselves as faith healers. Sadly, they often manage to score better than the entrepreneurial variety and sleep better too.
It’s a good idea for entrepreneurs to have “exit” in mind, somewhere down the road!
I loved this movie. Probably one the best movies that I’ve watched this year.
Greed, corruption and fiercely competitive spirit, and the always glamorous oil business, complemented each other so well.
watch “diving bell and the butterfly” and tell us about how you feel..consider this a request:)