Director
Paul Thomas Anderson
Leading Actors/Actresses
Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciarán Hinds, and Dillon Freasier
Genre
Epic Historical Drama
Language
English
Awards
Nominated for eight Academy Awards: Best Cinematography (Winner), Best Actor for Day-Lewis (Winner), Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound Editing. Also won The Silver Bear for Best Director at The Berlin International Film Festival
Date of Release
December 26, 2007
Producer
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Daniel Lupi
Setting and Context
New Mexico and California, early 1900s
Narrator and Point of View
Daniel Plainview
Tone and Mood
Exploratory, Solemn, Dramatic, Violent, Menacing, and Serious
Protagonist and Antagonist
Daniel Plainview vs. Eli Sunday
Major Conflict
Daniel and Eli struggle for financial and cultural power over the town of Little Boston
Climax
Daniel's "baptism" secures the construction of the pipeline that will make him rich, and H.W. and Mary get married.
Foreshadowing
Daniel tells Henry his dream is to live in a great house where he can stay away from other people, which is what he does in the film’s final act.
Understatement
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
The film was shot in celluloid film and Anderson insisted on viewing dailies (reviewing of the shots filmed that day) on old-fashioned film viewers as opposed to the computers more commonly used in the 21st century.
Allusions
The title is a reference to the plagues from the Book of Exodus in the Bible, and the film also refers to several historical people and companies related to the oil business.
Paradox
The film simultaneously signals us to admire Daniel as an embodiment of the mythic American small business owner and despise him as a greedy and unscrupulous predator.
Parallelism
Daniel and Eli represent the parallel forces of capitalism and Christianity, and the massive influence those forces have on American society.
