Eighteen years ago, a film recognized as among the best – if not the best – of the 21st century, considered a true masterpiece of the seventh art, arrived on the big screens around the world. Signed by Paul Thomas Anderson, The oilman gave us one of the most ruthless and fascinating portraits ever made of ambition, greed and the limits we are willing to cross to achieve success. A creative dazzle that is not only standing the test of time, but which also seems to gain strength and restlessness with each new vision.
At the center of the film is the figure of Daniel Plainview, the cynical oil prospector played by a Daniel Day-Lewis simply monumental. Daniel Plainview’s journey is an exemplary study on corruptive power of wealth which is articulated through a moral parable in which oil – black, viscous, uncontrollable – becomes the perfect visual metaphor of greed. It is no coincidence that the iconic line «I drink your smoothie» has become the symbol of predatory capitalism taken to its extreme consequences.
Awarded with theOscar for Best ActorDaniel Day-Lewis gave with Daniel Plainview a total actor’s construction, which delves into the body, voice and gaze to provide a definitive portrait of moral corruption. A performance that instantly entered the history of cinema and is universally acclaimed among the most intense and convincing ever. If Daniel Day-Lewis is the lodestar of The oilmanthis is however made even brighter by the extraordinary cast that gravitates around it. Paul Dano gives life to a memorable double portrait as the Sunday brothers, while Ciarán Hinds and the young Dillon Freasier help make the world of the film believable and painfully real.
The oilman immediately makes clear the harsh reality in which its characters live with an almost silent, hypnotic opening sequence, which follows a young Plainview man engaged in silver mining. It is a cinema made of gestures, effort and silences, which suddenly breaks down with a tragic accident. From that moment, the spectator remains hooked to a character who fascinates and repels at the same time for theextreme cynicism of his actions.
A hypnotic charm that is enhanced by the narrative structure itself. The oilman it does not follow a classic division into acts, but moves in episodes, showing sudden deviations and turns that destabilize the apparent balance of the characters. Every event and every human relationship that Plainview forms for convenience only fuels the spiral of misanthropy in which he pours, making the story unpredictable and disturbing. The famous scene of the oil tower fire, shot with an almost documentary realism, is decisive in this sense, and represents not only one of the most powerful and devastating moments of the film, but of the entire contemporary cinema.
As Plainview’s empire grows, however, its humanity dissolves like snow in the sun, revealing the truth tragic heart of the film represented by the exchange between power and soul. If at the beginning we find an ambitious, tough but still recognizable man, in the end he remains nothing but a shell, rich and wealthy, but completely and hopelessly alone.
A fundamental role in building the film’s atmosphere was played by Jonny Greenwood’s soundtrack, one of the most disturbing ever combined with Anderson’s images. Its orchestral sounds, tense and dissonant, accompany the protagonist’s moral degradation, while Robert Elswit’s photography, also awarded an Oscar, also takes advantage of natural light to immerse the viewer in the atmosphere of an increasingly divided between religious fervor and greed entrepreneurial.
The oilman it is, ultimately, one fierce criticism of the American dream. First he talks about the seductive side – the self-made man, the conquest, the success – then he unmasks its darkest shadow, the idea that nothing is ever enough, and that every goal requires an ever higher sacrifice. A powerful warning that sounds more relevant than ever.
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