Corruption In There Will Be Blood

Among the most powerful and striking filmic composition in all of cinema, Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood renders the notion that power and conflict catalyses corruption upon an individual, divulging the monster of greed, money, and lust for power that is obscured beneath a casuistic and moralising facade. One that appears innocent and untainted by the grasp of corruption soon begins to be consumed by a desire for more, sacrificing the purpose of previous ambitions. The underlying motif of oil, symbolising impurity and sin, is a prominent tool in the portrayal of corruption within the film. This is evident when Eli approaches Plainview following the accident, concerned about the $5000 Daniel owes the Church. Plainview attacks Eli, knocking him to the ground and smearing the

There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet! No one can get at it except for me”, accentuating his priorities amidst crisis, meanwhile his son severely hurt. Plainview’s assistant asks “H.W okay?” Plainview replies unemotionally “No, he isn’t”, his eyes never tearing away from the fire advertising his future prosperity. In a close-up of Plainview, his face is smothered in oil and illuminated in red from the reflection of the fire, appearing rather distorted and monster-like. This highlights Plainview’s negligence for wealth and power, moreover alluding to his corruption and escalation of character extortion. H.W’s injury is no less an acceptable contribution of hard work than Plainview’s broken leg in the film’s earliest scenes. The explosion not only reveals the ‘ocean of oil’ under the surface, but exposes the deep, dark ‘ocean’ of Plainview’s true nature and values. In essence, Anderson successfully manifests the idea that power and conflict act to corrupt an individual, regardless of personal ambitions, through the symbolism of crude oil delved in the