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Yesterday I went to my first movie in four months–There Will Be Blood.

Note to self: sitting in a dark room in the afternoon is not a wise jet lag recovery tactic.

I don’t have much to add to the torrent of critical acclaim that the film has enjoyed. It’s an American masterpiece, brilliantly exploring two of the nation’s founding ‘isms’: capitalism and evangelism. The acting is spot-on, and Jonny Greenwood’s score is astonishing.

Was anybody else reminded of Apocalypse Now, another American masterpiece? There seem to be a lot of similarities:

• Both films have a dreamy, ephemeral quality.
• Both films feature the clashing of two egotists on the edge of madness. In both films, the clash is between a younger and an older man.
• Both films have violence at their centre.
• Both films’ characters are regularly drunk or high (on substances or religiosity).
• Though Apocalypse Now is obviously much more of a journey, both films are concerned with travel and motion. Much of There Will Be Blood happens in trains, cars and on horseback.
• Both films are epic in scope and duration.

Maybe that’s scant evidence. In part, I think I had a similar emotional reaction to the movies–they transported me in a similar way. What do you think?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 12th, 2008 at 1:21 pm and is filed under Movies. Tag Testing Project: apocalypse now, jonny greenwood, masterpieces, there will be blood. Photo by Dan Simpson. You can skip to the end and leave a response, or trackback from your own site. If you don't see your comment within a day or so, drop me an email. Sometimes my comment spam filter gets overly zealous.