Today I also completed another movie called There Will Be Blood. It is set in a rural, early-industrial environment. One of the first things I noticed in the film was the costume design. From the very first scene, it clearly shows that the protagonist is a highly disciplined and extremely goal-oriented person.
At the beginning, the character appears almost motivational in a way. He is determined, hardworking, and completely focused on building his success. However, as the story progresses, his character develops in a direction that we do not expect. This shift is what makes the movie interesting.
In real life, people’s characters change over time due to circumstances, experiences, age, and learning. We can think of this as a kind of “character life cycle.” Every few years, a person may develop a different mindset or outlook on life. The movie portrays something similar through the protagonist.
The main character, Daniel Plainview, starts from a relatively strong and disciplined position. Over time, however, his character evolves into something very different. From my perspective, he eventually becomes a spoiled and morally deteriorated character who has lost the meaning of life.
One example of this is his relationship with the boy he adopts, H.W. After an accident leaves the boy deaf, Plainview abandons him because he believes the boy is no longer useful to his business ambitions. This moment shows how deeply obsessed he is with power, wealth, and success.
The entire movie is told almost entirely from the perspective of this one man. The camera essentially follows his journey—from having nothing to becoming extremely wealthy. At the same time, while his wealth increases from zero to one hundred, his discipline and humanity decline dramatically.
His actions become increasingly extreme. He manipulates people, dominates others, and uses his power ruthlessly to achieve his goals. The title There Will Be Blood reflects this idea well—his pursuit of success leads to many destructive consequences, and several people suffer or die because of it.
Although I think the screenplay and filmmaking are strong, I personally did not like the central character. I did not find him worth learning from or relating to. When I watch movies, I usually enjoy characters that I can understand or emotionally connect with.
For example, in the book The Silent Patient, I strongly related to the character Theo Faber and his emotional decisions. Similarly, in Burning, I could relate to the introverted protagonist and his emotional struggles.
But with Daniel Plainview, I could not relate at all. He is extremely obsessed with goals, power, and dominance—traits that I personally dislike. Because of that, I do not see his character as something worth adding to my personal “dictionary of characters.”
For someone who enjoys studying extremely complex and morally ambiguous characters, the movie may still be worth watching. But for me, since I prefer characters I can emotionally relate to, I did not find his character particularly meaningful or valuable to learn from.