Energy Politics

So, we end our little week of oil on film with a keeper, the recent Award-magnet “There Will Be Blood.”

In some ways, it’s a counterpart to “The Stars Fell On Henrietta.” Both tell stories of ambitious oil men in a bygone era, struggling to compete in a business that changing the landscape around them, leaving some people rich and lot more with broken dreams.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel Plainview, a silver prospector who turns to oil and begins to make a name for himself as an independent. Plainview is a man driven by acquisition, not seeking money for money’s sake but rather to help him escape the human race which he so dearly despises. Along the way he collects an orphaned child and raises him as his own, not so much to mentor the child but rather as a walking advertisement to play into his customers sympathies, and just to have someone to talk to when he’s bored.

Naturally, he’s a psychotic man given to fits of anger, but that’s part of his natural character, not a product of the environment he works in. He deals with Paul Sunday, an eccentric preacher who’s using the money generated by the oil-rich community to further his church and missionary work. But Sunday clearly is a scam-artist, but perhaps one who’s not even aware of his own foibles. Plainview could care less for him as a human being, but sees him as a rival for the people’s love and personally dislikes his actions.

Plainview gets one scene in the movie where he convinces the community of Little Boston, Calif., of how revenue from oil production is going to improve the town, allow them to build schools, homes, stores, roads. What’s interesting about this scene is how it’s presented. There’s this sort of sinister tone that the scene is overlaid with, as though Plainview is corrupting the town with his presence there. But the fact is, despite the movie’s attempt to play up the negatives, the fact remains that the town does benefit from the added money. Yet somehow, the transformation of a dirt poor California town to a bustling community is seen as negative.

Of course, the community is using its funds to embolden Sunday, which is perhaps the real danger here. So somehow this all comes to a head with Plainview rich and further dissatisfied with his existence. As the movie promises, there is indeed blood to be had, but not necessarily in any cathartic way.

Much like “The Stars Fell On Henrietta,” you can argue that this is just a period piece that recreates the early days of oil . The movie has excellent production values, good actors and what looks to be an authentic recreation of the turn-of-the-century oil business. But it doesn’t seem to earn it’s condemnation of the industry, instead just being a character study of a very angry, disturbed and violent yet none-the-less talented man who knows his business

And of course, you may find the expression “I drink your milkshake” stuck in your heads for days afterward.

Closing thoughts: The movie seems to think that the oil industry was founded by misanthropic, superficial sociopaths who still managed to provide a valuable service to the community, and Oral Roberts and Jim Bakker all found their spiritual inspiration from fast talking preachers from yesteryear.

–Stephen Payne, Editor, Oil and Gas Investor This Week; www.OilandGasInvestor.com; spayne@hartenergy.com

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