There Will be Blood
- Thread starter Divisive Cotton
- Start date
I can't exactly remember where in the film it was but there was a really clattery part - near the beginning iirc that just woke you up and pulled you out of your seat. It was very effective.
Thanks for the lengthy edit after I'd replied
I'd agree that, for the most part, the soundtrack / sound design did all that. I just think that at the beginning it didn't work as well as in later sections
Reno
The In Kraut
Thanks for the lengthy edit after I'd replied
Sorry, when I edited it you hadn't responded yet.
I'm at work, so sometimes messages hang there for a while before I send them while I'm busy.
It does reflect what is going on, especially after the boy becomes deaf and stops talking, the sound I think is used to express his perspective -- it is very well done.
I was talking specifically about the beginning, though.. Bits of it worked very well.
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
I've only listened to the soundtrack (couldn't face 3 hours in the Ritzy!) and it blew me away - it's the whole of C20th modern classical in a small box...you can hear Ligeti, Stockhausen, Crumb and others in there, but he lifts it beyond that.
Had no idea the boy Greenwood was *that* talented!
Had no idea the boy Greenwood was *that* talented!
As far as I know, a lot of it wasn't written specifically for the film: he'd spent a year as a composer in residence with the BBC orchestra, written stuff with them that was fitted to the movie.
He's always had leanings like that though - remember all his stuff with the ondes martinot?
kyser_soze
Hawking's Angry Eyebrow
Indeed, he likes his spectral haunting stuff...still, he's a bit of an Anne Dudley insofar as he's clearly a really, really talented composer of non-pop IYSWIM...
Saw this the other night. I really liked the soundtrack, it was genuinely impressive. The strings piece that sounds like Penderecki was the highlight of the entire film for me.
DDL was really acting! Also terribly impressive, but I'm ashamed to say the story left me cold.
Still, very good-looking film even if not entirely to my taste.
DDL was really acting! Also terribly impressive, but I'm ashamed to say the story left me cold.
Still, very good-looking film even if not entirely to my taste.
You mean the first twenty minutes or so where he is shown toiling in the mine and there is no dialogue? I thought the sound there was meant as a kind of persistent inner monologue and also underlined his tenacity.
I can see what was intended, I just thought it didn't quite work. Partly, the sound - pretty much a high drone (that I'd probably listen to at home for fun
) sounded anachronistic, but not in an interesting way.
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I've only just come across this thread. I turned down the offer of going to see it today...I think I made the right choice.
Nooo.. it's a fantastic film
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I have a problem with noises...apparently it's very common in people who were premature babies...the soundtrack sounds as if I would have found it excruciating. That's why I tend to get rat-arsed in noisy environments, it's literally painful otherwise.......
Reno
The In Kraut
Mrs Magpie
On a bit of break...
I'll just snore in the dark.
mhendo
Aussie in San Francisco
You might right about the intention behind the soundtrack; i just didn't think it worked very well. It detracted from the movie, especially in the first hour, in my opinion. I certainly never felt off-balance regarding what i was seeing; i was just thinking "What's with all the fucking noise?" Especially since, with so many of the mining scenes, they had such great natural sounds to work with.
Two of my friends who saw it with me felt the same way, and others leaving the cinema were making similar observations. Maybe i was just spoiled by No Country for Old Men. I love the extended silences in that film, and they worked much better at creating atmosphere, IMO.
Anyway, There Will Be Blood was a great movie, i thought. Day-Lewis's performance was superb and sustained--he was in just about every scene in the whole movie. It was long, but i didn't think it was too long. And the cinematography and direction were outstanding.
I still prefer No Country for Old Men overall, though, and am glad it won the big Oscars. I just found it a slightly more compelling movie.
Reno
The In Kraut
No Country for Old Men was overall a more conventional and satisfying film, There Will Be Blood was more challenging and experimantal. I liked both equally. Not all films have to be made the same way, for some a music score works, for others the lack of music works. As I said before the "intrusiveness" of the soundtrack was its very point and for me it was exactly what nudged the film from great to brilliant. Would be boring if all films were the same.
It could be argued that some of the greatest film composers like Ennio Morricone and Bernhard Herrmann composed intrusive scores. Films like Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West or Hitchcock's Vertigo were structured around musical themes, turning them into something cinematic operas.
The closest equivalent to the music in There Will Be Blood I can think of is the use of 20th century classical music in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Krzysztof Komeda's dissonant jazz score for Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, both of which have a similarly jarring, dislocated feel to it, which is exactly what makes the music so exceptional for me.
Grandma Death
Reconfiguring & Reconstructing
PT Anderson is IMO a genius. Simply the greatest film maker around at the moment.....all IMO of course.
strummerville
vinyl lover
I concur. Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, There Will be Blood. No one else comes near that run of film making. Each film is totally of itself without a lazy default style emerging. What is Andersons style? Those films could have been made by different people.
Paulie Tandoori
shut it you egg!
saw this tonight and i have to say that i thought this was a superb film, great performances that i found compelling, fantastic soundtrack that added to the sense of drama and intention, beautifully shot and flowing edit so that 2 and half hours flew by, intelligent movie making that drew me in completely and allowed a story to unfold that didn't feel the need to slap you about the face to make its points. i can't think of many better films i've seen for years gone by, i can't agree with some of the criticisms here, it drove me and pal to the pub to discuss for an hour and half afterwards cos we were so excited about what we'd seen. top top stuff imo.
The Groke
hot hail/Paging Dr. Beat
Finally got around to watching this the other night.
Was completely underwhelmed.
Disappointing as I was looking forward to it.
Just found it a little dull really. Maybe I missed something.
It was beautifully shot for sure and I did like the very minimalist soundtrack, but the events and story left me cold.
Oh well.
Was completely underwhelmed.
Disappointing as I was looking forward to it.
Just found it a little dull really. Maybe I missed something.
It was beautifully shot for sure and I did like the very minimalist soundtrack, but the events and story left me cold.
Oh well.
High Voltage
In the top 97% of Urban's most interesting posters
Saw it on DVD a couple of weeks ago . . . it's alright I spose . . . seen worse, seen better.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Finally got around to watching this the other night.
Was completely underwhelmed.
Disappointing as I was looking forward to it.
Just found it a little dull really. Maybe I missed something.
It was beautifully shot for sure and I did like the very minimalist soundtrack, but the events and story left me cold.
Oh well.
I agree. A pretty poor film.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
It's the best film I've seen in ages.
You obviously have no eyes and ears
You obviously have no eyes and ears
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
*bump*
Saw this last night - holy shit!
What a piece of work. The initial vision, the music - as Reno says it's a character in itself, the photography, the acting, the huuuuge space in the script; everything is in a range from excellent to genius.
These are indeed the men that build empires, and in their own image.
Saw this last night - holy shit!
What a piece of work. The initial vision, the music - as Reno says it's a character in itself, the photography, the acting, the huuuuge space in the script; everything is in a range from excellent to genius.
These are indeed the men that build empires, and in their own image.
Lo Siento.
Second As Farce
absolutely terrible film this. Completely missed the point of the original book.
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