Customer Reviews

There Will Be Blood

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There Will Be Blood is a great movie, a unique vision probably greater than the Upton Sinclair novel which inspired it. It would not have been as great a movie without Jonny Greenwood's music. Music deepens image, gives character to the shot, establishes the feeling. Here, dialogue is sparse; much depends on image and sound, not words. Thus this is a thoroughly cinematic movie (i.e., it shows us things, it doesn't talk us there, and in the showing, gives us meaning and feeling), the music inexorably bound in the telling, in my mind the most cinematic film of 2007. The masterful choice of the final movement of Brahms' violin concerto, used twice in the film, arguably one of the last gasps of anti-Wagner, conservative, romantic triumphalism, is perfect: "there will be blood"....... but we shall win. (For the record, Brahms didn't).

I was disturbed when I learned the Greenwood score was not nominated for an Oscar. All other nominated scores, including the very pretty, ambitious one for Atonement, sound so forgettably conventional! Subsequently I learned that Jonny's does not qualify according to Academy rules because chunks of it consist of music he had previously composed and published, never-you-mind how artfully they are worked into the film. Pity, because recognition of the highest order is obviously deserved. Director and Music Editor are also deserving of highest praise.

Greenwood is that rare breed, a thoroughly classically trained musician (and violist) who "crossed-over" to become a superb rock guitarist now perhaps coming back to his classical roots. I'm rather glad he seems to finally be firmly out of his classical closet. Jonny Greenwood deserves a statuette of some sort.

Greenwood, who composed the music for There Will Be Blood, is known as the fella from Radiohead who usually spends most of his time on the floor mixing sounds and adding ambience to the bands' surreal disposition. His quality is definitively effective and distinct and that same quality can be found here on the original soundtrack for There Will Be Blood.

From the start to the finish, Greenwood engulfs us in the world of the gothic and takes us across a fascinating, ethereal place where nothing is certain with one exception: that doom is fast approaching for everyone within the film.

You will feel the approaching dread as you hear the dark melody of 'Prospectors Arrive' and witness a group of eager workers flood the dusty early-morning streets of a town that doesn't stand a chance against the ravenous nature of greed and exploitation.

Greenwood hits us whether we are prepared for his outbursts of melodic darkness or not, and the result perpetuates the film's theme into our lasting consciousness long after the final credits roll past our stunned eyes. Two grand omissions stand as keeping this score from perfection. They are...

"Fratres for Violin and Piano"
by Arvö Pärt - played during the scene where H.W. loses his hearing.

"Violin Concerto in D Major (Movement III)"
Written by Brahms, played during the end credits of the film.

A solid and original piece from one of the great minds of modern music.

What a stunning score, to an equally excellent film. Greenwood's score sounds as wide as the deserts in the film. For those who have heard Greenwood's music before, you will be delighted to hear bits from "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" and "Smear". As a score it is terrifying, the forceful cellos,the steady violins; at times it is as if the orchestra were playing white noise.

One slight disappointment is that you wont find the piece "Convergence" that is played during the oil well fire.

Before the film was released I heard an interview with Greenwood and director Paul Thomas Anderson, in it Anderson states that after listening to Greenwood's music he would sometimes imagine he was still hearing it in his mind. This is exactly how I feel about this score. Watching the film it is impossible to ignore the music, and as a piece it stands on it's own as a very enjoyable listen. An instant classic.

In addition to the terrific acting, there were two major plusses about There Will Be Blood. The first one is, I had no idea where the story was going. In an age where it seems that one movie is pretty much like another, this was a welcome surprise.

The second additional plus was the terrific modern-classical score from Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (including portions of his Popcorn Superhet Receiver). It is the first in recent memory that both calls unnecessary attention to itself (mostly due to its use of dissonance during particularly dramatic scenes) and remains true to the film.

Most of the time, when I notice that I'm hearing a score, it's because it's particularly bad. A good score, most of the time, should be like a good editor: if they're doing their job, you won't notice them. But Greenwood's music outdoes itself on both fronts, making the music from There Will Be Blood also the first score since Danny Elfman's peak in the early 1990s that I am actually considering purchasing on CD.

I just saw Paul Thomas Anderson's jarring "There Will Be Blood" and immediately bought the score. The film features one of the most effective uses of music I have seen recently on the big screen. Jonny Greenwood's masterful score creates an atmosphere of suspense, horror, and confusion that matches the barren landscape and characters of the film. A string section hasn't created such terror since Bernard Hermann's score to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." But there are no cheap thrills here or thundering orchestral hits - the sheer absence of them is unsettling. While watching Daniel Day-Lewis' portrayal of Daniel Plainview, we are quite sure that he could murder any of the people around him without a second thought, and his rage is perfectly matched by the violent yet sparse orchestrations.

Greenwood's score brings to mind very prominent composers. Much of the music heard in the film, especially the stunning opener recreated in the track "Henry Plainview," seems a delightful nod to György Ligeti's "Atmosphères," and perhaps a nod to Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," which also used that piece and similar visual motifs. Elsewhere, the pizzicato strings and arpeggios in "Future Markets" seem more akin with Béla Bartók's "Music for strings, percussion and celesta," and the orchestration of "Eat Him by His Own Light" is reminiscent of Olivier Messiaen's "Quartet for the end of time." Sealing the deal is the very fun track "Proven Lands," with col legno strings and more pizzicato figures. When I heard it in the film I remember thinking "man, this is great music!"

But the score as a whole is, in my opinion, most surprisingly representative of the great unexplored West. It is as if Greenwood re-imagined the traditional "American West" soundtrack - but with so many more original layers of subtext and none of the clichés. There is nothing out of place between the music and the film - they both perfectly represent the time and the people of the story. Sadly omitted from the soundtrack is probably the film's only percussive piece, heard when the geyser of oil bursts into flames, and this would have been a great, if not necessary, addition. It seems odd that it wasn't included. Overall, a very fine score from what was, to me, a very unlikely source. It would be a crime for Greenwood to not win awards for his music.

Would have loved this CD if it included the "wonder working power" hymn that is heard briefly at the close of the Baptism, the Arvo Part pieces, and the Brahms. Get everything on the album next time, guys. Would only make it cooler.

Just a quickie: when I saw the film I found the most rivetting music was that which accompanied the scene wherein the oil blows and Plainview's "son" is injured. That was my prime reason for buying the soundtrack - and I was dismayed to find that this wonderful, unique,percussive track is NOT on this CD. So for anyone else hoping for this....be forewarned. Brahms is missing, too. If anyone knows where I can find the music used in this scene, I'd be very appreciative.

First-off, I would like to say I have mixed feelings about this score. I was actually lucky enough to attend the premiere of "Popcorn Superhet Receiver", and while I have always considered myself somewhat of a connoisseur and thoroughly expected to be disappointed, I did enjoy it. The music in this score is incredible. It is incredible music, it is incredibly effective in the movie and it makes you say "wow, this is great".


So, you're probably wondering why I have mixed feelings about this score. Quite frankly, the amount of utterly ferocious plagiarism is appalling. Nearly every track is an almost exact replica of a real piece of music. I have been studying Iannis Xenakis since I was 14, and the opening track actually convinced me I was listening to "Metastasis" it is so similar. The eerie adagio for string quartet is pulled from Bela Bartok's 6th String Quartet, and the more up-beat pulled from his countryman Kodaly's. The minimalist Cello + Piano track is a slightly modified and sped-up reduction of Philip Glass' Violin Concerto. Excerpts of Krzysztof Penderecki's Cello Concerto No. 1 pervade several of the interlude-serving moments.


So, all in all? Buy this. But if you've got the time, interest and money you'll be better-served in hearing the real masterworks that inspired this score. Look into Iannis Xenakis, Krzysztof Penderecki, Bela Bartok, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Zoltan Kodaly, Eric Satie and Henri Dutilleux.

A sparse, moving, haunting, moody, tortured, beautiful, inspiring, piece of work that I highly recommend for those who are in for great background music while reading, contemplating your existence in this world, yoga, or just sipping wine during your daily reflection. A work of art.

One of the key tracks, "Convergence", is not available on this disc. And it's a shame.

That said, we're all here for the same reason. Reviews on what a perfect score Jonny made are unnecessary. We all know it was perfect.

Four stars, only because it's an incomplete soundtrack.