The film begins with very little dialogue yet one is pinned to the seat by Daniel Day Lewis playing the greedy prospector that he becomes. Here is where sleepy urban centers in the American West become oil towns and greed becomes the name of the game in getting to as much oil as possible. In the story there will be blood, a farmer is about to buy a property that is supposed to be rich in oil. The stage would set for rivalry between two brothers, one of which was a priest.
All this happened at the turn of the last century when people were beginning to see the use of prospecting for oil on land that had hitherto been used for farming. The book and the film it inspired are about greed and faith and the clash between the two.
It all started with the purchase of an oil-saturated property. There would be the passage of a pipeline through his land if he cleansed his soul.
Daniel's brother humiliates him in front of a congregation and the audience can witness the tension that Daniel is willing to take on so as to have his material wealth.
There are other conflicts which come to the surface fueled by the greed of exploration and set against a conservative background, such as between father and son and the turmoil caused when hope is lost in "saving" the community from speculative exploration.
Daniel Day Lewis is an intense and expressive actor who gets into his roles much as a method actor would, by being very much "in character". He deserved the nomination for best actor in 2008.
