I’ll have more on the Daniel Day-Lewis tribute in my diary entry later tonight, but first thing’s first: almost two hours into the tribute, Day-Lewis said, “Oh yeah — let’s invite Paul up here now,” and Paul Thomas Anderson took the stage to introduce 17 minutes of There Will Be Blood.

Anderson called it “the third reel,” but my first impression was that it played more like a product reel, with what felt like an entire second act condensed into less than 20 minutes. But thinking back on PTA’s body of work, this kind of temporal pacing wouldn’t be unprecedented–the guy loves his montages, and what we saw was so impeccably, purposefully edited to a gorgeous score (violin heavy, by turns subtle and scary–it’s so dynamic that it might be an existing piece of music, but if so I’ve never heard it before) that it could conceivably play within the film. And, could very well be amazing.

My full notes on the footage follows after the jump.

The footage opened on Day-Lewis’ character, an independent oil prospector named Daniel Plainview, in the middle of a trip to a ranch with his young son. They’ve told the Sunday family, the owners of the ranch, that they’re quail hunting, but really, Plainview is looking for oil. They climb up a steep rise, overlooking a vast expanse. Plainview tells his son his plan to buy the land and build a pipeline, so he can move the oil without shipping costs. The kid asks his dad how much he plans to pay. Plainview says, “We’ll give them quail prices.”

Cut to dinner at the Sunday Family shack. The shack is dark and dingy, and you can see a housefly buzzing around the dinner table. Plainview offers $3700 for the land. Old man Sunday stutters that God has sent Plainview here, but his son Eli (played by Paul Dano), is suspicous. “There’s oil here,” Eli says. “I know there is.” Eli says he wants $10,000. “For what,” Plainview asks. “For my church,” Eli responds. Shot-reverse shot, extreme close-ups. They have a deal.

Plainvie goes to a real estate broker, asks him to see a map of the land around the Sunday Ranch. He pulls out a notebook and takes notes of who owns what: he wants to buy it all.

This is where the score comes in for the first time: propulsive, screechy violins. It’s the aural embodiment of gears working: Plainview’s mental gears, the gears of labor and capitalism as he puts his plan in motion.

A train pulls into town, and Plainview meets an older gentleman who appears to be a rival at the station. Plainview tells him he’s laid claims to this territory and encourages the older gentleman to “go east.” The old guy looks like he’s battled with Plainview before and no longer has the energy. He applauds Plainview for using his little boy to grease the wheels of his entry into the community. He puts his hand on the boy’s soldier and tells him that if he ever wants to sue his daddy, he’ll draw up the papers. “You should be getting half of what you’re dad’s making.” The older gentleman gets back on the train and rides out of town.

The little boy wanders around at dusk with Mary Sunday, a blonde girl about his age. She asks him how much money they’re all going to make. The boy says, “It’s hard to say.”

Cut to Plainview and the boy, sitting around a campfire. The son tells his father that Mary’s father beats her when she doesn’t pray. Plainview absorbs this information.
Cut to Plainview’s office. The real estate broker says one landowner doesn’t want to sell without speaking to Plainview directly first. Plainview says, “He’ll come around.” He leaves his office and goes into a large room, where a large group of landowners have gathered. He begins giving them a speech about all of the improvements his operation is going to pay for: schools, agriculture, roads. Most of this plays over gorgeous, dark shots of miners getting off a train , flooding the area, building a camp. Cut back to Plainview: are there any questions? Only one, from Eli: “Will the new road lead to the church?” Plainview says, “That’ll be the first place it leads.”

Dissolve. The camera scans the camp; there are now chickens, horses, women. Plainview is in his office, and he hears singing. He looks out the window and we see a wide shot, from above, of Eli leading a group of bible-toting singers through the camp.

Eli comes up to Plainview’s office. He asks Plainview if “there’s anything the church can do for you?” He says he knows they’re christening the oil derrick the next day, and asks Plainvie if he’ll introduce him as “the son of these hills” and allow him to give a blessing. Plainview agrees.

Cut to the ceremony. Plainview, flanked by his son and Mary Sunday, gives his own God-infused speech to an assembled crowd. He refers to Mary as “the daughter of these hills.” He does not invite Eli to give his blessing. Plainview’s son releases the drill; it comes up slick with oil.

The crowd disperses; a celebration begins. Kids run around a large picnic table. Plainview stops Mary and asks if she likes the dress he bought her. She says yes. He asks her if her father still hits her. She shakes her head. “No hitting,” Plainview says. He tells her to go play and not to come back. She does. Plainview sits back, and we see Mary’s father has been seated across from him at the table, watching all along. Plainview pulls from a flask.

The end.