The Church of the Third Revelation: Virtual Viewing Party: Reel 1, Scene 1

Since we haven't figured out how to have an actual IDYM.com party, how about we have a virtual viewing party and discuss the movie little by little? Some of my favorite posts here are the ones that delve deep into the specifics of a scene or moment, so how about this: every couple of days, we start a new discussion about a scene, and post our observations? Think of the fun! Think of the invaluable contribution to future There Will Be Blood scholars! Think of the goat's milk!

Obviously, we'd start with the beginning. The chapters on the DVD are divided into reels, and the first reel ends 14 minutes in, so why don't we begin by looking at minutes 0:00 - 7:10, which is the 1898 section, from the fade-in to Daniel's signature. Daniel's prospecting for silver, sets off a dynamite blast, and breaks his leg falling off the ladder. (We had an earlier discussion about the opening here, mainly focusing on some of the biblical imagery.)

Here are some of my more obvious observations:

- Daniel's crouching by the fire is reminiscent of the apes in Kubrick's 2001. It's also realistic; old men of the west apparently liked to chill out like that.

- After Daniel's fall, it's the first time in the movie we see him waking up in unpleasant circumstances. It won't be the last.

- I always assumed the shot of the three mountains we see after the fade in is the same shot that we see after Daniel drags himself out of the hole, but it's not -- the clouds are different.

- According to the document he's signing, we are in Engle, New Mexico. Daniel's signature introduces us to his name wordlessly, and forms a nice bookend with a similar but much deteriorated signature at the end of the movie.

Great thread! Love it! Love it! 

One of my favorite parts of the opening is when he's lying at the bottom of the shaft after his fall, and he takes that huge gasp of air and screams "NOOOOOO!" I read a great comment on that somewhere -- and I can't remember if it was on this board or elsewhere -- where someone referred to that intake of breath as being like the first breath a baby takes when it's born, and we're witnessing the birth of Plainview here, with all the ferocity and willpower he possess suddenly taking him over. Also love the way the beginning foreshadows the end -- Painview huddled in some ratty blankets, totally alone in a barren landscape.

"Painview???" Interesting typing slip! *LOL!*

It a good idea.  get as many people as possible on, schedule it.  That shot of him with the coffe or soup cup is gorgeous, and its oddlt distinct from any other part in the film.  Im not sure if any otehr part has blue iin it, or at least that muc of it.

I almost said that that was one of my favorite shots, but I have like 13 hundred of them.

The way his hair and beard look and the odd expression on his face reminds me of the post-mortem photos that used to be taken of bank robbers and gunslingers in the old west.Their hair was always sticking up and looking matted like that and they had those weird expressions.

Sorry for phrasing that so oddly. I'm on my way to bed.

I know this was part of the earlier discussions, but three mountains, three major conflicts occur: Eli/Henry/HW.  Also, just a few other things that seemed to stand out; during the dynamite scene, Daniel actually resembles the earth, his clothes are so covered in dust, he blends into the landscape.  Does the certificate from the assay office actually say "3 ounces @ $1.14"?  (Sorry, but it's late, and I don't want to watch the whole opening again.)  If so, that's a very modest beginning, especially in consideration of what hellish work has gone into finding that bit of silver.  (I know, the silver mine then "produces" and becomes profitable.)  Much as I hate to say it, upon finding silver, the "there she is" line does back up Todd Alcott's view that drilling (prospecting) is a substitute for sexual activity.  More simply though, it's DP's "object of desire."  And like all passions, it's addictive.   I'm not going to say anything about our passions destroying us in the end, but we can always get into that later!  I'm a bit curious about DP failing to bring up his tools before the dynamite charge goes off.  What does he really stress in his sales speech later?  "I don't lose my tools in the hole and spend months fishing for them."  I know he's speaking about oil at that point, I can't think that the earlier scene is coincidental.  I'll watch again tomorrow and see what stands out.

Started watching 2001 in the middle of the night, so here are some screen grabs from the beginning...

Ok, it's $342!  Thanks, Fletcher.

I just happened across the later signature. EW, what does your graphology make of this?

Could you get me the full 1898 one with the line underneath it? I'd like to compare the two. If you could put both in one post that'd help a lot.