Great Scene: “There Will Be Blood”

The last scene of There Will Be Blood (2007) is one of the most gut-wrenching, memorable finales in recent film history. Written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the scene features just two characters: Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Eil Sunday (Paul Dano). We pick up the action about midway through the scene:

ELI
I would like a one hundred thousand dollar
signing bonus plus the five that is owed
with interest.DANIEL
That's only fair.ELI
...I am a false prophet and God is a
superstition. If that's what you
believe, then I will say it.DANIEL
Say it like you mean it.ELI
Daniel...DANIEL
Say it like it's your sermon.ELI
This is foolish.DANIEL
...ELI
"I AM A FALSE PROPHET. GOD IS A SUPERSTITION."
Is that fine?DANIEL
Those areas have been drilled.ELI
...what?DANIEL
Those Areas Have Been Drilled.ELI
No, they haven't.DANIEL
It's called drainage. I own everything around
it.......so I get everything underneath it.ELI
But there are no derricks there. This is
the Bandy tract. Do you understand?DANIEL
Do you? I drink your water, Eli.
I drink it up. Everyday. I drink
the blood of lamb from Bandy's tract.ELI
ahuh.Eli take another drink...and then begins to break down and CRY
and CRY and sob like a baby...ELI
Oh, Daniel...please...
I'm in desperate times...I need a
friend...I feel the walls closing in...
I'VE SINNED...I NEED HELP...I'm a SINNER...
I've let the Devil grab hold of me in
ways that I never imagined! I'm so full of sin.DANIEL
The Lord sometimes challenges us, doesnt' he?ELI
ohhhh yes he duz. yes he duzzzzzaaa!
aaaaawhoa. HE'S COMPLETELY FAILED
TO ALERT ME TO THE RECENT PANIC IN OUR
ECONOMY AND THIS. I MUST HAVE THIS.
...I must have this...I've invested...my investments
have...oh, Daniel, I won't bore you, but I -
IF I COULD GRAB THE LORDS HAND FOR HELP
I WOULD, BUT HE DOES THESE THINGS ALL THE TIME,
THESE MYSTERIES THAT HE PRESENTS AND
WHILE WE WAIT...WHILE WE WAIT...wait for his word...DANIEL is HOLDING A LOOK ON ELI;DANIEL
You're not the chosen brother, Eli.
It was Paul who was chosen. He found
me and he told me about your land.
You're a fraud.ELI
Why are you talking about Paul?
don't say this...don't say this to me, Daniel.DANIEL
I did what your brother couldn't.
I broke you and I beat you.
It was Paul who told me about you.
He's the prophet. He's the smart one.
He knew what was there and he found
me to take it out of the ground.He SMACKS Eli across the face.DANIEL
STOP CRYING YOU SNIVELING ASS.
STOP YOUR NONSENSE.You're just the younger brother,
and you'll always be the younger
brother, Eli...and that land has
been had...YOU HAVE NOTHING.
YOU LOSE. YOU IDIOT, YOU LOSE.ELI
If you take this lease on the Bandy lot,
the Church would -DANIEL
DRAINAGE! DRAINAGE, ELI! DRAINED DRY, YOU BOY.If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake
and I have a straw and my straw reaches
ACCCRROSSSSSSSS the room starts to drink your
milkshake:I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE! I DRINK IT UP.ELI
Don't bully me Daniel, please. HELP ME.
PLEASE. MY FAITH HAS BEEN LOST AND I NEED
A NEW WAY. I ASK FOR YOUR HELP --IN A FLASH: DANIEL is UP AND HAS GRABBED ELI AND THROWN HIM
HALFWAY ACROSS THE ROOM. Eli flails about as Daniel closes in,
hysterical/crazy/kicking/pushing,etc...DANIEL
I TOOK WHAT I WANTED WHEN YOU WEREN'T LOOKING
AND THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB IS IN MY POCKET.
DO YOU THINK GOD IS GOING TO BALANCE
YOUR INVESTMENTS? GOD DOESN'T SAVE IDIOTS, ELI.
YOU ARE BROKE AND YOU ARE LAME AND
YOU ARE DONE FOR.ELI
No I'm not.DANIEL
DID YOU THINK THAT YOUR SONG AND DANCE
AND YOUR SUPERSTITION WOULD SAVE YOU?
I AM THE THIRD REVELATION! I AM
WHO THE LORD HAS CHOSEN. BECAUSE I'M
SMARTER THAN YOU. I AM OLDER AND WISER
AND I AM NOT A FALSE PROPHET, YOU
SNIVELING BOY. YOU'RE DONE FOR.ELI
Not done for, no.DANIEL
Yes.ANGLE, DANIEL.
along the way, he picks up a HEAVY SILVER TUMBLER...DANIEL
I AM THE THIRD REVELATION! I AM THE
THIRD REVELATION! I TOLD YOU I WOULD EAT
YOU UP, I TOLD YOU I WOULD EAT YOU.
HOW DARE YOU COME TO ME? HOW DARE YOU?WHAT DID I TELL YOU?ANGLE, ELI.
inching back on the bowling alley floor...back from Daniel...DANIEL
WHAT DID I TELL YOU?ANGLE, DANIEL.
advancing on Eli...DANIEL
I TOLD YOU I'D EAT YOU UP.ANGLE, ELI
crawling and looking for somewhere to go...DANIEL
How dare you come to my home?DANIEL is over HIM, AND SITS DOWN ON HIS CHEST, PINNING DOWN HIS
ARMS... AND DRIVES THE TUMBLER STRAIGHT DOWN INTO ELI'S FACE.CAMERA looks STRAIGHT DOWN on the GORGEOUS WOOD FLOOR......very slowly, BLOOD COMES OOZING INTO FRAME. It spreads and
moves like a slow land slide...covering the floor...CAMERA moves
back a bit to reveal;...blood pouring from Eli's skull and this head wound...he's curled
in a fetal position and not moving...CU. DANIEL
his eyes wet and out of breath from the struggle, looking at
what he's done. HOLD. He gets up --Daniel drags Eli's dead body down the lane of the bowling alley,
leaving a streak of BLOOD...HE THROWS HIM INTO THE BOWLING PINS AND DOWN OVER THE LIP INTO
A CELLAR.FROM BELOW, LOOKING UP.BOWLING PINS AND ELI'S BODY COME CRASHING THROUGH INTO THIS
CELLAR.ABOVE, IN THE BOWLING LANE.Daniel slumps down onto the floor...breathing heavy and covered in
blood... HOLD WITH HIM ON HIS FACE.ANGLE, AT THE STEPS LEADING TO THE BOWLING ALLEY.CAMERA pulls back with AL ROSE coming down the
steps...slowly...slowly...revealing to him the horrific scene:...and sees the BLOOD spilled across the floor...and sees Daniel...HOLD on Al's face and the reality of this mess...Daniel turns around...satisfied:DANIEL
I'm finished.

The movie version is even more violent.

A bowling alley. Drainage. Milk shake. The mind boggles at how Anderson combined those disparate elements into such a powerful scene.

[Originally posted September 10, 2010]