Breakdowns, Blood, Bowling Pins and Milkshakes

This is an entry into JD of Valley Dreaming's blog-a-thon about our favorite endings in film. So, thank you JD, for (giving me something to write about!) letting me, in a way, relive one of my favorite endings.

In the childish theme of "There were no films made before 2001," I have to say that There Will Be Blood's manic ending is certainly one of my favorite endings ever. I'm watching a replay of it on Youtube. It has been uploaded a bunch of times. You see Daniel Plainview, an older man, now, explaining an analogy to Eli Sunday, his rival. He talks about his oil and how it reaches to other places, getting more oil. He compares this situation to having a milkshake and using his straw to drink up other milkshakes.

And, um, then Kelis's "Milkshake" song keys up and this uploader messes with rewinding and fast-forwarding so it looks as though Daniel is dancing in the bowling alley. Which brings me to the first reason this ending is great:

1. It sparked a cultural phenomenon: Despite being "An Important Film", There Will Be Blood's meaningful ending became an ongoing joke throughout the media. Youtube has, like, hundreds of parodies of the ending. SNL did a skit of it. People who don't follow Oscar season ardently (like us!), were drawn into this baity film. Simply, because of the supposed, goofy ending.

2. Daniel Day-Lewis's Brilliance: Daniel Day Lewis pulls this scene off spectactularly. It's a testament to a great actor, one who can nail a scene so oddly-written.

3. This is a model of 2007's cinematic dominance: You don't see this kind of scene every year. This ending may go down in history. And...history doesn't happen every year.

4. PTA's genius and guts: A director who can film this scene perfectly, a writer who can write the dialogue and outcome of this scene so outrageously. We're lucky to have a young director like P.T. Anderson. Love him or hate him, he'll be making ambitious and unique films for years to come.

5. A question: We learn so much in this scene. Yes, it's in-your-face and kind of fun, but it also raises a question about the two characters in this scene. Daniel is the one mainly pissed. Obviously he dominates Eli...you know, with the bowling pin and all...but you wonder: who's worse? These are clearly two vile men. Yet, a casual viewer will think Daniel is worse because he's a tad insane. Eli is more smug and could probably hide his feelings of self-contempt.

I saw two main things in this scene: Eli is very, very scared of Daniel and insecure about himself, alone. That's a given. But, I also saw that he is a total hypocrite and lacks any passion in his life. He's Daniel. But he hides what Daniel willingly expresses. Therefore, I believe he's the more awful individual.