While still being in quarantine, my mood led me to watch a film by Paul Thomas Anderson. The film I chose was his 2007 masterpiece, There Will Be Blood. What motivated me to choose this movie again is not just because of its brilliant plot, acting, or cinematography, but also because of how it is set in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. In an era where there was barely any technological advancement, most business involved long travel and complex logistics. This film explores the early days of the oil industry with much greed, hatred, and irreparable consequences in the hands of our main character and enemy Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). Day-Lewis won the Oscar for Best Actor, and the film also won for Best Cinematography. It is a film set in a haunting era that had its viewers compelled by its outcomes.

Daniel Plainview starts out as a silver miner. With his greed and lies, he uses his adopted son to help him grow a business as an oil prospector. Plainview and his adopted son make their way to empty land in California that is known to have tons of oil to be processed for growth and business. He acts like he is a family man (he uses his adopted son in networking scenarios), but he is a con artist. By creating scenarios that are based on lies from the past, Plainview convinces landowners to sell him property for oiling processes. The problem is the pastor of the town, Eli Sunday (played by Paul Dano), realizes people are losing what is valuable, violent disasters begin to arise. Plainview does not have a heart for anything that has been damaged due to his projects and business goals. Plainview only cares about his own earnings from processing more oil so he can be an even wealthier man.

Daniel Day-Lewis is always brilliant in the films he has starred in.  However, in There Will Be Blood, his acting scenarios have some of the most memorable moments. He portrays the greedy personality, the evil background, and the attitude that is in denial whenever he believes it is a benefit to himself and others. His lines are also what sells his Oscar-worthy performance. and we see it in a moment of an oil disaster as he yells, “There’s a whole ocean of oil under our feet! No one can get at it except for me!” In that moment he does not care about how the disaster has impacted his adopted son or others that have been injured, he only cares that it signals more profit.

I find this movie to be a classic because of the tension created by the unrealistic promises that Plainview makes throughout the movie. That is what held my attention most in the times I have watched There Will Be Blood. Plainview makes promises regarding events or issues to resolve, but then he does the opposite. By Sunday being a pastor of his own church with strong religious belief, this makes him feel that the land that Plainview has purchased is cursed with more bad things to come. Sunday also believes that if Plainview rejects his requests then that sets off a curse with a life-threatening outcome. Plainview believes that Sunday’s strong religious beliefs and erratic behavior are getting in the way of him achieving his goals. These two sets of opposing beliefs become a cat and mouse game between the two that goes on throughout the movie. That conflict starts to escalate once Sunday realizes that the land is in the hands of Plainview.

Overall, There Will Be Blood is a film that I have grown to love over the years. At first, I was not into it, but it was one of those movies that slowly made me admire Paul Thomas Anderson. It made me come to realize that the slow and quiet tone is his style of filmmaking. When I watched it a couple more times, I grew to respect and admire the film since I enjoy watching the conflicts grow with the use of well-timed scoring and unexplained disasters. There Will Be Blood is a four- star rating film.

While still being in quarantine, The Criterion Channel has allowed me to explore and figure out why particular films fall under the category of Criterion. I came across the 2006 thriller and drama, Red Road (directed by Andrea Arnold). Red Road is a contemporary film in which the main character, Jackie (played by Katie Dickie), finds herself warped in an obsession with following someone who has impacted her life in the past. Jackie monitors security cameras daily to catch anything that looks suspicious or crime related. Red Road is a quiet film with faded cinematography which effectively depicts Jackie’s obsession which leads her on a trail to seek revenge.

The film takes place in the United Kingdom. Jackie works as a CCTV security operator and her mind is always consumed with identifying emergencies. That all changes when she comes across a man on the monitors that has caused severe damage and (supposedly) was the reason why she has suffered from post-traumatic-stress-disorder for some time. In the film, we learn that Jackie lost a daughter, and she believes Clyde (played by Tony Curran) was the reason for that tragedy. As Jackie becomes fixated on following Clyde’s everyday adventures on the security monitors, she feels compelled to follow him. She starts to exhibit elements of stalkerish behavior, and it is not just through the security monitors, but by involving herself in his life outside of her job. This leads to Jackie to put herself in some harmful situations as she is determined to figure out if the damage he caused her was intentional or accidental.

Red Road’s tone was subdued but technologically inviting. I was captivated by the film, not due to the story alone, but because of its technological brilliance. The realism of the emotional story is shown through the method of the Dogme 95 movement. This is where the cinematography is in use with visceral handheld camera work and natural lighting. Since the film had no high-end cinematography computer effects, it makes Red Road feel like the main characters are in a real-life conflict especially through the showcasing of Jackie’s emotions. The film’s conflict is realistic in that it is not unusual for someone to wants answers to why their life may have had a tragic encounter.

I found that the film was intriguing due to the outcomes of Jackie’s persistent, stalkerish behavior. There are moments where she over assumes what may or may not be true. Also, she realizes that elements of Clyde are what she believed them to be. And, with Clyde’s dark past, her judgment impacts him more by causing additional legal troubles, given he already is on parole due to prior charges. This makes Jackie start to consider if she wants him to suffer more or if she wants to understand whether the tragedy which impacted her was truly a mistake as many car accidents are.  Red Road is a film that is a journey searching for answers through both security cameras and personal stalking.

This film is not for everyone and reviews have been mixed over time. I feel like it does fit with the Criterion Channel and because of its contemporary technical advancements. Red Road is a film that speaks to a limited type of audience, an audience who can handle emotional elements, and who feel that true independent movies speak to them. Red Road is a cleverly crafted thriller, but it is not amazing. However, it did hold my attention through the natural cinematography that the film has throughout its two-hour running time. I give Red Road three stars.

In 2009, director Andrea Arnold won the Cannes Jury Prize for Fish Tank. It is a film which is part of the Criterion Collection, an impressive collection of important classic and contemporary films. Fish Tank is a contemporary film on so many levels. It portrays real-life challenges that people deal with today. The film gears on anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem suffered by an adolescent growing up in a broken home where she is desperate for attention.

The film takes place in the projects of the United Kingdom. Mia (played by Katie Jarvis) lives an Essex Estate with her abusive, cruel, self-centered, and alcoholic mother along with her negative little sister. Due to Mia’s attitude and destructive behavior, she has been kicked out of school and is waiting to hear if she can go to an alternative school due to her explosive behavior. She continues to be a vocal and harsh adolescent that only sees more negatives than positives day-after-day. Mia finally starts to feel cared for when her Mom introduces her to new boyfriend, Connor (played by Michael Fassbender). Connor is as immature as Mia’s mother, but he is more welcoming and friendly than her. Connor starts to grow on Mia. However, after an inappropriate, intimate situation between Mia and Connor which Mia cherishes, her world starts to crumble even more.

Fish Tank shows that Mia wants to feel cared for, and the scenario between her and Connor crosses boundaries that are a red flag. Given, Mia already has a life where her mother does not care about her at all, she feels drawn to and connected with Connor. Mia is fifteen and Connor is twice her age. This leads Connor to want to disconnect from Mia and her mom due to the risqué scenario that he put himself in with Mia.  Throughout the movie, I felt like I was following Mia while she sought to resolve the conflict with Connor. The theme is dark, yet inviting, and the film portrays it well with dark cinematography where it is clear that Mia is only making matters more emotional for herself.

The film has a generous amount of realistic anxiety which the viewer feels watching Fish Tank. At one point when Mia is in a huge dispute with her mother (she is in a dispute in almost every scene with her mother), she screams “You’re what’s wrong with me!” That quote rings true to the Mia’s upbringing and the source of her harsh attitude. Viewers will find it obvious that she was not raised properly. Her mother is always drinking or dozing off into space, and whenever her and Mia talk, it turns into World War III. This shows why Mia is determined to feel connected to Connor (even though it is inappropriate). She feels he will care for her, but the film shows that this relationship has serious consequences.

Fish Tank is realistic filmmaking at its finest. The film accurately depicts the problems many adolescents from broken homes tend to face in today’s world. The film also shows that Mia has limited options when it comes to finding an escape to help better herself. She feels Connor can be that for her. Due to what she has lived with most of her life (being raised in a broken home with an abusive mother), she does not fully comprehend the consequences of her actions. Due to the film’s realism and effectiveness at showing a dire situation in a poetic way, I give Fish Tank three and a half stars.