Eli is the truly evil character. He is a liar, a manipulator, a crook in every sense of the word. Eli is fake. He puts on a front of holiness so he can extort wealth from Daniel to satisfy his own greed.

Which character do you relate with? The man who works hard, has shrewder business sense, but does truly care for certain people in his life? Or the man who lies and extorts in all walks of life, but puts on a false narrative of holiness even though he not once shows true compassion for anyone in the film as plain view does on numerous occasions.

The idea is that maybe the people that you believe to be righteous in this world are not. And maybe the ones you believe to be evil are simply flawed. Eli deserved what he got.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by Tigerfan56

Member since May 2010

10521 posts

Posted on 12/17/13 at 9:42 pm to DirtyMikeandtheBoys

That's a really good write up and a great perspective I had missed.

0 ...

Report Post

Posted by Brosef Stalin

Member since Dec 2011

39272 posts

Posted on 12/17/13 at 10:26 pm to ruzil

quote:
I think that his character in the movie did have good qualities, he did take on his dead workers child and raise him as his own.

He only did this for business purposes, not because he cared about the kid. If he came to people with a story about raising his son alone after his wife died they would be more likely to sell their land to him and possibly at a cheaper price since he is a good family man just trying to raise his son. If he approached them as just a single business man, he would come off as some greedy businessman trying to make a buck and people would either be less likely to sell their land or want more money.

That's how I see it anyway. There never was a dead wife.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by DirtyMikeandtheBoys

Member since May 2011

19429 posts

Posted on 12/17/13 at 10:48 pm to Brosef Stalin

Warning: major spoilers below

I agree that he used the kid for business, but he did grow to love him as his son. Even through the abandonment and alienation you can feel that planview feels anguish for his actions. Yes, he commits certain evil deeds, but he always shows an understanding that what he is doing is wrong.

He even mourns the death of his half brother whom he never met, even though he just murdered the man who was impersonating him. He feels greif and empathy for his son, his partner, Mary Sunday, among others.

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by LeonPhelps

Member since May 2008

8185 posts

Posted on 12/17/13 at 11:01 pm to DirtyMikeandtheBoys

Daniel Plainview is possibly the only character I have ever been able to truly relate to, besides the killing. I understand him and his actions and motivations make more sense to me than nearly every other movie character. There Will Be Blood is one of my favorite movies as a result. I have seen it at least 10 times.

Page 1 2