Paul Thomas Anderson's masterpiece tells the story of Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), an oil baron, who purchases a barren but oil-rich property in early 1900s Boston.
He then meets an unlikely rival in Eli Sunday, the pastor of the little people living in the property. At the onset, Eli does not trust Daniel, but he decides to let the magnate have his way in hopes of getting money for his church, the Church of the Third Revelation.
But Daniel is a a non-believer. For him, the only important aspect is wealth and personal riches. He even adopted a kid to arguably use him as a positive mascot for his shady deals.
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| This kid. |
Tension rises between the two. Eli converts Daniel's workers, making them attend his theatrical sermons such that they forgo the rest they need to go back to work. Daniel continues to deny all of Eli's requests for monetary donations.
Three electrifying scenes capture the animosity between Daniel and Eli. First, Daniel beats Eli down into the mud after he asks for money right after Daniel's adopted son goes deaf. Second, Eli mocks Daniel while baptizing him into his flock. Third is the popular scene where an enraged Daniel explains milkshakes and drainage to a defeated Eli, before beating him to death with a bowling pin.
The allegory is clear: capitalism purports to be a better alternative to religion, but it is as aimless as the one it is trying to replace.
Eli's religion only provides resilience and complacency to its flock. This is why they were easily swayed by Daniel's capitalism, which promised to provide bread and other better things.
But Daniel's capitalism is useless beyond material wealth, so Eli's flock continue to subscribe to their faith. This comes to an end, though, when this faith becomes warped by capitalism, when greed gets in the way of worship, leading to the final scene where Eli denounces his teachings in hopes of financial gain.
In the end, capitalism had successfully twisted religion so much that it can swoop in for its final destruction.
Capitalism's success, however, seems unjustified. Daniel will continue to live an empty life, despite all the wealth he has.
Thus his final words: "I'm finished." Capitalism may have won, but there is no guarantee that a new system, something that may even have the same false idols, can overthrow it. Finished, indeed.
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