- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
I'm not an art history person. I know next to nothing about art. But I do vaguely recall a time period when the "best" art was considered art that looked the most "real." Then movements shifted and other kinds of art was great. Whatever. What I'm trying to say is, just because Daniel Plainview is not a realistic person that could have truly existed, and just because we notice Daniel Day-Lewis was indeed creating a character and acting, doesn't mean it is not great.
On a separate but related note: some parts of the movie and Plainview's actions and expressions were perplexing and puzzling, and perhaps even arbitrary. I don't care. I loved this fucking movie! I want to be perplexed and read into those expressions and try to figure them out, even if they "mean" nothing. I will find fucking meaning. I will enjoy the damn movie how I please.
