This Monday, January 6, 2025, Arte is broadcasting at 9 p.m. a feature film which received great critical success upon its release in 2007. Before appearing around ten years later in third place in a ranking of the 100 best films published by the BBC.
Some rankings are based on purely objective criteria. This is for example the case of the 30 biggest box office hits of 2024. Often, especially in art, they are by nature subjective. They nevertheless allow us to give an indication of the references in their field. To have, for example, an idea of the feature films which have marked the history of the seventh art and remain engraved in everyone’s mind (tens) of years after their release. At the house of Tele-Leisurefor example, we had fun choosing the 15 best romantic films in history, or the 10 best taking place in space. In 2015, the BBC ranked the 100 best American feature films of all time. Noting the relative absence of recent productions, the British media was then interested in 2016 in the 100 best vintages of the 21st century (not just Hollywood this time, and including the year 2000). The verdict of 177 film critics from the four corners of the globe then made it possible to establish a list of prizes.
Which feature film is the third best film of the 21st century according to the ranking of the BBC ?
At the top of this ranking was the cult Mulholland Drive (2001), by David Lynch; while the figure of Hong Kong cinema Wong Kar-wai occupied second place with In the Mood for Love (2000). Finally, There Will Be Blood obtained the honorary title of third best film of the century. A magnificent drama by Paul Thomas Anderson (broadcast this Monday January 6, 2024 on Arte and) carried by the always perfect Daniel Day-Lewis, to whom the channel is devoting its evening, continuing with a documentary on him. A little reminder for those who may have missed this masterpiece. Very loosely inspired by a novel by Upton Sinclair entitled Oil! (published in 1926-1927), the fifth film by the American director revealed by Boogie Nights takes place at the end of the gold rush. At the beginning of the 20th century, Daniel Plainview, a prospector, tried to make his fortune in oil in California. He then founded a drilling company and bought farms at low prices to install wells.
Daniel Day-Lewis wins second Best Actor Oscar
There Will Be Blood is certainly not a luminous film (and that’s an understatement). From this harsh, dark, heavy work emanates no redemption, no hope. It remains no less powerful and striking. The beginning of the film, without words, punctuated only by the dull noises of the machines, the heavy breathing of the protagonist, and disturbing music, sets the tone. The sequel therefore depicts the destiny of a man (freely echoing that of magnates like the Rockefellers Edward L. Doheny) obsessed with money and power. An extremely dark and complex character played masterfully by Daniel Day Lewis. In his obsessive quest, he comes up against a particularly zealous and even fanatical young evangelical pastor, just as brilliantly played by Paul Dano. Throughout this American tragedy, Paul Thomas Anderson also questions the family. Very well received by critics, There Will Be Blood then received eight nominations for Oscars in 2008. He wins two. The first for Robert Elswit’s photography, while Daniel Day-Lewis receives the prestigious statuette for best actor, for the second time, 18 years later My Left Foot. He even won a third thanks to Lincoln by Steven Spielberg five years later. Before taking leave from the movie sets with Phantom Thread in 2017.
