fascinating how, for a movie with such visceral impact, it’s almost impossible to say ‘why’ it affects us in the way it does without really reflecting on what’s going on behind the masks the characters put up.

Why this scene is so brilliant in my mind (aside from the cinematography, which is absolutely haunting – and deserving of the Oscar) is the fact that the tears he sheds cannot be placed into any obvious category of response. I love the fact that we aren’t sure whether they are calculated as a means to and end, or, an honest release of guilt on his part (Guilt and stubbornness are a wonderful couple!). I don’t think his character could ever tell the difference at the peak of his passion (or at least I’d like to believe that!).

This child is an incredibly powerful symbol to him, something beyond the realm of a true/false genetic descendants (After all, he was the key element in his rise to power) – This is why, in my mind, he falls into a secluded world of alcohol and isolation without the present of ‘the boy’. For a character whom represents the essence of stubbornness, his Achilles heal seems to be the guilt which inevitably must surface once his rise to power is compete. All of this guilt seems to be focused on the boy, as he is the (direct or indirect) trigger of all of his outbursts in the film.

That church scene will stick with me for a long time, I’m happy to let it rest unanswered in my mind…

“But is it irrational hope, to wonder if nostalgia for the end of a distant era can reflect any light back on the end of one still present? Or has Plainview eaten that as well?”