I adored it: in fact, it blew my mind! I found it utterly original, a tad bonkers, and completely mesmerising … my head was spinning afterwards!! As soon as I watched it, I wanted to see it again. The structure, and the approach, the depth, the score, the photography, the mood — and of course Day-Lewis; he’s on-screen pretty much for the full 2 hours 45 minutes, and while the performance occasionally became baroque, I just didn’t care: you simply could not take your eyes off him. Spellbinding stuff.

The movie explores a national loss of innocence: the black heart of capitalism – here perfectly represented by the oil industry – rotting the soul of America. The secondary target was that religion, as opium-of-the-people sham – and in its own way as greedy as the oilmen. Needless to say, I could hardly be happier: both capitalistic greed and religion taken to task, perfect! :-)

In fact, I reckon that it’s this deliberate debunking of certain American fundamentals, and America’s founding myth, as opposed to its self-consciously cinéastic approach that scuppered its Oscar bid. I’m a big fan of the Coen Brothers, and I loved No Country… but There Will Be Blood is a true original, and head-and-shoulders the best movie I’ve seen in years.