Everyman his own Daniel Plainview

June 25, 2009 5:54 AM

How can every man be his own Daniel Plainview, or at the very least write like he speaks?

How would one describe Mr. Plainview's (of the film "There Will Be Blood") particular, mannered, method of speaking? Mamet-esque? Slimy & Dapper?

More importantly, what are other movies I could view or (even better) books that I could read that feature similar methods of speech or writing?

The period of late nineteenth century and early twentieth century is very important.

posted by seansbrain to writing & language (13 comments total)

The HBO series Deadwood (no longer on the air but you can rent/borrow/buy the DVDs) effectively used a kind of self-conscious, heightened language (particularly lines delivered by Ian McShane; character, Al Swearingen). People described it as "Shakespearean" (though the show was set in the late 1800s), but I think that was because Shakespeare was the only heightened English drama many TV reviewers had as a reference point (and perhaps because McShane is a British actor with Shakespearean credentials). Much of the (heightened, poetic?) dialogue was written by the show's (irascible and often controversial) creator, David Milch, but I don't know if Milch's other series have similar styles of dialogue.
posted by aught at 6:43 AM on June 25 [2 favorites has favorites]

You could check out Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in Gangs of New York, or even the TV series Deadwood, for that plain-man-attempting-to-sound-educated vibe. For books, you could start with picking up the book that There Will Be Blood is based on, and other Upton Sinclair works.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 6:45 AM on June 25

People I know refer to it as "olde timey" talk. Seconding Gangs of New York (in which people get sentenced to death for "sneak-thievery").

Old Timey Strong Bad speaks in a similar manner, and that wiki article describes the accent as Mid-Atlantic English.
posted by ignignokt at 7:03 AM on June 25

The characters in the works of Jack Vance tend to deliver dialogue in very ornamental language, although somewhat more baroque than Plainview's. In one or two stories I can think of, there are minor characters whose speech patterns are totally unmannered (that is, they sound like dialogue you might hear on a cop show on TV ore something) and these characters come across as lumpen.

The Dying Earth books are as good a place as any to start, but the Cadwal and Lyonesse books are also quite decent entry points.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:17 AM on June 25

The Nero Wolfe series from A&E (no longer on air, but on DVD) has both of its main characters using very mannered speech, 1950s New York, one highly educated, another street smart. I think they really capture the speech patterns, the cadence that Rex Stout put into his characters.

In the "Making of Nero Wolfe", Maury Chaykin (who plays Nero Wolfe) talks about how challenging it was (large vocabulary, long sentences, accent, inflection) to pull that off week in and week out.

Timothy Hutton's character, Archie Goodwin, might come even closer, as he's the street smart sidekick that has to keep up with Wolfe.

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"Bread and Tulips" (Italian, English subtitles) has two of the characters, the Norwegian and a really funny private investigator. They contrast each other, with the Norwegian speaking very precise, very manner Italian and the Italian speaking even faster than most Italians do, which is very fast. This is probably a very edge case, though, and is modern day.

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Another that comes to mind is Ignatius Reilly, from John Kennedy Toole's book (not film)A Confederacy of Dunces.

Contrary to what many believe, he does not speak like most New Orleanians speak, far from it. His is highly manner speech that's academic, arrogant, Southern patrician (straining to describe it, sorry), and farce all at the same time. It's not what you'd hear from a person who lives with his mother in poor New Orleans. It's a manufactured self.

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The Coen Brothers films are just stacked with plain, mannered speech. Just pick any of their films and you'd be sure to find something there: No Country for Old Men, Barton Fink, Miller's Crossing, etc..

Not sure if I answered your question, but...
posted by foooooogasm at 7:26 AM on June 25 [2 favorites has favorites]

O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and George Clooney's character in particular, is probably the best example from the Coens.
posted by ninebelow at 8:00 AM on June 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've read that Day-Lewis was influenced by John Huston for the voice.
posted by abcde at 8:05 AM on June 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

Daniel Plainview reminded me a little of Captain McCluskey in The Godfather. Very direct, educated, but (seemingly) unsophisticated, as opposed to the mafia characters who used a lot of nuance and unspoken communication.
posted by electroboy at 8:56 AM on June 25

Daniel Plainview apparently grew up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His accent is by no means typical of the area, but there's some precedent for Midwesterners sounding Mid-Atlantic: Orson Welles was born in Wisconsin and raised in the Chicago area, and Charlton Heston was from Illinois. Both men did a great deal of classical theater in their youths, at a time when actors were still obliged to affect an accent if they wanted to do Shakespeare.

So there you go: Plainview trained for the classical stage, then, while his diction was still rough around the edges, chucked it all and went west.
posted by Iridic at 8:57 AM on June 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is not perfect, but I would suggest checking out James Spader's character on Boston Legal, Alan Shore. Very...measured, or precise, speech.
posted by Lemurrhea at 9:10 AM on June 25

I think the John Huston reference is the key one, for where DDL came up with the delivery for his character, not sure if it relates to the time period you're interested in though.
posted by the foreground at 11:01 AM on June 25

The Proposition is filled with similar language and intonation from most of the characters. Including Danny Huston (who often speaks in a very measured way in films) and a great turn by John Hurt.

The character of Judge Holden in Cormac Mccarthy's (absolutely sublime) book Blood Meridian has a very measured and deliberate way of speaking, in stark contrast to the minimal dialogue of the rest of the characters.

Whatever exists, he said. Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent. He nodded towards the specimens he'd collected. These anonymous creatures, he said, may seem little or nothing in the world. Yet the smallest crumb can devour us. Any smallest thing beneath yon rock out of men's knowing. Only nature can enslave man and only when the existence of each last entity is routed out and made to stand naked before him will he be properly suzerain of the earth. The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.
(thank ludicdruid for the transcribed quote)

Wordier than Mr. Plainview, but the same 'feel' is there.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:50 PM on June 25

Brando in -- Streetcar Named Desire!
posted by Napierzaza at 6:48 PM on June 25