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Fathers and sons on film

By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Hollywood has produced several memorable films examining the complex, often tumultous bond and dynamics between father and sons. And with Father’s Day upon us on Sunday, it’s time to look at some famous celluloid fathers and sons.

"There Will Be Blood"

There is often a lack of communication between fathers and sons. And that’s quite literally what happens between an ambitious oil man and his adopted son in Paul Thomas Anderson’s award-winning 2007 loose adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel “Oil!" A deep rift occurs between oil tycoon Daniel Planview ( Daniel Day-Lewis in his Oscar-wining role) and his young adopted son H.W. (Dillon Freasier) after H.W. loses his hearing in an oil derrick explosion. Instead of comforting H.W., Plainview leaves the hysterical young boy and rushes off to the disaster. After the boy tries to burn the bed in which his father is sleeping, Plainview sends him off to a boarding school for the deaf. The relationship never recovers, especially since Plainview won’t learn sign language.