No Country for Old Men
The Coen Brother are two of the most revered directors working today and have been since bursting onto the indie scene with their low - budget neo - noir debut , descent Simple . In a life history spanning decade and featuring a fistful of near - perfect movies , the Coens ’ nifty cinema is arguablyNo Country for Old Men , their neo - western Oscar darling adapt from the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name .
It tells a poignant story deserving telling with the economy of its source material and the unmistakable visual panache of its directors . No Countrybrings the Midwestern quirk of the Coens to McCarthy ’s brutal South . But the brother have made tidy sum of other masterpiece that giveNo Country for Old Mena run for its briefcase of stolen drug money .
No Country Is The Best: It’s Pure Genre Cinema, But Also Transcends Genre
Genre movies are quantifiably the most fun movies because the stock quality and high - stakes situations provide an escapist fantasy . ButNo Country for Old Menmanages to be a musical genre movie that also has realistic ingredient and focuses on the human side of its story .
No Countryhas been categorized as many different genre — neo - westerly , neo - noir , even revulsion — but it does n’t belong to one individual literary genre . It ’s a genre picture show , but it also transcends musical style and evolves into something all original .
Alternative: Miller’s Crossing
When the Coens took a stab at the gangster genre , they madea quintessentially Coens - ian gangster movie . Miller ’s Crossingfollows a turf war between two Prohibition - era offense syndicates through the eyes of enforcer Tom Reagan , who strain to play both sides and ends up getting screwed by both .
Barry Sonnenfeld ’s cinematography and Dennis Gassner ’s output plan bring the menstruum setting to life , while the Coens ’ script harks back to the classic writings of Dashiell Hammett .
No Country Is The Best: It Perfected The Cat-And-Mouse Thriller
FromHeattoThe FugitivetoThe part , the cat - and - mouse thriller is one playfulness subgenre . But those movies usually have a clearly - cut finish where the CT catches the mouse or the mouse outsmarts the cat . No Country for Old Mendoesn’t see things so pitch-dark - and - white .
The movie like an expert playact with narrative ambiguity as the cat baffle away with his homicidal violent disorder andthe black eye is killed by a different cat altogether , who goes unidentified . Llewelyn Moss is the quintessential “ human being who knew too much ” admirer ( or “ creep ” ) and Anton Chigurh is the quintessential ruthless violent death machine antagonist ( or “ cat ” ) .
Alternative: The Big Lebowski
Although some diehard Coens fan were disappointed by the zaniness ofThe Big Lebowskifollowing the somber , cerebral excellency of their previous movie , Fargo , the duet ’s Chandleresque stoner noir has since come to be appreciate as one of their finest whole works .
There ’s no other movie quite likeThe Big Lebowski , a kitty - addled lampoon of motion-picture show noir by agency ofone of the funniest comedies of all time , cast anchor by Jeff Bridges and John Goodmangiving iconic performances .
No Country Is The Best: The Acting Is Impeccable
Every cast member inNo Country for Old Mengives an intense , riveting functioning that immerses the audience in the bleak realness of the movie , make the violent events of the plot even more shocking because the whole matter feels bona fide .
Josh Brolin , Tommy Lee Jones , and Kelly Macdonald each give one of their all - clip fine performance in this movie , but the MVP is , of course , Javier Bardem asAnton Chigurh , the grievous , emotionless embodiment of violencewho ca n’t be stopped by Llewelyn Moss and ca n’t be understood by Sheriff Bell .
Alternative: A Serious Man
There ’s a delightfully scriptural timbre to the tragic story of Larry Gopnik inA Serious Man , whose tranquil suburban being comes crumbling down in spectacular fashion over the line of a very bad workweek .
The themes ofA Serious Mancould be analyzed for hebdomad , while its pitch - black comedy is some of the sharpest in the Coens ’ filmography .
No Country Is The Best: There’s A Hitchcockian Restraint Missing From Most Modern Thrillers
Most modern thrillers ca n’t await to throw their protagonist into a encounter with the villain to move along a generic three - act plot and establish their competition with ungainly expo . Hitchcock , the original of the thriller writing style , used a noteworthy sense of restraint that is entirely absent in a stack of today ’s U-boat - Psychothrillers .
InNo Country for Old Men , Llewelyn Moss and Anton Chigurh never do fount to face . When they ’re engaged in a firefight across a street , they never see each other ’s faces . The Coens use pernicious Hitchcockian techniques throughout the motion picture to masterfully build up suspense and tenseness .
Alternative: Raising Arizona
Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter are fantastic in the Pb roles , bestow plenty of heart and humor to H.I. and Ed ’s attack to set forth an unconventional family .
No Country Is The Best: The Ending Doesn’t Satisfy Or Disappoint
The final view ofNo Country for Old Mendoesn’t see Sheriff Bell arresting Chigurh or Llewelyn ’s killers being divulge . Instead , Bell just lives on , unable to excuse the fearsome thing he witnessed when Chigurh came to town .
The unresolved finish does n’t disappoint the audience , because Bell ’s final meditation state them that not getting a satisfying , all the way - cut ending that fix the plot is exactly the stage : the movie is about the relentlessness and inexplicability of vehemence .
Alternative: Fargo
Frances McDormand plays possibly the peachy cop character ever created inFargo , a meaning police chief who brings extorters and killers to Justice Department with the use of her fact-finding skills and quick wit as opposed to Hollywood ’s standard excessive force out .
From Roger Deakins ’ bleak snowbound cinematography to Carter Burwell ’s stalk score to the endless shocking secret plan bend in the Coens ’ script , Fargois everything a movie should be .
NEXT : Coen Brothers : 5 Ways No Country For Old Men Is Their Best Crime Movie ( & 5 Fargo Is A Close moment )
