The Coen Brothers. If one were to look at the top 500 films of all-time (7 films) and top 100 films of the decade count (11) it would look like the Coen Brothers should be a top 10-15 director(s). They might be in time. With no top 100 all-time films (that hurts) their filmography ranks them 20th actually but remember that’s not counting anything from 2009 to now so we’re talking about some major works (A Serious Man, Inside Llewyn Davis) still to come on my next update. Still, the Coens’ are the third highest rated director(s) who made their debut post 1980 (P.T. Anderson, Kar-Wai Wong). They have made 18 films, 17 of them archiveable (Ladykillers), and 10-11 of them in the top 10 of the year. Indeed, they have an undeniably strong case
Best film: Fargo .People who think this film launched their career into another stratosphere are exaggerating a bit- I mean their previous film starred Paul Newman and by my count they already had 3 top 500 all-time films under their belt. But Fargo is simply one of the 5 best screenplays of the 90’s. The Coens have created some of cinema’s greatest characters—Lebowski is right there- but I don’t think it gets better than their creation and construction of Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson. It may also be Carter Burwell’s greatest achievement with the film score—it’s unique- but it builds and rolls over the top like Bernard Herrmann’s Taxi Driver score. Period and location details- not just the accents by a long stretch but mise-en-scene for sure- scrapping the car off, the clothes, the hair, but make no mistake about it- the Coens are in love with this unique vernacular… but there’s more– tonight show in bed, cheesy picture at the car dealership, Macy’s wife with her voice inflections. What smacked me in the face with the latest viewing (probably about #10) is the stunningly gorgeous reoccurring shots of snow-filled parking lots and that fence scene. It’s architecture as character and not something I see much in the Coen’s filmography (though it is actually first used in their debut Blood Simple)- it blew me away. A strong meditation on greed, chance/fate.
total archiveable films: 17
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 7 (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men, Barton Fink, Miller’s Crossing, Blood Simple, O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
top 100 films of the decade: 11 (Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, Miller’s Crossing, No Country For Old Men, A Serious Man, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Inside Llewyn Davis)
most overrated: Raising Arizona– I love Raising Arizona (more so the wonderful opening than the increasingly slapstick last half hour). TSPDT has it as their 5th best film and I’ve got it as #10.
most underrated: Blood Simple at #798 on TSPDT is ridiculous- I’m at #328. Blood Simple is one of the all-time great debut films—lots of them out there from Citizen Kane to The 400 Blows. Like nearly all of their work to follow, Blood Simple is a meditation on fate and randomness. We have, here, covering up someone else’s murder, McDormand’s character thinking she’s just killed Hedeya at the end—it absolute packs a punch. The Walsh character laughs and says “if I see him. I’ll sure give him the message”—hauntingly good. I love Paulline Kael’s “isn’t about anything” misguided awful negative review. The car coming while crime is going on would be repeated in Fargo. The beautiful minimalist Carter Burwell piano score.
gem I want to spotlight: I want to spotlight their 1990 and 1991 films. I feel like they get overlooked and my god Miller’s Crossings and Barton Fink are astounding films. Miller’s is all style and polish made with panache (those gorgeous shots in the woods) and Fink is a slow-burn minimalist writer’s block meditation (amongst other things). If these are the 6th and 7th best films from the Coen’s….they match up well with any auteur’s 6th and 7th best film.
stylistic innovations/traits: Black comedy crime and a knack for colloquial languages and screenwriting- idiosyncratic and postmodern. Ok, so they aren’t as brilliant behind the camera as Ophuls or even Cuaron or anything but unlike some critics, I don’t think they are predominantly writing talents. They DO make beautiful films (Deakins has shot 12 of their 18 films). More importantly, they certainly do create their own cinematic world. “All style and no substance” is continually the knock on the Coen’s—well sign me up for that. Again, hey aren’t as visually spectacular as Lynch or Malick or even a few others that will come shortly on this list but they DO create their own world and have given us the some of the best films of the past 35 years. Indeed, still going strong their oeuvre already contains as many top 500 all-time films as Fellini, Scorsese, Welles, and Tarkovsky and more than Coppola, Antonioni, Kurosawa and we haven’t hit the eligibility for A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis.
Their work features word repetition and incredible narratives that just roll (No Country For Old Men in particular). Character creation is a forte of theirs as well from Marge Gunderson to Jeff Lebowski to Anton Chigurh and Llewyn Davis. Meditation and exploration of fate- from the coin toss in No Country, to the randomness of the finale of Blood Simple. You have the bookends in Llewyn Davis (Llewyn is getting his ass kicked in the alley while Dylan is becoming a star) andthe falling pin in Lebowski (Fate—Donnie strikes all movie long then the night of his death the pin stands up when it shouldn’t- he threw it perfectly).
top 10
- Fargo
- The Big Lebowski
- No Country For Old Men
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- A Serious Man
- Barton Fink
- Miller’s Crossing
- Blood Simple
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?
- Raising Arizona
By year and grades
| 1984- Blood Simple | MS |
| 1987- Raising Arizona | HR |
| 1990- Miller’s Crossing | MS |
| 1991- Barton Fink | MS |
| 1994- The Hudsucker Proxy | R |
| 1996- Fargo | MP |
| 1998- The Big Lebowski | MP |
| 2000- O Brother, Where Art Thou | MS |
| 2001- The Man Who Wasn’t There | R/HR |
| 2003- Intolerable Cruelty | R |
| 2007- No Country For Old Men | MP |
| 2008- Burn After Reading | HR |
| 2009- A Serious Man | MP |
| 2010- True Grit | R/HR |
| 2013- Inside Llewyn Davis | MP |
| 2016- Hail, Caesar | R |
| 2018- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Fargo And No Country for Old Men are easily top 100 of All Time And The Coen Brothers are Top ten Directors of all time.
@Randy. I’m a big admirer of both films and the Coen brothers in general. I’ve got no problem with your lists if you have those films in your top 100 and the directors in your top 10. It does sound like I’ve, perhaps, seen more overall films than you have so as you see more and more over the years things may change. I’ve had to make room for a lot of films and filmmakers.
Super interested to know if you’ve caught The Tragedy or Macbeth yet? It came out about a week ago where I am so I got the chance to watch it in cinemas and rewatched last night at home. The first 2021 film that I’ve given a MP to. It’s simply one of the best looking films I’ve ever seen, gorgeous lighting and framing. Quite ambitious with the visuals it’s going for, (although not too surprising being a Coen brother film). And the actors really deliver the Shakespearean dialogue well, something I’m usually not too fond of. Keen to know a sneak peak of your thoughts if you’ve had a chance to catch it already.
@Joel- Thanks for sharing. I have had the chance- I was lucky enough to catch it in theater. I was impressed. I will have a page for it soon but may want to try to catch it again at home first. TBD.
i disagree with you that coen brothers and spielberg have no top 100 fllms when they have some in mine (no country around 100, o brother, raiders, ai, schindler’s list). the coens are also great screenwriters and burn after reading is a great comedy. spielberg is one of the best american artists in the country’s history.
I’d throw Catch Me If You Can into the Top 100s as well… Perhaps, Inside Llewyn Davis, too, at a stretch??
@m and Jeff. — thanks for the comments– good stuff. Spielberg and the Coen Brothers are great auteurs, artists and have made some of the best films of the last 40-50 years. I have no problem if your own lists have their films in your top 100. I don’t know how large of a sample that is. I’ve seen a lot of films over the past 20 years— a lot— and can tell you there was a time when my list included films from Spielberg and the Coen brothers. I’d have to see your entire list to comment and would have a better idea of what films and filmmakers you are choosing their films over.
in my top 100 i’d have those films everyone just has to put like the godfather i and ii and citizen kane. annie hall, taxi driver, raging bull pulp fiction, blue velvet, chinatown, forrest gump, lotr, star wars etc. i am still discovering more films because i am currently in school and have not too much time to actually sit and watch films so i dont know as many as i wish (or i know more than i have watched) but during summer and all i will try to watch more. i also love films like passion of joan of arc and metropolis, especially city lights. another favorite is gates of heaven by errol morris.
one thing also is that i can watch classic films like intolerance on my phone and computer but i would much prefer the big screen so i wont watch all those films yet.
@ m– that’s an impressive group of films– thanks for sharing– and I’m with you about trying to find a bigger screen when possible to watch some of these. Any Kubrick in there? PT Anderson? I just ask because I have 5 Kubrick films in my top 100 and 4 Anderson films in there.
havent seen all of them but orange and 2001, are great clockwork orange is top 150 2001 top 100 and punch drunk love is top 100 but from what ive seen of the master and blood they are up there too. and dr strangelove is top 100 (so is the graduate which i forgot.)
@m — that’s fantastic. I look forward to hearing from you to see what you think when you catch up with the others.
My Ranking of the films I’ve seen from them so far would be
1.Inside Llewyn Davis
2.Raising Arizona
3.Fargo
4.No Country for Old Men
5.A Serious Man
6.Burn After Reading
7. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
@Randy– interesting– we’re mostly on the same page. Thanks for sharing. What grabbed you about Raising Arizona?
Hm I’ve never been able to articulate why I love Raising Arizona so much I guess it’s because of the relationship between Ed and Hi who are imo one of the best couples in cinema history and the Coens Screenplay which is the best non Fargo Screenplay imo. Also it’s funny as hell There funniest one imo.
@Randy– I was just wondering. Thanks. I mean to be clear I think the movie is superb. I may not have it above some of the films you do here but it is in my top 100 of the 1980’s and the first 15 minutes in particular are absolutely magnificent.
ive only seen it once but ive never seen a film like llewyn davis, one of the best of all time. also, you should do a ranking of the best moments in cinema history. some to consider
dark knight- boat scene
zodiac- dinner with gyllenhaal and ruffalo
taxi driver- saving foster
wizard of oz- giving them what they want
pulp fiction- samuel jackson robber
raging bull- punching at wall
godfather ii- im not dumb
citizen kane- susan leaves kane
wonderful life- prayer
no country- murders carla
llewyn davis- singing ‘oh ha ng me’
lord of the rings- killing the ring
once upon… america- ending
return of the jedi- killing palpatine
ai- pool scene
schindlers list- one more
@ m — thanks for the comment– I’ve been lucky enough to catch Llewyn Davis four times now— it gets better every time. Good idea on the best scenes or best moments in cinema history. You’ve compiled some great ones here- good work! What I may do is pick the best scene from each year when I update my year by year archives and then I’ll have roughly the best 100. I think that’s the only reasonable way to do it. Or I guess I could do my top 100 films and pick the best scene from each one. Either way— would be a fun project. Thanks
I visit this place regularly and it’s a a very handy tool to me (I hope you don’t take offense at that description). From what I see here, your focus is mainly (I hesitate to say specifically) on the craft of filmmaking. Visual storytelling, editing, mise en scene, angles, lighting, lenses are more important to you then what is film trying to say, does it create an emotional response, is narrative solid throughout…which is a fundamental difference in our understanding of the cinema. Would you agree with my assessment of your preferences and could you elaborate on it a little bit? Even though I understand how you can, in theory, make a distinction and simply separate craft of filmmaking from disciplines like philosophy or literature, don’t you think that overlapping in this art form makes it nearly impossible to achieve this?
For example I saw that Midsommar is your top film of 2019 and I can see why because it checks the boxes you value, it’s visually stunning, but it wouldn’t be nowhere near top of my list because narratively totally falls apart in the second half. It opens few mini sub plots that are basically left unfinished and it all ended in a series of shocking scenes to attract casual audience without much substance or build up behind it.
Also you are obviously a big proponent of auteur theory which is kind of contradictory because you are making sure to separate director’s job from screenwriters’ for example. That’s why people like Billy Wilder, Charlie Chaplin or Coen brothers are much lower on your rankings than it would be on mine.
Another point I would like to address is that I noticed (correct me if I’m wrong) you put so much weight on if the director’s style is unique to him and immediately recognizable. It’s a admirable trait to have, but it does not make or break a director and it shouldn’t overpower a stronger catalogue of another director when a comparison is made.
And the last thing I would like to ask you is about your film ratings system, specifically a Masterpiece label for top 3 films of the year. Don’t you think that obvious flaw is that some years are stronger and some weaker? I love Malick but if The New World is labeled as a masterpiece that does not do any favors to other titles in that category in my opinion. If you were to rate them from 1-10, what would be the last film rated 10 on your top 500 list?
@Chief Keef– thank you for visiting the site and the thoughtful comment. I don’t mind that description of my site at all. I consider it a compliment and look at many other websites the same way.
I care about what a film is trying to say and if it’s trying to elicit a response– but I care how it says it and how it elicits that response (film style) more. Otherwise we’re grading the message of the film aren’t we? I think your description of what I care about is correct- but I wouldn’t call it a preference- I think there’s a hierarchy in cinema as art and what is “cinematic”– as much as I admire acting, writing, and say a film’s musical score– I think the director more often controls what is cinematic. Also, reading the meaning of the film or emotional responses can vary and can be difficult if not impossible to substantiate, and this leads your next point on Midsommar. I completely disagree about the narrative falling apart in the second half. I also disagree with you putting such high importance of that as part of the evaluation of a film, but I also again I disagree with the fact that it does that here. We could argue about it for days– but what we couldn’t argue about is it being visual stunning. There is clear evidence of it.
Strong disagree on me overemphasizing the importance director’s unique style
As for your last point on The New World and masterpieces. I’ll clarify- I thought it was clear but just in case…. so 1-3 masterpieces per year is a general guideline but I don’t feel tethered to it. There are years where I have as many as seven or more masterpieces (1960) and years where I don’t have one (1987).
It’s worth pointing out that from the top down you’ve been against visual/stylistic filmmaking in your response. You’ve done it in a very intelligent way for sure, respectful, I don’t begrudge it– but it makes sense why we disagree down the line here. You start talking about how important a film’s message is (what it’s trying to say), the response it elicits, then go to Midsommar, then to Chaplin to Wilder, then on to the section about how a director’s unique visual style shouldn’t matter as much, then on to The New World.
@Drake
Thanks for the response. Yeah my comment is all over the place, I tried to point out few things that have not much to do with each other without spending hours so it came out confusing. I am not anti visual filmmaking but as you said there’s an hierarchy and mine is different from yours and I agree that it is perfectly logical that we would disagree a lot based on that. What I strongly disagree on is your implication that traits you value are more objective as opposed to the ones I mentioned. Yes, there wouldn’t be much argument on my part regarding Midsommar because it is exceptionally strong in that department, but I don’t think it applies in general. The idea that visual aspect can be looked at more objectively is not what I would subscribe to. Not many people would say that Midsommar is visually weak, but not many people would say that There Will Be Blood is weak in terms of narrative. Both are as subjective and objective as the other.
About Midsommar, let’s take the situation with Josh and Christian. Christian tries to take Josh’ idea for the project, we see a little tension between them and then Josh is killed leaving the situation unsolved and meaningless in the bigger picture. I don’t see any purpose in this little sub plot and don’t understand how it contributes anything to the film. I don’t believe in things being there just to be there and I feel similarly about a lot of stuff in Midsommar. Importance of this aspect in this particular film is debatable.
About uniqueness, I apologize if I misrepresented your views but it comes mainly from your director’s rankings and for some directors that are maybe lower on your list than consensus would suggest, the first thing you often point out is that they are “style minus” directors and then you continue building on that label. I’ve just seen it few times, so it probably stuck with me more than you intended to put emphasis on it.
About masterpiece label, I totally misunderstood the whole rating system, I thought that it is more strict and that you have to fill the quota of 3 films per year (or 6 for must-see), which is kind of stupid to assume on my part so there’s that…
My updated Top Five
1. Taxi Driver
2.Pulp Fiction
3.The Master
4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid
5.Nashville
Honorable Mention: Raising Arizona, Broadcast News,Fargo, Manhattan, Short Cuts, and There Will Be Blood
This top 5 about what is it?
Favorite movies?
It seems to be a ‘top 5 best American movies of all time’.
I don’t have Midsommar as the best film of 2020 (Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood all the way) but I think I could defend that particular narrative choice. Isn’t that particular feud simply one instance among many that cumulatively establish these guys as pretty shitty human beings who on some level deserve what’s coming to them? Does it need purpose beyond that? I mean ultimately they all die, so does that mean their entire archs were ultimately purposeless? If we wanted to be reductive we could argue that but I don’t see that tact as being particularly useful.
There are many Coen movies that could legitimately be called better than the rest. I think at least five or so have a case as their best film. Who are some other great directors that have a bunch of movies that could be their best? I can think of PTA, Kurosawa, Spielberg, maybe Malick, Spike Lee, Hawks, or Leone who have a few or more that are arguably their greatest. Who are some others?
I suppose you could also say Wilder, Fincher, Kieslowski, Tarkovsky, maybe Scorsese.
@Graham not the biggest spike lee fan but isn’t do the right thing considered his masterpiece almost unanimously. Kubrick, john ford, hitchcock. Even coppola I’d say with the godfather films and Apoclypse now. Maybe even ridley scott as some people will argue alien or blade runner (and some gladiator i suppose)
Very sad to hear you are not a fan of Spike Lee. Personally, I find his films tremendously good stylistically, while also being both meaningful and entertaining. You may be right that Do the Right Thing is usually considered his best, but I would have no problem myself if someone argued for Malcolm X or one of his other films. Kubrick and Hitchcock I can see being debated, but I think 2001 and Vertigo are the best for each somewhat certainly. Coppola is definitely a valid point. Ridley Scott has two that i believe can logically be considered his best, but there are many auteurs with two.
I’m shocked nobody’s brought up Scorsese yet in this conversation. Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, and Goodfellas are all debated over about which of the 3 is the best, and I’ve heard some even say Mean Streets or The King of Comedy.
You didn’t read my second comment. “I suppose you could also say Wilder, Fincher, Kieslowski, Tarkovsky, maybe Scorsese.”
@Graham -great list and great point about these auteurs. How about Bergman? He has 5 films in the top 158 on the TSPDT — I think as far as modern auteurs how about Nolan? apologies if someone already mentioned these two– catching up a little
@Graham– Antonioni would be another one, right? L’Avventura is the one most often mentioned but he has 4 in the top #145 on TSPDT and that doesn’t include Red Desert- the film I think is his strongest
@Graham Oh you’re right. Missed Scorsese there but noticed the other ones.
I really love the Coen brothers. Initially I didn’t get them. I do think their films are more of an acquired taste, but either way I didn’t start off well – the first film of theirs I watched was Burn After Reading and I didn’t get it at all. I wasn’t used to their style and I’ve watched the film since (it is really good, I think it’s slightly better than Raising Arizona), but the first time I was left with such a sense of unfulfillment. Of course then I watched Fargo (quite recently actually – I studied them for the first time at around spring of 2020) and I fell head over hills for that film. Fargo is honestly such a masterpiece. And then goes everything else. I really like Big Lebowski and there’s some unease still left with me since the time I watched No Country for Old Men, but I think I agree that Fargo is their best work. Their brand is so distinctive – I think you could easily tell if what you’re watching is a Coen film (apart from its featuring McDromand or Clooney – both perfectly tailored to their style). The long distance frames, the black humour and -even if I don’t think that screenplay is all they’re great at- it is true that their dialogue is very unique (so many new words for a viewer whose first language isn’t English haha). They’re impeccably idiosyncratic. The mise en scene is also very specific. Their frames aren’t stuffed, I usually think they’re kind of minimalistic, in a way that the figures or the important objects stand out. This approach magnifies the impact of the events on screen (usually quite shocking as well). Their narratives are well crafted to a fault, their characters are always interesting. Their tendency to have the bad guy win is very characteristic as well, and it is often daunting to realise that characters who appear good willed or ordinary have more layers to them and are perfectly capable of the worst crimes (eg Clooney in Burn After Reading). Of course, this goes the other way around as well (eg Macy in Fargo). We always seem to find ordinary people in extraordinary situations. But it is really difficult for me to understand how anyone could point at the Coens and say that they’re all style and no substance. Besides that not always being a bad thing (Moulin Rouge!), the Coens always have something to say. Meditations on fate and greed are a very distinctive thing of theirs -you hit the nail on the head with that- and I think good and evil and their coexistence within everyone (nearly everyone – Bardem in No Country is probably an exception) seems to be something that they deal with a lot through characterisation. I’ve never watched a Coen film that doesn’t touch upon any theme. In fact there is something deeply tragic about many of their characters, and in this case Blood Simple comes to mind foremost. I still haven’t watched Inside Llewyn Davis and several others from your top 10 here and I’m really looking forward to a more extensive look at their work.
@Georg– great share- thank you– a nice addition to the page. Please send up a flare when you get to Inside Llewyn Davis- would love to know what you think
@Drake – haha thank you very much. I’ve been looking to watch it for a long time and I haven’t read much about it. It’s probably for the best to be honest. But I think I’ll make it a priority to generally get a glimpse of all those MP’s you have here and there I haven’t checked yet – Llewyn Davis is one of them. Your site is honestly the best guide on the Internet for anyone trying to get into film, you’re always doing great work!
@Georg- I certainly appreciate the kind words about the site and the contribution from you and others. Thanks again
A recent viewing of Burn After Reading (2008) really impressed me. Watched it a bunch of times in college, my friends and I would quote Brad Pitts line “I thought you might be worried… about the security… of your sh*t” and Malkovich at the end of the film holding the gun in one hand with a stiff drink in the other “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.” lol. Absolutely hilarious start to finish.
But I was greatly impressed in how it fits in with the rest of the Coen Brothers work, themes of fate and chance, greed and blackmail, and brilliant screen play setting everything up. Clooney stating he hasn’t had to use his gun in 30 years setting up the scene with Brad Pitt.
@James Trapp- 100% spot on all the way around. Malkovich in this movie is golden.
Miller’s Crossing is as perfect a film as I have ever seen, every element of production in perfect harmony, every shot worthy of a painting, every performance–sublime. It finds and stays balanced on a impossibly fine line between straight gangster flick and parody, but with never a wink. Amazing.
I am glad to see you singled it out for some love
@Greg- Absolutely- I run into quite a few cinephiles who are admirers of the Coen Brothers but have yet to catch this one– so I always take pleasure in recommending it to them and encourage them to get to it as soon as possible.
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/08/the-coen-brothers-may-have-directed-their-last-movie-together
I wonder what happened?
@Zane- yeah I saw this — the Coen brothers are pretty coy with the media (even this is from another source close to them). They have been doing this a very long time.
Through many dangers, toils and snares, I finally got around to watching Inside Llewynn Davis. This film is essentially a change of pace and style for the Coen brothers, in which their accomplishment is remarkable.
More so than in most of their films, one should note the gorgeous photography; washed out, vintage and generously enriched by autumnal, greyish and earthy tones. The photography here gives the film texture and a flavour that allows us to truly immerse in the 1960’s folk scene.
The Coens, in their finest moments, are noted for their razor sharp, brilliantly exaggerated, poignant and darkly hilarious scripts. In Llewynn Davis, they drop all those idiosyncrasies and offer us a more harshly realistic, bare approach and an in-depth character study, like few they’ve ever indulged in. There are still cues of their unmistakable sense of humour here and there, as well as some of the themes they would grapple with in their following work (the undercover Soviet agent working at the bank towards the film’s end – Hail Caesar!), but by and large, this is a different film.
Their Llewynn Davis is a truly fascinating character. Proud, angry and alone, through his cinematic portrait it is that we study concepts such as selling out, compromising, grieving and letting go. This is a man who doesn’t have a place to sleep. A struggling artist, whose story begins with his getting beat up by a strange man in the back of the Gaslight café. This is the story of him, his partner Mike and a cat, or a couple of cats, that’s a little bit of both.
Llewynn is a man who cannot seem to find his place in the world. Unresolved anger for a society, a system and thereby a music scene that do not fit him, unresolved grief for the loss of his dear partner and, possibly, some unresolved issues with his father and family. He crashes from couch to couch, gig to gig and frustration to frustration. At one point he discovers that he may have left a woman pregnant with an unwanted baby. At another point he discovers that he has a child, somewhere (Akron, Ohio in particular). The Coens are too good to fall for the expected and quickly allow their film to unravel into a redemption arc. When Llewynn is faced with the dilemma of whether or not he will take the cat with him or leave it behind, he closes the car’s door, with the cat in it, and doesn’t look back. When he passes by Akron, Ohio he doesn’t seek out his ex-partner or their child. This isn’t a story about his becoming a better, more conventional, for lack of a better word, man. This is someone who takes no prisoners, lives and lets live, completely unbound. And that does not change. And yet, however unbound, Llewynn remains desperate, furious and needy.
As interesting as Llewynn is, what is even more intriguing is the film’s cats. One cat is Ulysses and the other remains unnamed. Well, let’s call it Frances? I’ll go with Frances. Anyhow. The cats, Llewynn’s comrades more than any other person in his life currently, have within them a little bit of Mike. From the very beginning of the film, we see Ulysses on top of Llewynn, as if to convey a sense of connection with our protagonist. They accompany him, one way or another, throughout his journey and we get the impression they may even guard him. A part of Llewynn is present in the cats as well. When, as he drives back from Chicago, he accidentally bumps onto a cat (possibly Frances), as he watches it regress into the woods, limping, he identifies with it. Llewynn doesn’t go looking for it. He lets the cat go, and with it, his grief and pain. In the key scene with F. Murray Abraham, we witness him go through a painful, but quiet realisation of his loss, of Mike’s absence and of the reality that he is now alone. The name Ulysses, attributed to the cat is all but random; the cat leaves and proceeds to return on its own a few days later – just like Ulysses’ journey back to Ithaca. In turn, Llewynn’s own personal story is something of an odyssey in his inner world, his frustration and pain, and in a spiteful, vindictive, unfair world out there. The link between the two worlds being Mike’s suicide, we get the idea Llewynn might really blame the system for his friend’s untimely passing.
Towards the end, Llewynn reaches the heights of anger, when he learns that Jean is getting gigs at the Gaslight thanks to sleeping with the owner. Betrayed by everyone but himself and his long gone friend, he melts down. Oscar Isaac is truly extraordinary in his performance here. Delivering furious monologues and tortured, silent yet eloquent glances, he becomes our Ulysses through this time and world that is so far from our own, and yet in many ways so similar to it. He shouts and cries and fails and mourns with such delicate sensitivity and honesty. Isaac never misses, takes us with him for the ride and sings away with one of the finest, most disarming acting performances of the decade.
The end. We see Llewynn perform at the Gaslight once more. After he finishes, he takes a moment, thinks for a bit and decides to sing Fare Thee Well, the song he performed with Mike. And in doing so, he finally lets go (reminiscent of Juliette Binoche and her inability to cry in Blue). Truly free this time, Llewynn goes out at the back of the bar to meet with the same strange man that beat him up the previous time. He beats him up again, and the same dialogue plays out. What has changed? The world certainly hasn’t. But our protagonist has changed a bit, not too much though. He’s still an angry, drunk hellraiser. But a free one this time around. Everything’s the same, but a little different all the same. Inside Llewynn Davis is a beautiful, poignant masterpiece.
The fact that your comment is such a magnificent, masterful dissection of the film makes it all the more irritating that you spelled Llewyn wrong seventeen times.
@Georg- chef’s kiss on the work here Georg. Thank you for sharing!
@Georg- wow!!! I’m floored. Excellent analysis and review.
I do feel though that both Barton Fink and A Serious Man are stronger character studies by Coens.
Great work man
@Graham – AHAHAHA oops
@Drake, M*A*S*H, Harry – thank you all for your kind words!
Top 20 performances in Coen brothers’ films.
1. Oscar Isaac in Inside Llewyn Davis
2. Frances Mcdormand in Fargo
3. Michael Stulbarg in A Serious Man
4. Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski
5. John Goodman in in The Big Lebowski
6. Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men
7. Frances Mcdormand in Blood Simple
8. Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona
9. John Turturro in Barton Fink
10. Judy Davis in Barton Fink
11. Steve Buscemi in Fargo
12. Tommy Lee Jones in No Country For Old Men
13. William H. Macy in Fargo
14. Emmett Walsh in Blood Simple
15. John Goodman in Barton Fink
16. Josh Brolin in No Country For Old Men
17. Hailee Stienfeld in True Grit
18. John Turturro in Miller’s Crossing
19. Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy
20. Julianne Moore in The Big Lebowski
MOST UNDERRATED PERFORMANCE: Judy Davis in Barton Fink.
What a hidden gem of a character/performance in Coens’ cannon that very few people talk about. The reason she chews up the screen is not only because of the specific ticks and characteristics given to her but it’s Davis’ skills that adds to the overall brilliance of this vibrant performance.
MOST OVERRATED PERFORMANCE: Nicolas Cage in Raising Arizona
@M*A*S*H – nice list, I’d add in John Malkovich’s performance in Burn After Reading (2008). It’s easy to overlook this one since the film is an ensemble cast but I think he’s the standout and while it may not be on the same level as the majority of the films in your list I think it’s brilliant dark comedy, utterly hilarious.
Blood Simple HR
Raising Arizona HR
Miller’s Crossing HR
Barton Fink MS
The Hudsucker Proxy R
Fargo MP
The Big Lebowski MS
O Brother, Where Art Thou HR
The Man Who Wasn’t There R
Intolerable Cruelty —
No Country For Old Men MP
Burn After Reading R
A Serious Man MS
True Grit HR
Inside Llewyn Davis MP
Hail, Caesar —
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs R
@James Trapp- thank you for the help here!
Starting a Coen Brothers Study, was going to do Spielberg next but realized I have watched a number of his films in the past year, still planning on watching some more in the next few months but I have not seen any Coen Brother’s movie other than Burn After Reading for a while. Plus I rewatched some of the Fargo TV Series and it just got me in the mood for some Coen Brothers.
Blood Simple (1984)
Notes:
Starts with camera extremely low to the ground on the middle of an empty highway followed by a series of beautiful painterly shots of surrounding Texas fields with narration
3 min Frances McDormand as Abby, a woman in broken marriage to her bar owner husband, and John Getz as Ray, a bar tender she is having affair with, are driving in car with camera turned
7:34 shallow focus with colorful background as Abby’s husband Julian speaks with PI who shows pictures of the affair
9:48 nice use of window as frame looking from Julian’s office onto dance floor
14:10 camera floats in neon lit bar room
16:40 close up shots on faces during intense conversation between Ray and Julian, foreshadowing conversation to later
19:06 right side of Abby’s face covered by shadow
25 min tracking shot of Julian makes way to PI during middle of day
33:44 camera slowly moves through house to front door
34:27 blue light in background used several times so far
36 min shaky camera with tracking shot
37:12 dead fish possible Godfather reference
40 min slow and tense buildup at club/bar with frequent close ups and fly on face similar to Once Upon a Time in the West
41:19 camera moves back quickly following then tension bursting scene
49:49 Ray speeding down same road from opening scene
54 min camera very low angle to ground similar to opening scene
55:45 great tracking shot from street to shallow grave
57:56 empty gun chamber leading to buried alive scene and quick shot cutaway shot at 59:15
1:06:24 white dress on Abby she is genuinely confused about Ray’s story but from that earlier conversation with Julian “I haven’t done anything funny”
1:11:52 green neon is mise-en-scene
1:17:34 beautiful shot with unusual frame
1:22:36 great use of light and shadow in darkened apartment
1:23:01 reverse shot of the frame at 1:17:34
1:26:46 high angle shot of PI entering apartment
1:28:53 brilliant use of lighting which peaks through the bullet holes in the walls
1:32:32 the PI laughing hysterically upon realizing +Abby does not even know Marty is dead
Thoughts:
The Coen Brothers off to quite a start to their careers with this excellent neo-noir crime film which is much darker than their later films or maybe it just seems that way without their usual humor to balance out the violence
Open roads and shots of fields used as motif to randomness and chance that Coen Brothers became known for not to mention greed whenever a bag of cash is there for the taking
Performances solid all around but I think M. Emmet Walsh might give best performance as a PI who Roger Ebert calls “poet of sleaze” but I think you could also make a solid case for Dan Hedaya as well. He plays the husband who is being cheated on with such seething rage, that is somewhat rare for angry movie characters who we expect to have over the top outbursts, in a way this actually makes him even more menacing
The entire approximately 15 min scene of Ray discovering Julian near death to the burial scene was so tense and horrifying; few films actually show the messiness and sheer brutality of a man having is life taken from him, and even though Julian was no saint it doesn’t change the fact that it is difficult to see
Brilliant editing throughout final 10 minutes with the cat and mouse scenes in the apartment
What a debut feature, off the top of my head only a small handful of debut films that I would say are definitely superior would-be Citizen Kane, The 400 Blows, Breathless, Maltese Falcon, Badlands, The Shawshank Redemption, and Reservoir Dogs. I might take American Beauty over it as well but that would be more debatable.
Verdict: MS
Raising Arizona (1987)
Notes:
Starts in country lockup in Arizona with HI (Nicholas Cage) who is small time criminal and Edwina “Ed” (Holly Hunter) as police officer taking the mug shots
1:20 a 360 shot of prisoners in counseling session
1:54 camera low to ground similar to opening of Blood Simple
Narration from HI throughout
9:58 shot has perfect symmetry with Ed and HI sitting of couch with matching tv dinners and beers on opposite sides of frame with TV antenna in the foreground
10:15 TV in movie takes up entire frame
11 min for opening credits in a 93 min movie is interesting
13:17 very low angle shot of HI from POV of baby
17:06 shaky camera with Baby POV shot of HI
21:27 freeze frame using camera
21:10 Goodman character rises out of mud during thunderstorm, great image reminiscent of Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne in Shawshank with Goodman’s character rises arms to the sky during the thunderstorm with blue light
28:18 motorcycle cruising on open road turning into great tracking shot with shaky camera POV
29:02 great shot to end dream sequence
29:55 beautiful shot of sunrise with orange/red dominating the frame
39:27 beautiful background in these shots with the cactus and sandstone
44:33 window as frame during gas station robbery
48:04 great police chase scene with shaky camera and rapid movements
55:56 camera zooms in on newspaper article with plot details followed by camera floating through various scenes
1:05:20 great POV shot as HI is spin in air by Goodman’s character
1:06:20 beautiful shot of open road and blue sky
1:17:50 great sequence and editing in the highway scene with Leonard Smalls
1:21:50 extreme close up on face shortly before hand grenade goes off
Thoughts:
I’ve never been shy about my opinion of Nic Cage’s acting ability or lack thereof although I did like him in Face/Off (1997) as his ridiculous over the top persona works perfectly for a John Woo film and Moonstruck (1987). However, I love Holly Hunter, she’s easily one of my 10 favorite actresses, overall this is a strong cast overall with M Emmet Walsh, John Goodman, and others. I thought Cage was solid here, I am not sure there are any truly standout performances but solid all the way around
The film’s tone is of a drama/comedy, and I think it succeeds here for the most part. I love Paper Moon (1973) and there are some similarities for sure and even though it’s a husband/wife duo instead of father/daughter it has a similar vibe, almost like a cousin of the buddy comedy genre. Both films involve low level grifters on the move although Paper Moon has the strong link to a specific era (Great Depression) and the duo in that film does not have a clearly defined goal
93 min is a good run time for this film which moves along at a brisk pace. There is some great use of shaky camera, chase scenes, and POV shots
It’s one of the otherwise highly acclaimed films that Ebert famously hated along with films like Blue Velvet, Reservoir Dogs, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, The Usual Suspects amongst others.
Verdict: R/HR
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
Notes:
Starts with extreme close up on drinking glass being filled with ice cubes and liquor, probably whiskey, and a zoom out
Albert Finney as Irish mob boss Leo and Gabriel Byrne as his right-hand man Tom Reagan
Leo speaking with Italian mobster Johnny Caspar played by Jon Polito
6:55 camera floats during opening credits through a woods area with camera pointed to sky
10 min Marcia Gay Harden makes 1st appearance as Verna, a femme fatale type sleeping with Leo and Tom
11:55 Leo enters Tom’s minimalist apartment
15:05 its all ego’s with these guys
19 min Leo’s office serves as important
21:56 shallow focus with Tom in foreground order throwing down shots of whiskey
25:05 muted colors, slight green tint
25:10 slow zoom in on Tom answering phone and upon call ending we discover John Turturro as Bernie, who happens to be Verna’s brother
28:24 large warehouse with green tables, green mugs, and painted walls
31:40 Tom isolated in warehouse
33:44 police raid of warehouse
35:16 this is my first viewing, I can’t help but feel like Verna is going to end up getting either Tom or Leo killed, maybe both
39:18 two hitman walk into Leo residence with matching guns; tracking shot captures the knees on down of the hit men while cross cutting Leo lying in bed smoking a cigar and listening to Danny Boy by Frank Patterson
40:44 frame within frame as Leo shoots at hitman in window while backpedaling after escape from house
42:16 tracking shot with camera moving backward and then back to Leo’s office
46:56 bright green lamp lights
48 min shortly after leaving Leo’s office and confessing about seeing Verna Leo attacks and beats up Tom in front of crowd of people
59:52 Tom walks Bernie to middle of woods but spares him for a reason I am not sure
1:01:45 dissolve edit back to hitmen/muscle cracking jokes with car on side of road deep into the woods with a long and very narrow road, the frame filled to brim with trees almost symmetrically with road down the middle
1:11:55 Bernie returns
1:14:21 low angle shot of Bernie
1:19:00 back to woods area with Tom being the one seemingly on the verge of death but escapes it like Bernie earlier, only for very different reasons
1:22:08 silhouette image of Tom entering apartment, impressive given that this scene is set during the day
1:24:36 after well build up tension we finally have a shootout scene
1:25:37 camera drops back showing the office is much larger than it initially would seem from the audience perspective
1:34:14 great rapid, and abrupt zooms, repeated again at 1:36:03 and 1:36:46
1:39:25 Verna walks away from Tom with back to the camera during rainstorm
1:45:33 Tom killing Bernie is set up so perfectly from the scene in the woods where he spares Bernie
1:46:18 great shot of Tom at a distance making phone call with his back turned to camera in a large empty office
Thoughts:
The Coen Brothers go with Prohibition Era gangster film focusing on Irish Mob and Mafia, I saw it once a while ago and thought it was solid but not amazing; I was wrong this is a MP
Production design is so impressive, brown, and green are important colors here, frequent in mise-en-scene including some of best shots in film that take place out in the woods. The interiors of the buildings, bars, offices, are also very impressive with green and brown worked into with intricate level of detail and frequent use of symmetry in the interiors
Coen Brother’s use angles effectively to manipulate space in offices, hallways, etc. similar to Polanski in Apartment Trilogy. Great low angle shots in several scenes including the woods scenes. The scene where Leo is nearly killed by the assassins
Gabriel Byrne gives the best performance in my opinion; Albert Finney is great as well particularly when it is just the 2 of them. I like comparing the scenes when it is just Tom and Leo with no one else around, to scenes either just before or after as it becomes clear that Leo can actually come across as somewhat emotionally vulnerable. Of course there is no way Leo would let anyone else see him in this light, so he puts on a good tough guy show in front of anyone else
While there is still plenty of violence, these characters are not quite as ruthless as they initially appear. I actually like this as so many mob films have characters that are cartoonishly evil and ruthless as opposed to actual full fleshed out people.
Coen Brother’s are great world creators, this film feels so contained almost like every character pretty much knows each other. The writing is sharp and witty but in a way without being distracting
Every scene has purpose, lean even at 2 hours
The film returns to a few of the same locations throughout the film but the 2 spots that really stand out are Leo’s office with the bar in the back and deep into the woods. There are a number of repeated shots throughout the film
Verdict: MP
@James Trapp – Look at you! Three in three days
@Drake – Yeah, these go down so easily
“Fargo .People who think this film launched their career into another stratosphere are exaggerating a bit- I mean their previous film starred Paul Newman and by my count they already had 3 top 500 all-time films under their belt”
I am surprised myself at how strong their pre Fargo films have been and I still have Barton Fink coming up next. Miller’s Crossing did suprise me as I was expecting a solid genre film with strong acting but did not expect it to be so impressive visually
@James Trapp – Keep up the good work
Barton Fink (1991)
Notes:
2:06 Starts with close up on ropes holding up stage curtain while camera pans to John Turturro as the title role, Barton Fink, who is a theatre director who is watching a play from back stage
3:33 tracking shot from Fink POV walking in high class restaurant
6:40 Fink giving a monologue about the “common man”
7:51 beautiful daytime silhouette shot of Fink walking through a seemingly deserted hotel
8:46 Buscemi as hotel lobby boy named Chet
10:50 beautiful hallway shot with
11:30 light in hazy moving into hotel
12:18 typewriter as indication of time period
12:43 slow zoom in on transfixed Barton looking at hotel painting of woman on beach
18:20 another shot of empty hotel hallway
21:51 John Goodman makes 1st appearance as Charlie Meadows
28:07 repeated cutaway shots to painting on wall
Tony Shalhoub as Ben Geisler, high level Hollywood executive
34:20 can’t help but be reminded of The Shining (1980)
42:48 low angle shot , similar to several used in Miller’s Crossing
43:45 dissolve edits of painting
49:08 overhead shot of Barton lying in bed with slow zoom while camera spinning 360 degrees
55:55 zoom in and close up shot of hotel wall
59:40 back and forth with black and white wrestling picture and Barton is empty theater looking increasingly terrified
1:05:10 Bills secretary reveals she wrote his work to a livid Barton
1:07:53 camera moving down sink through drain
1:09:35 Barton waking up to dead woman and consecutive screams like Godfather scene with head horse head
1:11:24 deep focus hallway shot from earlier
1:14:40 high angle shot overhead of Barton
1:26:20 choice museum quality shot with hazy lighting inside hotel lobby
1:28:00 detectives interview Fink who discovers Charlie is a serial killer
1:34:34 dance with Barton dancing his face off
1:35:35 distorted images using shaky camera after Barton beaten up by Navy officers at dance before transitioning to shot of Barton walking down hallway
1:39:56 Charlie returns to hotel
1:40:30 fire in hallway sequence with Charlie killing the 2 detectives with hallway on fire
1:46:34 unforgettable shot of Barton in fire burning hallway
1:50:26 anti-Jewish slur hurled at Barton
1:50:48 right after being insulted by employer there is shot of wave hitting rock at beach again
Thoughts:
This film has elements of noir, psychological horror, allegory, and satire amongst other genre influences, and this creates a fascinating blend that is successful in maintaining maximum intrigue throughout the film. It is also a very funny movie at times, such as the scenes with Barton giving the “common man” speech and routinely interrupting Charlie. Barton Fink also functions as a character study as its eponymous character plays a pretentious screenwriter from New York who seems to put more stock in his ideals relating to the working class “common man” than the actual flesh and blood working class people as his repeated interruptions of Charlie demonstrate.
It’s quite different in tone but there’s an obvious similarity to Mulholland Drive and even Sunset Blvd regarding the “Hollywood” nightmare concept. I love the way that the film juxtaposes an idealized version of Hollywood with the haunting, dark, and eerily quiet Hotel Barton stays at.
There is a pervading dread present throughout much of the film, the narrow and empty hallways and eerie quietness on the hotel until Barton meets John Goodman’s Charlie character. The hotel has an unsettling atmosphere which becomes a hellish atmosphere late in the film with the fire lit hallway. I think the constant cutaway shots to the beach including the painting of the beach in the hotel room serve this purpose.
Coen Brothers are such talented writers and create such rich characters, here you have Jack Lipnick, Charlie Meadows, W. P. Mayhew, and of course Barton Fink himself although I actually find him to be more of the narrative vehicle with the people surrounding him to be the most interesting. I could be wrong, but I think this is the 1st film I’ve seen with John Turturro as the lead role, he’s obviously a great character actor and one of my favorite supporting actors but I was impressed by this performance here. John Goodman is great as always; he is one of those actors who instantly makes every movie he’s in more enjoyable.
Next up is Fargo, I am surprised at how strong their pre-Fargo work is. So far, I would put this and Blood Simple just a little below Miller’s Crossing, I posted a MS/MP for Blood Simple but on second thought I think a MS is a more appropriate (admittingly splitting hairs here but still)
Verdict: MS
Fargo (1996)
Notes:
Starts with “based on a true story” message that actually is pure fiction while intense score playing in background
3:12 starts in low key pool bar with car salesman William H Macy as Jerry Lundegaard setting up a kidnapping of his wife with 2 low level crooks played by the great Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare
8:36 long shot of crooks on open road/highway something shown in Blood Simple and Raising Arizona
10 min I love seeing Jerry getting chewed out by customer particularly at the 11:08 mark when Jerry stares straight down at the ground with a look on his face of pure shame
16:10 Jerry in his office with curtains in the foreground that resemble bars making it look like Jerry is in a prison cell
21 min Jerry gets deal taken away by his father-in-law Wade and Wade’s business partner Stan Grossman
22:38 great overhead shot of snow filled parking lot with cars spread out, this shot which I have seen in other Coen Brother films
24:45 great fake out with Jerry calling Wade in anguish after finding wife kidnapped but it’s actually Jerry preparing his phone call to his father-in-law
25:32 one of my favorite shots in film with the Paul Bunyan Statue, which was built for this film
28:52 mounting tension in police scene resulting in shocking violence I like the use of close ups on Buscemi’s face falling the shooting of the officer
31:51 close up on red light right before 2 witnesses are murdered, like Goodfellas burial scene
33 min camera pans to Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) making first appearance
37:19 “from his footprint he looks like a big fella! “ easy to underestimate Marge who turns out to be police captain because of funny way she speaks
40 min Jerry, Wade, and Stan Grossman in diner talking about Jerry’s wife (who is Wade’s daughter) about how to deal with kidnappers in same manner as the parking lot deal
Marge interviews hookers hilarious , “yeah” “oh yeah” I found this annoying the first time I ever watched but now I think its hilarious
55 min Jerry loses his place as negotiator with the kidnappers to Wade and Stan in the same manner that he loses out on the parking lot deal
1:00:52 after 1st of 2 meetings we get Jerry POV shot of Marge walk away (looks like prison bars)
1:04:00 Mike Yanagita scene is so odd
1:07:00 Shep Proudfoot beating Buscemi with tie is brutal
1:08:32 Jerry’s anger at watch Wade walks off with money
1:11:00 to 1:12:35 includes several POV shots from Jerry perspective seeing the violence that resulted from his initial decision to put forward the kidnapping
1:23:08 “he’s fleeing the interview he’s fleeing the interview” one of my favorite quotes from Marge
1:24:15 casual admission that Jean is dead when Buscemi returns to announce he has money
1:25:52 brutal sequence resulting from not only brutality but stubbornness of criminals who can never let anything go
1:29:04 Marge shoots Peter Stormare character in same manner he shoots witness earlier in film only Marge intentionally shoots a non-fatal shot hitting on leg
Ends with good natured Marge and husband in bed talking about future
Thoughts:
Funny enough I hated this movie when I first saw it although I was a kid so maybe not that surprising
The Coen Brothers are so great at creating regional specific settings so rich in details from accents to snow filled parking lots, characters watching College Hockey, references to the Twin Cities, and the Paul Bunyan Statue which was actually built specifically for this film but nevertheless he is a legend/myth associated with Minnesota
Mise-en-scene uses color palette consisting of drab colors and shades of gray, blue, brown, and green and avoids bright and primary colors
One of the things I find interesting is how this film shows the intersection of vile low life criminals with nice, and hilariously polite good-natured people, particular when Marge arrests Peter Stormare character
Macy it might be the greatest portrayal of an inept criminal that I have ever seen. I love the way every move he makes just blows up in his face. I love the phone call scene with the fake out, its actually Jerry preparing his phone call to his father in law, there’s a similar scene in Breaking Bad with Walter White.
Truth is an essential aspect of Fargo; the opening “this is based on true story”, you have the statue of the legendary Paul Bunyan, the bizarre scene with Marge’s former classmate, Mike Yanagita.
Great formal touches; Jerry losing out ability to negotiate with kidnappers in same manner that he loses parking lot deal from Wade and Stan, Paul Bunyan Statue shown multiple times throughout, Marge shoots Stormare characters running away from camera in open snow field in same way Stormare character kills witness earlier in film, Jerry trying to escape from police in same way his wife looks to get out window when kidnappers arrive
The performances are phenomenal all the way through but if forced to rank my top 5 in order would be:
# 1a William H Macy
# 1b Frances McDormand
# 3 Steve Buscemi – perfect low life criminal
# 4 Harve Presnell – perfect as self-made man who treats Jerry than the loser he is
# 5 Peter Stormare – does more with facial expression than words
For anyone who loves this film I would strongly recommend Fargo the TV Show, I was actually shocked at not only how great they were but also in the way they feel like such an authentic addition to Fargo the movie, it really is auteur world building at its finest
This is a perfect film, for me its currently in the top 100 all time
Verdict: MP
@James – “ Mike Yanagita scene is so odd”
The common interpretation of the purpose of that scene is that’s when Gunderson picks up on Mike’s lying, she’s able to realise that Jerry is lying too and returns to the car dealership to question and out him. She loses some of her naivety.
@Harry – yes, I have read that interpretation as well. I found an interesting article with link below
https://ew.com/movies/fargo-mike-yanagita-scene-breakdown-steve-park/
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Notes:
Starts with voiceover from Sam Elliot as camera pans over desert to Los Angeles
2:24 Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey Lebowski aka “The Dude” strolling through grocery store in bathrobe
4 min Lebowski gets beating upon entering rundown apartment by 2 men, one of whom urinates on his rug before men realize they are beating on the wrong Jeffrey Lebowski
8 min John Goodman as Walter, a hilarious aggressive Vietnam Vet, and The Dude’s best friend
Steve Buscemi as Donny as 3rd person in Bowling league team with The Dude and Walter
18 min Walter pulling gun over bowling penalty
22:10 overhead shot of rug with slow zoom in
25:25 slow motion of John Turturro’s character at bowling alley
29:50 bizarre surreal dream sequence of The Dude flying above LA at night
31:10 another overhead shot of The Dude
34 min blue and red lights in background of shot through rearview window right before chase scene
40:06 tracking shot of Walter and Dude leaving bowling alley to parking lot
44 min Julianne Moore makes every movie better
49 min The Dude drinking White Russians
58 min The Dude at bowling alley again
59:57 pan to mysterious Sam Elliot character who wasn’t shown in previous frame
1:11:00 Walter and Dude confront kid in hilarious scene
1:15:20 another bizarre scene with slow motion shots of surreal images
1:18:52 low angle shot of Jackie Treehorn
1:19:35 The Dude drugged by Jackie leading to another surreal dream sequence
1:22:11 great choreography throughout dream sequence
1:22:48 great shot using open legs as frame while Dude drifts toward bowling pins
1:24:00 dissolve edit as The Dude’s dream becomes reality as the Dude is arrested and brought to the police station
1:25:48 Dude assaulted by crooked cop
1:27:50 inverted POV shot of Julianne Moore character standing over The Dude upon waking up
1:34:43 Peter Stormare character eating pancakes as a call back to Fargo where he keeps asking Buscemi for pancakes
1:35:10 sequence of light fading in and out
1:38:10 confrontation with the other Lebowski
1:41:26 low angle shot of Dude, Walter, and Donny with orange tint in parking lot as Walter’s car burns after The Nihilists confront them demanding money
1:42:00 back and forth shots with The Dude’s crew and the 3 Nihilist fighting in bowling parking lot
1:44:20 slow fade out after parking lot brawl
1:46:48 beautiful high angle shot of Walter and Dude scattering Donny’s ashes into ocean
1:49:30 pan over bowling lane
1:50:27 pans to Sam Elliot character similar to shot from earlier in film
Thoughts:
The Coen Brothers take on The Big Sleep (1946) is a strong influence for sure, especially in regard to the convoluted plot in which I am not sure you are supposed to understand fully. The narrative never lets up as it pushes film along in an unrelenting way
The cast is just amazing; Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliot, John Turturro. But what really make this film work so well is not only the great performance but the way they play off each other particularly The Dude and Walter who in classic comedy form have very different personalities
This is one of the funniest and most rewatchable of films; my college buddies always quoted this movie and especially loved The Nihilists
Color and lighting play an important role in this film that I didn’t really notice before, the bowling alley sequences are bright with more saturated colors, the purple in John Turturro character, nihilists associated with black, blue tint throughout highway scenes, etc.
The use of location, in particular the bowling alley, is brilliant as a sort of home to The Dude
The bizarre and surreal dream sequences are amongst the films strongest visual scenes particular the one with Julianne Moore’s character and the shot through the open legs of women standing in bowling alley, amazing choreography, and mise-en-scene
Verdict: MP
@James Trapp- Those are two big ones- keep up the good work here James
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Notes:
Starts with pan through open fields to a prison chain gang in stripped white and black uniforms working in fields
2:33 low camera shot of same chain gang from a distance with 3 members making escape shown while alternating between this and films opening credits, these 3 characters played by John Turturro, George Clooney, and Tim Blake Nelson
7 min close ups on faces of 3 escaped convicts
8:20 slow zoom out as Handcar moves along with convicts
8:34 dissolve edit leading to 3 convicts with desaturated colors
11:15 country music in background
14:42 3 convicts and pig enter car driven by kid after hideout set on fire with police surrounding convicts who make their escape
18:06 group of singing people dressed in all white making their way to body of water
20:35 close up on convicts inside car driving toward camera
21:16 high angle shot on literal crossroads with surrounding fields resembling shots from other Coen Brothers films on open roads, train tracks, etc.
22 min convicts pick up a hitchhiker named Tommy Johnson
25 min turns out convicts and Tommy have some musical talent
25:39 nice composition using reflection through glass and another at 25:57 only from other side
30:46 great composition with 3 convicts in foreground and men searching for them in background setting barn on fire
34:50 convicts get ride with bank robber named George Nelson
40 min montage of the 3 convicts moving through the country set to The Three Sirens – ”Go to Sleep Little Baby”
52 min painterly image with clear blue sky taking up ¾ of frame
53:24 John Goodman’s Big Dan Teague betrays gang for the reward money, consistent in Universe of Coen Brothers films where characters are often out for themselves
54:53 iris wipe to Turturro’s character being tortured by law enforcement
56:57 dissolve edits to daytime with other 2 convicts in back of pickup truck
58:08 framed filled to brim with audience listening to country music at campaigning event for Homer Stokes
1:04:00 Clooney bare knuckle boxing is a sight I never thought that I’d see
1:05:41 amazing image with convicts as silhouette in movie theatre with hazy light upon door opening
1:07:04 Turturro character, Pete, happens to be in same theatre as chain gang brought into theater
1:09:50 Pete back with the other 2 convicts
1:13:24 slow zoom in on convicts who discover that they have stumbled upon a KKK meeting
1:18:12 Big Dan turns out to be KKK member and tries to stop the 3 convicts who are themselves trying to free Tommy from being murdered
1:19:40 great blocking and zoom in on 4 faces, the 3 convicts plus Tommy
1:22:50 convicts impersonate musicians
1:30:30 an ambitious politician publicly absolves convicts who are hit of the church
1:33:27 medium shot of 3 convicts and Tommy standing next to each other
1:35:36 blues music as convicts about to be hanged as Sheriff does not care that they were pardoned
1:36:56 camera panning up to overhead shot as Clooney’s character prays to Lord as they are about to be hanged
1:38:00 their wish comes true in the way of a flood saving them from death, set to blues music
Thoughts:
The Coen Brothers take on Depression Era road film with impressive results with 107 min that really just fly by as the trio, which later becomes a quartet, moves along as they find themselves in increasingly dire circumstances
Performances are solid as usual although there is not any real standout performances in this film compared to some of the best performances from previous Coen Brothers films I’ve watched so far into the study. If forced to pick George Clooney would be my pick for best performance, I have to admit I’ve questioned Clooney’s skills in the past but over time have come to appreciate his abilities even if I don’t think he has a lot of range
Despite the subject matter the film is lighter in tone than the other 6 Coen Brothers films so far in this study other than The Big Lebowski. This is a comedy drama that is weighted more toward comedy. Speaking of which there are few (if any) auteurs who blend comedy and drama as seamlessly as The Coen Brothers. I suppose you could make a case for Bong Joon-ho, but I think he shifts mood more than blends if that makes any sense
Great soundtrack, I love blues music and have come to enjoy folk music and some country music although still not my favorite music genre
There are shots of open fields and train tracks similar to shots of open highways in other Coen Brothers films which is fitting given the Coen Brothers themes of fate and chance, there are scenes where there are literal crossroads
I’ve come to notice the Coen Brothers like those Welles style low angle shots, here we see it used in scene where Goodman’s character betrays the convicts, they also like to use overhead shots and zooms
Verdict: HR/MS
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
Notes:
Starts with low angle shot of barber pole and then voiceover from Billy Bob Thornton’s character, Ed Crane, who is barber living in 1940s Santa Rosa, California
4 min crisp black and white cinematography looks great inside barbershop
5 min Italian music that plays in Shawshank when Andy locks door and plays record to prison yard
6:12 perfect symmetry with Ed smoking cigarette on family room couch
7:53 frame in frame with Big Dave talking to Ed’s wife Doris with whom she’s probably having affair with
17:38 close up of typewriter as Ed writes the blackmail note
25:25 tension building between Ed and Big Dave as Ed does not know if Big Dave is on to him regarding the blackmail note
25:38 Ed walking through piano room in dark
26:53 Scarlet Johannsson as Birdy on piano, 2 years before her breakout role Lost in Translation
28:20 repeating shadow moving over Ed and Doris inside the car
32:45 Godfather like music playing upon arrival at Italian Wedding
38 min Ed and Big Dave face off in dark office, heavy use of close ups on faces with Big Dave enraged and Ed with a complete Poker Face
40:37 Big Dave choking out Ed and pushing into glass
41:46 close up on Eds face then hands after stabbing Big Dave to death
44:05 dissolve edit as Ed falls asleep at barber shop
45 min misdirection with homicide detectives alerting Ed that his wife was arrested for the murder of Big Ed
46:40 shot of front of Ed’s suburban house complete with the white picket fence and trees on both sides
50:12 slow zoom toward camera with Ed visiting Doris in prison as she awaits trial
54:48 dimly lit restaurant like every other indoor location so far
1:09:06 possibly best shot of film so far, Ed and Doris in prison room where lawyers meet clients, there is a circular hazy light UFO style
1:15:50 slow pan over auditorium to piano playing at High School talent show
1:20:20 ceiling shot of elevator going down after discovery that Doris hanged herself before start of the trial
1:24:40 another shot with hazy light entering a dark room, this time a bar with a silhouette profile shot of Ed
1:26:31 silhouette image walking through the hallway
1:34:50 POV shot from driving car
1:36:08 Birdy makes moves on Ed leading to accident with rapid 360 camera spin
1:36:48 slow motion of car flying off cliff before falling, shortly after Ed has vision resembling a UFO
1:40:45 same UFO image
1:41:08 great blocking on low angle shot of doctor and 2 detectives standing over Ed in hospital
1:42:36 surreal image of murdered man
1:46:00 low angle shots in courtroom following Ed being punched by Frank “asking what kind of man are you” this is same line uttered by Big Dave earlier in film
1:47:50 Ed waking up in empty prison and walking out of open cell
1:48:32 one of best shots, high angle with silhouette image of man walking through open door near middle of frame
Thoughts:
The Coen Brothers and film noir sound like a good match, there are obvious narrative and thematic similarities to other films in their filmography like Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, and Fargo. This is a very low-key film
Billy Bob has one of those great narration voices, employed here with a healthy dose of fatalism, this is a character who accepts and doesn’t fight his fate. In fact, his character Ed Crane, is in many ways one of the most passive of noir lead characters and seems neither pleased nor displeased with whatever happen to him at any point
Black and White cinematography was a great choice giving off an authentic 1940s atmosphere, there is heavy use of shadows, silhouette, shots during night
I am not entirely sure what to make of the UFO references, I neither like nor hated them
Incredible cast with Billy Bob, James Gandolfini, Frances McDormand, in addition to a number of Coen brother regulars. I haven’t seen a ton of Gandolfini performances outside of The Sopranos (my all time favorite show along with Breaking Bad) but I have been impressed from what I have seen
This is one of Billy Bob’s more restrained performances, he plays melancholy to perfection and in general goes against his usual persona
Not sure if it’s just a coincidence but there is a character named Diedrickson, the same last name of the Barbara Stanwyck character in Double Indemnity although the spelling is slightly different, Diedrickson
Verdict: HR/MS
No Country For Old Men (2007)
Notes:
Opening montage consists of shots of West Texas, the last film in the study, The Man Who Wasn’t There, began with narration from Billy Bob Thornton who has a great narration voice, this one starts with narration from Tommy Lee Jones who somehow has an even better narration voice
3 min Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh strangling Deputy to death in police station, shaky camera captures out what starts as out of control struggle then goes to an overhead shot focusing on Anton’s menacing face at 3:20 as Anton gains upper hand
4:49 close up on Anton’s face before murdering innocent man
5:20 close up on Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss as he hunts
8:20 camera drops to low position as Moss carefully walks through a brutal crime scene resulting from a botched drug deal
13:13 a bag full of cash, classic sign of a Coen Brothers film
13:36 painterly image with some foreshadowing with Moss walking toward his pickup truck carrying bag of drug money as sky indicates a storm coming along with sound of thunder
14 min Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss
19:44 twist of standard chase scene by having Moss swimming away in River from vicious Pit Bull
21:07 Anton reacts to harmless small talk question from Gas Station Clerk with increasing menace, yet at the end of it at 25 min it is clear that this is nothing more than just sadistic amusement for Anton
27:44 POV shot of Anton casually murdering 2 men hired to get the stolen drug money
32:15 camera positioned low
33:18 interesting reflection shot with frame in frame
34 min this is first time Anton spares someone also he might have if not sound indicating someone else there, fate is of course a reoccurring theme with Coen Brothers
36:51 same shot from 33:18 only with Bell instead of Anton
42:50 surveillance camera angle of Moss at store
46:55 Anton looking at same motel room map that Moss was a few minutes before
49:17 tracking shot of Anton with in dimly lit motel
51:10 low angle shot of eerily calm Anton sitting on hotel bed with half of his face covered by shadow and with man he murdered in background on left side of frame
53 min dissolve edit from dark interior of vehicle at night to brightly lit elevator of corporate building which Woody Harrelson’s bounty hunter character, Carson, meeting the corporate suit financing drug deal, huge window in office strikes me as an example of “hiding in plain sight”
56:06 hallway shot resembling the one in Barton Fink
57:49 slow zoom in on Moss face upon finding tracking device inside money bag
1:09:09 beautiful silhouette shot after Moss wakes up to a mariachi group
1:10:04 great low angle close up shot of Anton who is taking up most of frame
1:15:00 camera pans up to Carson in hospital holding flowers sitting over Moss’s bed
1:21:15 Anton walks into far right side of frame without any changes in camera angle or any cuts, thus sneaking up on us (audience) in the same way he sneaks up on Carson who is walking up steps inside the Hotel
1:23:08 Anton philosophizing to Carson before killing him, Woody Harrelson’s acting in the hotel scene is tremendous, right after Anton laughs off his futile offer “an ATM” with a menacing smile, his face just drops and he knows this is the end for him
1:30:48 terrified money launderer in background with Anton in foreground of the frame
1:36:00 Moss killed off screen
1:38:33 Bell and local cop as silhouette images speaking of Anton as a “ghost”
1:40:27 Anton hiding with half face visible from light
1:42:44 Bell visiting old friend about state of world
1:48:42 Anton waiting in house for Carla Jean, shot reverse shot with the shots of Carla Jean closer to the camera and in brighter frames than Anton who is further back and darker frames
1:51:30 classic Coen Brothers with impossible to predict situation, fate
1:56:00 film ends with conversation between recently retired Bell and his wife
Thoughts:
I caught this in theatres back in 2007 with my buddy who was big into film, we both walked out blown away, I legitimately thought Anton Chigurh was the greatest movie villain of all time and while I would temper that claim somewhat, I think it is undeniable that Anton Chigurh is certainly one of the all-time great movie villains
The Cast in absolutely loaded, I would rank the top 5 performances as follows:
# 1 Javier Bardem
# 2 Tommy Lee Jones
# 3 Woody Harrelson
# 4 Kelly Macdonald
# 5 Josh Brolin
Brolin at #5 might seem like a slight his way but that has more to do with the performances of the 4 above including Kelly Macdonald whose performance understandably gets overlooked due to her character’s limited screen time but that final scene with Javier Bardem is done so perfectly. Plus Brolin is kind of playing the straight man so to speak while Bardem and Harrelson get the more colorful characters to play
The Gas Station Scene is one of best and most suspenseful in any film, as you identify the poor attendant whose seemingly harmless question almost results in a brutal death, the fact that Anton does not kill every single character actually makes him more scary because at least there is suspense
Tommy Lee Jones monologues prove he has one of the greatest narration voices, I could listen to him speak all day
Initially I actually preferred this film over There Will Blood (2007) a position I have certainly changed but that is due mainly to the greatness of There Will Be Blood (my # 5 all time) than any shortcomings with No Country which is pretty much a perfect film. It actually does not have the artistic highs of There Will Be Blood and not as many stunning visuals but like I said it’s a near perfect film and I don’t think there is anything I would change
Verdict: MP
Burn After Reading (2008)
Notes:
Opening shot of planet Earth from satellite in space
2 min Camera placed low tracking John Malkovich as CIA Analyst Osborne Cox walking into office and then getting demoted
4:21 low angle shot of angry and animated Osborne filling most of frame
4:45 Tilda Swinton enters room as Katie Cox out of focus in back of frame
8:08 creative composition with 4 faces in frame despite only 2 characters, 3 of Tilda’s character in frame with 2 from mirror reflections and Osborne in back of frame
11:50 overhead shot of Osborne lying around speaking into a recorder
13:25 close up shots on ice cubes, liquor, lime, and glass indicating possible truth to claim that Osborne has drinking problem
16 min Frances McDormand’s Linda Litzke first appearance of film at surgeon
18:30 Brad Pitt as Chad, gym employee co-worker and friend of Linda
22:16 Montage of Linda’s awkward date that is both humorous and pathetic
26:10 George Clooney’s character continues to feel like he’s being followed
34 min Linda and Chad make perfectly hilarious/idiotic duo (seemingly a platonic one) in their hilarious phone call to Osborne Cox
41:10 Linda date going much better with George Clooney character than the creep from earlier
43:43 shot using mirror reflection with Brad Pitt character in the background of the frame
47 min Pitt and McDormand’s characters as attempted blackmailers are arguably the dumbest criminals in the Coen Brothers canon and there is some stiff competition there
49:40 tracking shot through gym
50:18 nice shot of restaurant from 2nd floor
1:01:58 Chad POV shot from inside closet
1:03:12 what a way to break the tension that had been building for a couple of minutes
1:03:53 canted overhead shot of Harry (Clooney) following shooting as his paranoia is off the charts at this point
1:17:58 great shot of Linda, after getting kicked out of Embassy, shown as tiny figure in bottom of the frame while next to massive Embassy building, almost Antonioni like which is not something you would expect from Coen Brothers
1:18:15 close up on Osborne’s face shouting into phone after discovering his wife emptying took money out of bank accounts
1:19:48 zoom in on Ted’s (Richard Jenkins) face after getting chewed out by Linda
1:24:14 zoom in on Harry’s face after a series of crazy coincidences with Linda and Chad
1:24:48 series of quick edits emphasizing Harry’s paranoia
1:28:00 Osborne Cox walking to basement holding the gun in one hand with a stiff drink in the other while wearing a bath robe and confronts Ted “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.
1:30:00 JK Simmons is perfect as the near omnipresent head of CIA
1:31:38 great ending shot that serves as bookend to opening
Thoughts:
Watched this many times when it came out during my 3rd year in College, I would watch with my College buddies and let’s just say things got hazy
This has a loaded cast as usual but JK Simmons, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, and others. Malkovich gives the best performance of the film in my opinion; I love the image of Osborne Cox at the end of the film holding the gun in one hand with a stiff drink in the other “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.” lol. Absolutely hilarious start to finish.
Some may argue that this is a Minor Coen Brothers film and to a certain degree they would be correct as it is not Burn After Reading (2008)
Notes:
Opening shot of planet Earth from satellite in space
2 min Camera placed low tracking John Malkovich as CIA Analyst Osborne Cox walking into office and then getting demoted
4:21 low angle shot of angry and animated Osborne filling most of frame
4:45 Tilda Swinton enters room as Katie Cox out of focus in back of frame
8:08 creative composition with 4 faces in frame despite only 2 characters, 3 of Tilda’s character in frame with 2 from mirror reflections and Osborne in back of frame
11:50 overhead shot of Osborne lying around speaking into a recorder
13:25 close up shots on ice cubes, liquor, lime, and glass indicating possible truth to claim that Osborne has drinking problem
16 min Frances McDormand’s Linda Litzke first appearance of film at surgeon
18:30 Brad Pitt as Chad, gym employee co-worker and friend of Linda
22:16 Montage of Linda’s awkward date that is both humorous and pathetic
26:10 George Clooney’s character continues to feel like he’s being followed
34 min Linda and Chad make perfectly hilarious/idiotic duo (seemingly a platonic one) in their hilarious phone call to Osborne Cox
41:10 Linda date going much better with George Clooney character than the creep from earlier
43:43 shot using mirror reflection with Brad Pitt character in the background of the frame
47 min Pitt and McDormand’s characters as attempted blackmailers are arguably the dumbest criminals in the Coen Brothers canon and there is some stiff competition there
49:40 tracking shot through gym
50:18 nice shot of restaurant from 2nd floor
1:01:58 Chad POV shot from inside closet
1:03:12 what a way to break the tension that had been building for a couple of minutes
1:03:53 canted overhead shot of Harry (Clooney) following shooting as his paranoia is off the charts at this point
1:17:58 great shot of Linda, after getting kicked out of Embassy, shown as tiny figure in bottom of the frame while next to massive Embassy building, almost Antonioni like which is not something you would expect from Coen Brothers
1:18:15 close up on Osborne’s face shouting into phone after discovering his wife emptying took money out of bank accounts
1:19:48 zoom in on Ted’s (Richard Jenkins) face after getting chewed out by Linda
1:24:14 zoom in on Harry’s face after a series of crazy coincidences with Linda and Chad
1:24:48 series of quick edits emphasizing Harry’s paranoia
1:28:00 Osborne Cox walking to basement holding the gun in one hand with a stiff drink in the other while wearing a bath robe and confronts Ted “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.
1:30:00 JK Simmons is perfect as the near omnipresent head of CIA
1:31:38 great ending shot that serves as bookend to opening
Thoughts:
Watched this many times when it came out during my 3rd year in College, I would watch with my College buddies and let’s just say things got hazy
This has a loaded cast as usual but JK Simmons, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, John Malkovich, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, and others. Malkovich gives the best performance of the film in my opinion; I love the image of Osborne Cox at the end of the film holding the gun in one hand with a stiff drink in the other “You’re in league with that moronic woman. You are part of a league of morons.” lol. Absolutely hilarious start to finish.
Some may argue that this is a Minor Coen Brothers film and to a certain degree they would be correct as it is not on the same level as their MPs like Fargo or No Country but it works perfectly for what they are going for which is an entertaining dark comedy spy film and they succeed marvelously
Impressive how this film fits in with the rest of the Coen Brothers work; themes of fate and chance, greed and blackmail, and brilliant screen play. Like many other Coen Brothers films there is a great mix of drama and comedy although here it is definitely even more weighted toward comedy than usual.
on the same level as their MPs like Fargo or No Country but it works perfectly for what they are going for which is an entertaining dark comedy spy film and they succeed marvelously
Impressive how this film fits in with the rest of the Coen Brothers work; themes of fate and chance, greed and blackmail, and brilliant screen play. Like many other Coen Brothers films there is a great mix of drama and comedy although here it is definitely even more weighted toward comedy than usual.
@James Trapp Thank you for this- I just caught up with this one about 10 days ago myself. I’ve seen it– man– I don’t know how many times. Such an easy watch- hilarious.
Burn After Reading (2008) – sorry didn’t mean to post twice and meant to put grade:
Verdict: HR
A Serious Man (2009)
Notes:
Starts with a quote “receive with simplicity everything that happens to you” – Rashi
Opening scene set in 1800s in Eastern Europe
1:25 overhead shot of snow fall in during night in small town
2:40 slow zoom shots used more and more it seems through this study
5:38 “I am a rational man” setting up later themes
6:38 shocking act of violence inside cabin lit only by candlelight
8:02 beautiful shot with frame in frame as Dybbuk exits cabin into snowstorm
The opening 8 minutes and 30 seconds of film in Yiddish
9:30 Jefferson Airplane “Somebody to Love” alters films mood drastically as we go to 1967 St. Louis Park Minnesota
Michael Stuhlbarg as the protagonist, Larry Gopnik
11 min class of teenagers in Hebrew School
12:45 doctor smoking cigarettes always a fun image
16 min Larry doesn’t have respect from students who tries to bride him
26 min shot with 3 steps of field inside house
27:33 Larry’s family friend Sy openly and nonchalantly having affair with Larry’s wife
30 min Larry climbs to roof of his house and then we see 360 POV shot of neighborhood with bright green and perfectly cut lawns
30:30 high angle shot of Larry on roof followed by edit to low angle shot as Larry fixing antenna on roof
37 min rapid shots as Larry becomes increasingly stressed
39:15 close up shots of characters faces seems to be used frequently in last couple of Coen films
42 min pan across teens passing a joint
44:17 title card announcing “The First Rabbi”
51:17 exterior shot of motel and quick transition to pitch black interior of Larry’s hotel room
51:48 surveillance camera angle of Larry walking to car in motel parking lot
55:07 extreme close up on Larry’s face which takes up most of frame
56:26 title card announcing “The Second Rabbi”
1:03:56 overhead canted angle at the funeral for Sy, really beautiful composition
1:04:10 slow zoom in on Rabbi with frame in frame background
1:10:10 Larry writing on chalk board for his class with only his right hand and arm visible in the frame
1:10:30 great wide angle shot of chalk board filled to the brim with equations
1:21:23 Larry waking up after bizarre dream sequence, overhead shot with sweeping light
1:23:05 brilliant shot with multiple frame in frame, great mise-en-scene with Rabbi in background of the frame
1:27:20 another nightmare, this time Larry and his brother killed by neighbors hunting
1:28:22 overhead shot inside Synagogue followed by camera panning to Larry’s son shown in blurry vision
1:28:48 perfect symmetry inside service
1:29:00 surreal sequence with Larry’s son walking inside Synagogue with canted angles and blurry visions
1:33:40 Larry’s son comes face to face with Rabbi Marshak
1:40:45 crazy ending shot of incoming tornado and right before Larry is called from a doctor indicating a serious medical issue
Thoughts:
I saw this when it first came out so excited to finally check it out again, this is obviously the Coen Brothers most religious film. Other films have religious undertones or religious characters but not to this extent. With the Coen Brothers being Jewish this would seem to be a much more personal film as well. Larry is constantly told to just accept the way things are and Larry refuses, this could be seen as a critique on organized religion.
A Serious Man diverges from other Coen Brother films in that it uses a cast of actors and actresses that are not widely known. It is probably the most intellectual film I have seen so far in this study and without a doubt the most confusing, not so much the surface level plot which is easy enough to follow but this is a dense film with multiple interpretations
It is listed as a drama comedy like most Coen Brothers films but it is not really laugh out laugh comedy like say Burn After Reading. Rather it is funny (and depressing) watching Larry’s slow fall during the film and the way he feels powerless and indecisive about so much in his life. Yet Larry is the one usually in the right and is not a sad sack loser, he is intelligent and quite reasonable about most things, yet he is being hit with an avalanche and injustices throughout the film
Crazy ending right after things actually start to go Larry’s way. Right after Larry briefing gives in and compromises his ethics regarding the student trying to bride him for a passing grade he gets call from doctor indicating very bad news and right after a tornado is rapidly approaching school where Larry’s son is a student. If Larry is being punished for this transgression the punishment would seem completely out of proportion with the crime
Of all the films in the study this is the one so far that I think would most benefit from another viewing
Verdict: MS
@James Trapp- Did you skip The Hudsucker Proxy, Intolerable Cruelty, The Ladykillers?
@Drake – I did, would you strongly recommend any of those?
I try to balance with these studies; there are so many great auteurs I want to cover. I am not exactly a “completionist” but I want to get a thorough viewing of each of their filmographies. I usually scan through a filmography at the beginning of a study and see if there are any films that seem not as crucial to watch. For example when I did WKW I didn’t bother with Blueberry Nights. Nothing is set in stone of course and sometimes I will add a film back to a study or take one off based on other peoples suggestions.
@James Trapp All good- I was just curious. If you only saw one movie a week I’d say you never need to see them. But with your pace, I would say at some point you should see them at some point.
@Drake, thanks, yeah I have a list of films that were skipped over in studies that I plan on getting to. I always liked the Coen Brothers but even I am shocked at how amazing their filmpgraphy truly is. Obviously they don’t have a The Godfather or 2001 Space Odyssey level MP but I am 12 films in and aside from Burn After Reading whiich I have as HR and Arizona as R/HR I have 9 MS and 3 MP. So far this might be the most consistently great filmography I have come across. And I just started Llewyn Davis, which is incredible so far.
@Drake – Sorry I meant to say 7 MS and 3 MP
True Grit (2010)
Notes:
Starts with narration from Mattie Ross on her fathers murder by Tom Chaney
2:02 beautiful painterly image, impressive lighting
2:25 silhouette image of woman riding horse away from camera with blue background
2:35 a great dissolve edit
4:38 a public hanging with large crowd certainly screams that you are watching a Western
14:50 camera pans in courtroom with hazy light creating beautiful shot, Coen Brothers are great at this with similar shots in Barton Fink (1991) and The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
25:10 Matt Damon makes his entrance as LaBoeuf
27 min low angle shot of LaBoeuf trying to intimidate Mattie followed by close up on her face
32:50 narration through letters again
38 min close up on LaBoeuf sitting at fire along with Mattie and Rooster; camera shows close ups of each of these characters one at a time as they speak while taking up most of frame creating an intimacy necessary for bonding
47:01 great composition with layout of trees as Mattie is small dot on the frame as she climbs tree to verify if a man hanging from a high up tree branch is the man they are looking for
48:45 ground as ceiling shot
49:11 dissolve edit used to transition to scene with snow light fall and darker frame
55 min similar to around 38 min mark we have close ups usually showing one character at a time with a few characters in close proximity only here the atmosphere in more tense and they are in enclosed space inside small cabin
1:02:36 high angle shot from Mattie and Rooster POV from foreground of the frame, this leads to a shootout a few min later after tense build up
1:06:18 beautiful nighttime shots as mild but peaceful snowfall continues
1:08:02 green and brown in mise en scene similar to Miller’s Crossing
1:09:21 Rooster showing off gun skills
1:10:13 very low angle shot of Rooster giving him a brief mythical image as his knees are approximately at bottom of frame and head near the top of the frame
1:11:27 long shot with Mattie, Rooster, and LaBoeuf as silhouette images walking toward camera
1:11:51 a couple brilliant dissolve edits as the trio continues the trek
1:19:18 Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney, Mattie and Chaney staring at each other across the river
1:21:46 great frame using trees along riverbank
1:22:06 Tarantino trunk shot angle from Mattie POV
1:25:52 binocular deep focus shot
1:30:00 classic Western showdown
1:31:50 sniper shot lands
1:32:50 POV shot from Mattie looking up after falling into snake hole
1:36:57 dissolve edits as Mattie and Rooster get out of trouble
1:41:25 silhouette image of Mattie 25 years later, now with one arm, and the final minutes are essentially an epilogue
1:43:25 beautiful long shot of Mattie on a hill after burial of Rooster
Thoughts:
In every Director Study there is always one film that is “the hidden gem” basically a film that was great that I did not really expect that much from, I have a few films to go but so far this is my “hidden gem”. When looking through the filmography at start of study I barely gave any through toward True Grit, yet I think this was so well done for several reasons:
The performances are uniformly great, I will need to see the original again to say for sure as I have only seen in once and it was 13 years ago, but I think I preferred Jeff Bridge’s performance to John Wayne’s
I preferred the Mattie in this to the original 1969 version as that Mattie just did not resemble a kid in anyway, this version’s Mattie still talks tough and is wise beyond her years but comes across as more vulnerable and overall just feels like a more fleshed out character
This is one of the Coen Brothers most beautiful films which is not necessarily their strong suit but this has a number of painterly shots and gorgeous silhouettes
The screenplay is great as always, no wasted scenes, every character serves a purpose and suspense builds over the course of their journey. I have said before I always love these types of journey films where a group of characters is setting out for some specific purpose.
The last 20 min was really powerful on an emotional level, the characters were fleshed out rather than archetypes, and the character interactions build a powerful bond that pays off later
In the last month or so I have watched The Big Lebowski, Hell or Highwater, and Tucker: The Man and His Dream and have come to believe Jeff Bridges is a great actor, not that I didn’t like him previously I just did not fully realize he great he was. Rooster is a complex character
Verdict: MS
Notes:
1:04 Starts with close up on Oscar Issac’s character, Llewyn Davis, singer into microphone and playing guitar
1:38 hazy green light spills into small music venue of about 100 people
2:27 gorgeous painterly image
4:44 film noir shot of alleyway and silhouette figure smoking cigarette
5 min Llewyn takes alley beating, for some reason doesn’t bother fighting back
5:55 deep focus shot of hallway with Llewyn looking out of door
8:52 close up shot of Llewyn holding cat on subway
10:40 creative overhead shot with narrow frame
12:57 extremely narrow hallways in building
15:33 green light similar to opening scene as Llewyn and friends watch show
19:30 close up on cat on window
23 min reverse tracking shot, color palette continues
32 min jam session with Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Driver is as fun as in sounds
35:48 greenish tint
38:28 close up shot tracks Llewyn retrieve cat
42 min shot of Llewyn holding cat on right side of frame with the rest of frame empty subway, this right after Llewyn learns a previous girlfriend did not go through with an abortion and had the child making Llewyn a father for the first time
49 min John Goodman makes his entrance
50:02 great framing of faces inside of the car, with Llewyn in foreground and Goodman’s character in background
52:34 dissolve edit with Llewyn playing guitar along road trip
59:24 dedication to color palette when even the bathroom matched, like the Shining
1:00:53 POV shots from inside car
1:03:33 stunning silhouette image of Llewyn after stepping out of car at night after police arrest driver
1:04:25 dissolve edit to Llewyn sitting in cold bus
1:11:00 Llewyn playing in empty club with similar color/lighting to opening scene
1:14:50 POV from driver seat of car shortly before he narrowly misses cat
1:21:00 close ups used in scene with Llewyn playing for his father in retirement home
1:28:02 great blocking in scene at club
1:30:52 Llewyn drunken taunting singer
1:35:03 bookend with earlier scenes
Thoughts:
Coen Brothers with a very different film from anything else I’ve seen booth narratively and visually; the first 5 minutes have some of their most beautiful shots of their entire filmography
I bought the soundtrack immediately following the film, much of the music I listen to in general comes from hearing songs in films
Llewyn Davis is such an authentic character, feels like that guy who is talented but his own worst enemy, so often self-defeating. It has a loaded cast like most Coen Brothers films but is less of an ensemble as Oscar Isaac has by far and away the most screentime and gives one of the top 5 performance of this study so far
I have to be honest; I am not sure what to make of the cat, perhaps it serves as a parallel to Llewyn who is always on the go and seems to reject any attempts by friends/family/ acquaintance/strangers to settle into more stable life. Llewyn more than just rejects these attempts in fact, he openly shows contempt. For example during an argument with Jean, he calls her a “careerist” as an insult
Subdued color palette matches mood perfectly, again quite different from other films in the study
I’ll admit that folk music has never been my thing but I enjoyed the soundtrack so who knows, films are actually my main source for getting into new music and by new music I mean new to me not new as in contemporary
This was my 1st viewing and it was extremely impressive work and arguably their most visually accomplished
Verdict: MP
The cat is a play on the “save the cat” narrative device whereby a character saves a cat and draws an instant affinity to the audience. He loses the cat so the oppositie happens. To add to that he also might be the cat.
@Jagman – interesting, what do you mean he might be the cat?
@James Trapp and @Jagman- there’s some good stuff here- https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/whats-really-going-on-with-the-cat-in-em-inside-llewyn-davis-em-a-theory/282583/ also, Ulysses is the cat, right? Maybe this is obvious but The Coen Brothers have already adapted Homer at this point in their career with O Brother, Where Art Thou?
@Drake – thanks for posting, good read. To bolster the theory of Llewyn as the Cat; the Criterion cover for Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) has the cat in the center of the cover and Llewyn himself is not there. Of couse the Criterion release of the film did not come out until a few yeras later but it was approved by the Coen Brothers so maybe there is something to it.
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
Notes:
Starts inside confession booth with Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) face half visible
2:55 narration as Eddie walks through stormy night
4:30 nice overhead shot of marching army dressed as soldier in ancient Rome
5:30 aspect ratio changes as movie with movie is watched by Eddie in theatre
9:42 aspect ratio changes again going from movie in movie to the actual film
19:35 slow zoom in set to opera music with synchronized swimmers
20:24 Scarlett Johansson makes her intro into film
24:40 great composition and character blocking
30:20 nice overhead long shot of water
33:34 great use of red lighting in shot inside Asian restaurant
39 min Clooney stumbling into Communist Meeting
42:22 nice overhead shot, perfect symmetry
51 min great use of color with green painted “Swingin’ Dinghy” bar
1:04:40 black and white TV in movie but aspect ratio remains constant
1:06:30 quick zoom in as Eddie returns to same Asian Restaurant from, earlier in film
1:11:01 nice dissolve edit from close up on Eddie to shot of water
1:21:36 series of beautiful dissolve edits leading to one of the films best shots at 1:22:02 of Eddie walking through set shown with an overhead shot
1:22:38 great use of shadow and silhouette
1:26:02 great night shot of submarine in foreground and light separating shot with perfect symmetry
1:38:55 Eddie back in confessional booth
Thoughts:
I had some trouble getting into this narrative, it sounds great on paper, but I found it difficult to care about any of the characters
I did not laugh much and while that might not be a legitimate criticism to some, this is rare for Coen Brothers film although Clooney stumbling into the Communist Meeting was humorous
That said it certainly at some great shots and I liked the changing aspect ratios to indicate a movie in a movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) did this several times
I think Wes Anderson would have been an ideal director for this narrative mainly due to the undeniable similarities to The Grand Budapest Hotel; much overlapping as far as cast goes, saturated colors, changing aspect ratios, narration, time period (some of) the story is set, and perhaps a few other similarities. However, Grand Budapest is a clear MP while this is far from it
I like all of Clooney’s previous collaborations with Coen Brothers but this one falls a little flat
Despite my criticisms there are some impressive shots to give a R but this is a weaker Coen Brothers
Verdict: R
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Notes:
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Starts with close up shot of book with title name “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” the film is anthology with 6 parts
1:50 camera pans over pages inside book and dissolve edit to beautiful shot with John Ford setting and man playing guitar while riding a horse in desert
4 min close up on Buster Scruggs speaking and breaking 4th wall
6:13 quick draw skills inside bar
9:13 creative and hilarious way for winning gun fight without gun
10:20 Buster dancing on bar
12:47 over the shoulder shot
13:08 slow zoom in on face reacting to potential danger is frequent Coen Brothers shot
14:25 extreme close up with face taking up most of frame
14:44 “well that ain’t good”
15:38 Buster’s ghost with wings on his back rises from his dead body and floats toward sky, Buster continues to narrate and sing
“Near Algodones”
17:37 chapter change in book
18:46 James Franco as Cowboy approaches Bank Teller played by Steven Root in green lit room
20:42 hazy green light
21:08 very similar setting to opening shots of No Country with Josh Brolin’s character hunting
22:11 great dissolve edits after cowboy regains consciousness
23:16 great blocking
26:04 gorgeous long shot with landscape/hills in background
“Meal Ticket”
29:37 change in color palette to more green/blue
31:45 surreal image of man with no legs or arms putting on show for town peoples
32:11 great use of frame, love the reference to Ozymandias as a Breaking Bad fan
38:03 darker blue tint, nice shot overlooking the below valley
43:20 repeating show with less and less of an audience
48:34 beautiful long shot of Impresario traveling over snow
“All Gold Canyon”
49:34 starts with sunrise and a gorgeous montage of shots of nature setting tone, we see this in the opening to Blood Simple, only without the narration
1:00:37 close up using most of frame
1:02:52 very subtle change in shadow
1:03:24 brilliant low angle shot with killer in background in elevated plane and man shot in foreground
1:08:00 love the close up on owl
“The Gal Who Got Rattled”
1:10:50 family sitting around table with many of the close up shots have just one person in frame at time, seen this in A Serious Man and True Grit as well
1:14:10 reserve tracking shot through large field
1:14:58 beautiful painterly image with subject in center of frame
1:15:33 nice frame though wagons opening
1:21:56 painterly shot with half frame with orange sky in background
1:32:42 dissolve
1:35:38 perfect composition of cattle filling frame
1:47:54 camera panning over hill following battle
“The Mortal Remains”
1:49:00 Stagecoach traveling with 6 passengers
1:52:34 heavy use of green in mise-en-scene and clothing
1:54:44 so far exclusively close up shots during this vignette
Very dialogue heavy vignette but some interesting color palette changes
Thoughts:
Coen Brothers return to genre film this time with a Western Anthology with 6 vignettes and while I’ll admit that I am not a huge fan of anthologies as its more difficult to get invested in the characters and story in general, none the less this is impressive work visually
This is not one of their top-notch films but definitely a (fairly) big step up from Hail, Caesar! (2016) which did not do it for me. On the contrary, this one is a lot of fun
As always with Coen Brothers the cast is loaded, I think Tim Blake Nelson playing the title character is the best performance or at least he’s the most interesting character
Verdict: R/HR
Final Ranking and Grades:
Study Summary:
There are so many great auteurs that I have spend significant time watching and reading about over the past couple of years that it can be easy to forget how great some of the other directors are and admittingly there is definitely a degree of recently bias; all of this leading to me being shocked by this study. I mean I’ve always liked and admired the Cohen Brothers work but even, so I was surprised by just how great their filmography truly is.
I imagine being in a Coen Brothers film is a lot of fun, they are top level auteurs but man they get ridiculous casts, only A Serious Man (2009) had a cast of mostly lesser-known actors, but I think that was on purpose
Regarding the “Desert Island” concept, the Cohen Brothers have to be in the top 3 or 4 best candidates
I think there are 4 major elements to consider in Desert Island Scenario:
1. Sheer quantity of watchable films
2. Versatility/Variety – many forms of this in terms of genre, tone, subject
matter, pacing, cinematography, etc.
3. Rewatchability
4. Quality of their top tier films
# 1 Almost all of the films I watched in this study were at least HR or better and the majority were MS
# 2 Just about all their films can be consider drama/comedies and if you drew out a line representing a spectrum then their films would be quite spread out. They are a little different from say Park Chan-wook or Bong Joon-ho as those 2 are masters of shifting a films tone/mood almost without you noticing it. The Coen Brothers on the other hand don’t shift tones so much as they blend them if that makes any sense. Their filmography consists of Westerns, Film Noir, Gangster, psychological thriller, and musical dramas
# 3 While they are amazing directors you could argue they are even better writers; arguing they are the greatest directors of all time would be going overboard while calling them the greatest screenwriters would not be. The narratives of their films are lean, each scene with a purpose and you will rarely see long stretches of time where the narrative seems to grind to a halt, this along with their humor and great characters makes their films extremely rewatchable
# 4 They don’t have a film of the quality of say The Godfather, 2001, or Aguirre to name a few but Fargo is arguably a top 100 film
They have a consistent world view throughout their filmography and explore similar themes of fate, the human condition, existentialism, etc.
Final Rankings
MP
Fargo (1996)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
MS
Barton Fink (1991)
A Serious Man (2009)
Blood Simple (1984)
HR/MS
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
R/HR
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Raising Arizona (1987)
R
Hail, Caesar! (2016)
@James Trapp- Fantastic summary and really well done overall James.
@James – great study as always, no Macbeth?
No Country is my personal favourite but I feel as time’s passed that Llewyn Davis is their grand achievement.
@Drake@Harry – thanks appreciate it, I wanted to do Macbeth but couldn’t find it outside of AppleTV which I don’t have. I’ll watch it at some point in future. No Country and Fargo are close. You may be correct on Llewyn Davis, after 2 viewings I have it as their 3rd best but would not be all that surprised if it moves up although for now I’m good with my list. Just realized I correct True Grit and Burn After Reading.
MP
Fargo (1996)
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Miller’s Crossing (1990)
MS
Barton Fink (1991)
True Grit (2010)
A Serious Man (2009)
Blood Simple (1984)
HR/MS
The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
HR
Burn After Reading (2008)
R/HR
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Raising Arizona (1987)
R
Hail, Caesar! (2016)