The Best of Joel & Ethan Coen

[Heksagon]

I also read the novel No Country for Old Men ...

It may be just my problem that if I like the book too much, then I can't appreciate the film. I don't want to sound too harsh, for most part I think that Coens do a good job transforming the book into film - my biggest problem was with Tommy Lee Jones' character. In the book the sheriff has lengthy monologue-type segments that provide an insight into his way of thinking, and which works very effectively, but with the film, you get the impression that Coens did not really know what they should do with that material, or how they should present Tommy Lee Jones' character to the audience. That is where I think the film is seriously lacking in relation to the novel.

[Uri]

Since Burn After Reading is due to open here in two weeks, there's a comprehensive piece about the Coens by one of Israel's leading critics in this weekend paper. He calls them "the most devoted religious artists operating now within commercial filmdom", when the religion he's referring to, in a very detailed examination, is Christianity. And his thesis is that their existentialist opus is about "the decisions making of the individual hero, who lives in a godless universe. If the system surrounding him is basically moral, it will be reflected in the individual's choices. But in the universes inhabited by the protagonists of Baby Arizona, Miller's Crossing and certainly the hell which is Barton Fink, the protagonists try to fall into line with this total lack of any morality, with a world in which the devil is the winner".

It's a very interesting piece, but I'm afraid he does miss one very important element. He says: "Although it's not perfectly clear what Joel and Ethan Coen, a couple of nice Jews born in Minnesota, have to do with issues which originated in the Christian faith, it's obvious they are totally fixated with this subject". My take on this is that their fascination is not necessarily with Christianity per se, it's more about their take on American society as a fundamentally Christian one and the absurd results of it. And it's exactly the fact that their point of view is that of outsiders whose own set of values contradicts that of the mainstream (and the fact that they're not only Jews, but also half Israelis might have a lot to do with it) which is the source of their artistic drive. And time and again this amused lack of respect and acceptance of basic "truth" is explored through comparisons and confrontation between "pure" Americans and those others, tainted ones. John Turturro is off course the poster boy for this theme and Bardam's Anton Chigurh the most extreme example, but the role of ethnicity in the structure of the American Civilization, which a reference to is usually seems to be a taboo topic in mainstream American cinema, is ever presence in the Coen's films.

And it is best manifested in The Man Who Wasn't There. It is all about the WASPs being threatened by the all those wired, strange foreigners surrounding them. All those Norman Rockwellsque slim, sterile WASPs in it are either in pre puberty like stage of sexual denial the way Thornton is, in a decayed, decadent, incestuous stage like Jenkins and Johansson or totally lost any grasp of reality (Gandolfini's wife). They are confronted with a variety of "ethnic" characters that are sensual, sexually active in all kinds of ways, having a passion for food (most of them are rotund men) and creatively fertile. And the intimidation and bewilderment felt by the average Joe, as represented here by Thornton, when being confronted with these alien people, ideas and sensations, combined with a total lack of self awareness, eventually lead him to violent and self destructive chain of actions. I find it to be the pitch perfect (and, being made pre 9/11, extremely prophetic) study of American psyche of the Bush era.


(p.s. Interestingly enough, a very different film, which I find to be one of the most intriguing American films of recent years, The Good Shepard, had a very similar theme. In it there was the straightforward, kind of naïve all American boy who was drafted by an organization which is being defined by not accepting non WASPs, being manipulated into marrying an upper class girl who was impregnated by her father).

[FilmFan720]

I voted Raising Arizona. Fargo and No Country may be the greater achievements, but they also mellow down the Coen Brothers stamp on the films. Their anarchic sense is at its best, and I think it is the perfect capture of the American psyche. I also love The Man Who Wasn't There too, Uri, and need to revisit it soon!

[Penelope]

Part of the reason that I haven't gone to see Burn After Reading yet is that when the Coens are in full comedy mode, they suck, plain and simple. Raising Arizona is, next to Office Space, the most painfully unfunny cult comedy ever made. When they're doing a thriller and the comedy is incidental, not forced, they're brilliant. Strange, isn't it?

[Uri]

So Fargo is the big winner. And it's indeed a great movie. But I must say I'm a little bit disappointed. I'm a huge fan of the Coens. I find all of their films but three to be major achievements (of the ***½ to **** territory, if I must). Hudsucker Proxy was a major car crash of a movie, almost painful to watch; The Ladykillers a minor accident, though it had a pleasant aura of an inside joke about it which had its benefits. (Unsurprisingly, it seems both these films were forays into material which the brothers had some sort of academic interest in but not real passion for). And Intolerable Cruelty was just undemanding fun, which nevertheless was extremely funny.

When Fargo came out, right after the Hudsucker fiasco, my initial reaction was a sigh of relief realizing they hadn't loose it, but I felt they hadn't match their earlier triumphs. It wasn't as refreshingly energetic as Blood Simple. Raising Arizona was slyer in its attack on American values. It didn't explore the depth of the human soul as deeply as Miller's Crossing. Barton Fink was more nightmarishly stylish. And then they made the blissfully anarchic Lebowski, the culturally multilayered O Brother and I knew I can trust them with my movie going life again. It all culminated with The Man Who Wasn't There, that brilliant study of American psyche, which is still my favorite Coens' film.

I guess that what makes Fargo such a consensual choice is that it's the essential Coen's piece. It's a smartly entertaining blend of many of the themes they are occupied with and those offbeat mannerisms they catch on film so well. And it features what is arguably the most likeable character seen in American cinema for the last few decades. I suspect that in many cases a vote for Fargo is actually a vote for Marge. And who can condemn that?

Now I go back to the countdown towards the opening of Burn After Reading here.



Edited By Uri on 1222416644

[MovieWes]

I also read the novel No Country for Old Men after I saw the film, and I agree with you, Heksagon, that the book is better. However, I disagree that it lessened the impact of the film, which I still regard just as highly now as I did when I first saw it. The only thing I would've done after reading the book is not award the film with an Adapted Screenplay prize, since it was quite a literal film-to-screen translation. Basically word-for-word with very little creativity on the part of the Coens. Cormac McCarthy should've received screenwriting credit since he came up with pretty much 99% of the dialogue that was used in the film, most especially the first act of the film.

What I found most impressive about McCarthy's novel (given as I'm from Texas) is his seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the state's towns and cities, not just where they're located geographically, but also streets (and businesses located on the streets), highways, landmarks, and even the people. At least that's my two cents.

[Bog]

I also go with Fargo by close to a mile...Barton Fink and The Man Who Wasn't There are also excellent in my opinion.

As a whole, I think they are excellent filmmakers with several fine additions to the pantheon of great films. I don't know if I would have as many 4 stars as Sabin, but would be considered an avid fan compared to OG.

[MerryKarma]

Loooovvveeeee Fargo. It is quirky and fun, dark comedy.

Gotta go to work - so will be back to assign stars.

[Heksagon]

Fargo, followed by O Brother Where Art Thou. I've liked all of their films except Ladykillers - I even thought Intolerable Cruelty was a decent film, and I was probably the only one who did.

I just read the novel No Country for Old Men, and I knew it was a mistake. The film is fine, but the book is much better, so I can't appreciate the film so much anymore.

Blood Simple **½
Raising Arizona ***
Miller's Crossing ***
Barton Fink ***
Hudsucker Proxy **½
Fargo ****
The Big Lebowski ***½
O Brother Where Art Thou ****
The Man Who Wasn't There ***
Intolerable Cruelty **½
The Ladykillers ½
No Country for Old Men ***



Edited By Heksagon on 1222169633

[Hustler]

Fargo is among the greatest movies they´d filmed followed by No Country for Old Men.

[Sabin]

'Fargo' is absolutely wonderful, such a daring narrative gamble that pays off masterfully. I'm excluding 'Miller's Crossing' because I have little working memory of the film.

1. 'Fargo' - ****
2. 'Raising Arizona' - ****
3. 'No Country for Old Men' - ****
4. 'Blood Simple' - ****
5. 'Barton Fink' - ****
6. 'The Big Lebowski' - ***1/2
7. 'The Man Who Wasn't There' - ***1/2
8. 'O' Brother, Where Art Thou?' - ***
9. 'The Hudsucker Proxy' - **1/2
10. 'Intolerable Cruelty' - **
11. 'The Ladykillers' - *1/2

[Zahveed]

I haven't seen Burn After Reading yet, so I pick Fargo over No Country.

[Big Magilla]

Fargo by a mile, though I also like No Country, Blood Simple and Miller's Crossing a lot. I remember liking O Brother and Man who Wasn't There when I saw them but can recall little of either film.

I thought Raising Arizona and Big Liebowski were over-rated, didn't much care for Barton Fink, hated the dumb remake of Ladykillers and loathed Hudsucker Proxy. Haven't seen Burn After Reading yet.

[OscarGuy]

The only film that I even remotely consider a wonderful film is The Man Who Wasn't There. That's of the ones I've seen.

[MovieWes]

1) No Country for Old Men- ****
2) Fargo- ****
3) The Big Lebowski- *** 1/2
4) Burn After Reading- *** 1/2
5) O Brother, Where Art Thou?- *** 1/2
6) Raising Arizona- ***
7) Barton Fink- ***
The Man Who Wasn't There- ** 1/2
9) The Ladykillers- * 1/2

I haven't seen Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple, The Hudsucker Proxy or Intolerable Cruelty.

I also know they didn't direct it, but I also enjoyed Bad Santa, which they executive produced.



Edited By MovieWes on 1222104967