No Country for Old Men
The Coen crony have dabbled in a number of dissimilar musical genre . They ’ve made comedy , westerns , spy flick , flick noirs — and a healthy VD of criminal offense motion picture . From the neon - lit thrills ofBlood Simpleto the Prohibition - epoch antics ofMiller ’s Crossingtothe absurdist lapidator laugh ofThe Big Lebowski , the Coens have really put their stamp on the crime music genre .
Arguably , the duad ’s greatest offense motion picture isNo Country for Old Men , the neo - western Cormac McCarthy version that gain them a shelf load of Academy Awards , and a near 2nd isFargo , their tweedy , darkly comic , purportedly on-key - to - life murder story .
No Country For Old Men Is The Best: It Expertly Subverts The Audience’s Expectations
It ’s rare to have a motion picture that subverts the audience ’s expectation of closure at the end of a story and not have it be a huge disappointment . But Cormac McCarthy and the Coen brother are passkey storytellers , so inNo Country for Old Men , it influence wonder .
At the end ofNo Country , closure is specifically deflect . This leaves Sheriff Bell baffled by the senseless fierceness and want of justice in the globe around him . This ambiguous ending affectingly capture the rearing injustice in society .
Fargo Is A Close Second: It Has A Pitch-Black Sense Of Humor
One of the hallmarks of the Coens ’ filmography is their pitch - black comic sensibility . No Country for Old Menisn’t a humorless moving-picture show , but it ’s far from a comedy . Fargo , on the other helping hand , could be categorise as a full - on gloomy comedy .
law-breaking history could always apply a healthy dose of dark mood — just face atPulp Fiction , Breaking Bad , orIn Bruges — andFargohas it in spades .
No Country For Old Men Is The Best: It Contrasts The Wild West With Modern Crime
The character of Bell servesto counterpoint the myths of the Wild West with forward-looking crimes . He says that in the Old West , many peace officer were n’t even armed , whereas in modern multiplication , hired gun force is rearing .
Anton Chigurh attend to to embody the kind of senseless violence that Bell is bitter about . At the death of the movie , after leaving behind a blinking route of destruction , Chigurh leaves without a trace .
Fargo Is A Close Second: It Takes Place In A World Of Its Own
The populace ofFargois as unequalled and thoroughly developed as the grotesque worlds ofStar WarsandThe Lord of the Rings . It ’s set in our world , but it has its own quirk . An total anthology series has beenset in that rummy world .
From the desolate snowy landscape to the spat goons to the modest - mannered suburban normies come down into a life of offence , Fargoseemingly takes lieu in a universe of its own .
No Country For Old Men Is The Best: The Suspense Sequences Are Hitchcockian In Their Craft
The cliff-hanging sequences inNo Country for Old Men , like when Moss first find the money or when Bell arrives at the motel , are craft in a way thatwould make Alfred Hitchcock proud .
During the gunplay between Moss and Chigurh , the two never do face to face and the Coens do n’t use tense music as a crutch , but the audience is still glued to the edge of their seats .
Fargo Is A Close Second: It’s About Ordinary People
The reference inFargoare not season criminals ripped from the Thomas Nelson Page of an Elmore Leonard novel;they’re just average people in over their heads . Jerry Lundegaard is a veritable cable car salesman who cooks up a vicious scheme he ’s not smart enough to pull off .
Marge Gunderson is n’t a gun - tug , exposition - gush gunstock eccentric ; she has lunch with her supportive hubby and asks about his picture . Eventhe professionals , Carl and Gaear , do n’t really get laid what they ’re doing .
No Country For Old Men Is The Best: The Three Leads Give Breathtaking Performances
Josh Brolin is the quintessential " wrong guy in the faulty place at the awry time " protagonist as Llewelyn Moss , Tommy Lee Jones personify the tarradiddle ’s theme as conflicted sheriff Ed Tom Bell , and Javier Bardem isthe chilling human embodiment of violenceas killer Anton Chigurh .
There is some phenomenal performing inFargo — Frances McDormand and William H. Macy , in particular , blast their character — but there are few movies that scrape the greatness ofNo Country ’s trifecta of lead performances .
Fargo Is A Close Second: The True Story Disclaimer Provides A Unique Twist
In the opening moments ofFargo , a textbook disclaimer informs the audience that what follows is a true story . However , what follows is an outlandish , surrealistic tale , and the end credit still have the classic “ all persons fictitious ” disavowal . Supposedly , the script was exhort by a real incident with a wood - chipper , butthe Coens smother the truth with fabrication .
By toy into the trend of honest crime stories and taking barbarian left over turn , the Coens put a alone twist on the moving-picture show — and the audience ’s expectations of it .
No Country For Old Men Is The Best: It Defies Genre Classification
ThoughNo Country for Old Menis technically a crime motion picture , the truth is that it defy genre classification .
The Guardian ’s Rob Mackie came closelipped when he called it a “ crime westerly noir repugnance comedy . ” This save the movie from getting pigeonhole and give it an identity all of its own .
Fargo Is A Close Second: Marge Gunderson Might Be The Greatest Cop Character Ever Created
Thanks to picture show likeDirty HarryandBad Boys , the universal image of the constabulary on the braggy projection screen istough - as - nail badasses with quippy one - linersand a tenuous appreciation on obey the law and doing actual police detective work . Fargo ’s Marge Gunderson , played bright by Frances McDormand , feels like an counterpoison to this form of cop character .
She might bethe greatest cop fictional character ever created . She investigates homicides while seven months meaning , does some existent constabulary piece of work , and brings the perpetrators to justness without using excessive force out .
NEXT : Martin Scorsese : 5 Reasons Why Goodfellas Is His Best Crime Movie ( & 5 Why Taxi Driver Is A Close second base )
