Coen Brothers and Film Noir

The Coen Brothers have made a number of thrillers over the last couple of decades including Blood Simple (like a modern version of a James M. Cain novel) and Fargo (about a man who pays two criminals to abduct his wife with disastrous consequences).

'The Big Lebowski' however is one of their best films and is an excellent example of a slow burnt thriller. It takes the Raymond Chandler LA tales of mystery (e.g. the big heat) and updates it to the present day.

A lot of their films are based on film noir, and thus use a lot of devices typical of the genre. For instance the films also feature stark contrast in lighting and the typical theme of people being in over their heads working on a scheme.

Kidnapping is also a theme used in their films; Jean's abduction in Fargo, Bunny's abduction in The Big Lebowski and the baby's abduction in Raising Arizona. They also use misunderstandings as a springboard for the plots of many of their films. For example misunderstanding over who killed Rug Daniels and who took his hair causes friction between different mobs in Miller's Crossing, The Big Lebowski begins with a soiled rug caused by a case of mistaken identity over the name 'Lebowski' and in Blood Simple, misunderstanding is the driving force behind the entire plot.

'The Man who wasn't There' is a complete homage to film noir, with deadpan narration, tales of murder and it is shot in black and white.

‘No Country for old men’

I saw this film last Friday and realised what an excellent thriller it is. It seems very conventional, with a typical psychopath with a unique way of killing their victims, the central plot focuses on a fugitive and of course the matter of money is at the centre of all of this. However, as a result, the film surprises the audience with its many unconventional aspects. For instance one of the main characters is killed off way before the end of the film, but the audience does not see this. Instead the audience is left with the sight of the dead body, which is a shock as in the scene before we’ve seen him walking around like everything is fine. This use of surprising an audience by going against conventions is something now in retrospect, I wish our group would’ve looked into.