Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Oscar Reviews Part Five: No Country for Old Men
What is there to say about the Coen brothers that hasn't been said a million times before? Their askew view on the world makes their films among the best made in modern times.
No Country for Old Men is my favourite of the Oscar contenders (although There Will Be Blood is a strong second). It is a very violent movie about a regular poor Texas cowboy/righand who becomes the focus of an extensive, multi-sided manhunt when he stumbles across the cash from a drug deal gone bad.
It is too bad that the movie is so violent, because it makes the movie less accessible, so fewer people will appreciate the sheer quality of the film.
This is a movie about change, random chance and the ultimate change and randomness of death. This theme is emphasized many times throughout the movie. "Can't stop the tide" is a refrain we hear several times.
Much has been written about the creepy sociopathic villain of this movie, Anton Sigur. To me, this character represents death. The other characters seem to suggest this: "If you see him, you're already dead;" "You can't negotiate with him." The only way you can dodge Death in the short term is by fluke luck, as symbolized by the coin-toss challenge Sigur frequently offers his victims. On the whole, the Sigur character acts more like a force of nature than like any sort of human character.
There is no point where this movie takes the easy, conventional Hollywood path. There are no happily-ever-afters. At many points, our hopes are raised; rescue or escape seem in sight, but these are always only temporary respites. Sooner or later, Death catches up with everyone and he doesn't care about your excuses, doesn't care about how tough you are, how cool you think you are, how much money you have or any other part of your back story.
The best performance of the movie belonged, of course, to Tommy Lee-Jones. As the old-school small-town sheriff following the drug deal case from a distance, he stays mainly aloof from the main story yet still connected to it, like some Olympian god watching down from a celestial mountain top. Finally, he comes close to facing Death, but backs away. Knowing that he may not be so lucky again, he retires.
The film ends with further reflections and examinations on death, transition and randomness. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but those who have know what I mean. When I saw the movie, as soon as the credits started rolling, a bunch of people in the theatre said out loud "what the hell kinda ending is that?"
A perfect one, for this film. A perfect one.
posted by Mentok @ 5:32 p.m.,
5 Comments:
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At 3:49 p.m.,
said...
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Hey-
I'm an intern for ucbcomedy.com and I just wanted to let you know that we just posted a video about No Country for Old Men. I think you'll really like it.
http://www.ucbcomedy.com/videos/play/966 -
At 9:56 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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That is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
If you're intern role involves handling viral promotion via the internet, you're doing a helluva job. I've already shared this clip with 10 people, on top of the readers of this site (both of them!)
Thanks becky. Hope we see you again. -
At 8:06 p.m.,
said...
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hey, you were right on the money with this one, eh?
and how clean is your house (or should i say, was your house?) oscar party clean, that's how clean!
did you enjoy the show? can we expect a few comments on the subject? -
At 8:11 a.m.,
cchang said...
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I've heard great reviews on this one. I still cant believe T and I haven't seen it yet (and why did we waste money on Atonement)?
Like Marcy, I too am waiting on Oscar commentary. :)
As for intern Beck...I uh...I dunno. How do these folks get paid? -
At 5:04 p.m.,
said...
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saw no country for old men the other day, thought it was pleasantly unconventional... dumbfounding form a moral angle, but that can be a good thing.
