Primer: The Coen Brothers

The AV Club has a great new feature called "Primer" where they give a beginner's guide to two of my favorite film makers, the Coen Brothers (When will No Country For Old Men come to Japan?!):

Who are the Coen Brothers? Arguably, they're the most controlled and technically proficient filmmakers of their time—peerless writers of stylized dialogue, efficient in pacing, ingenious in plotting, and brilliant in harmonizing every aspect of the craft (music, cinematography, editing, performances, et al.) to best service the whole. But here's the funny thing about the Coens: Their detractors are likely to agree with nearly every scrap of hyperbole in that last sentence and still hate them anyway. They'd be wrong-headed to do so, but there's a chilliness that goes along with the Coens' obsessive pursuit of perfection, even as all 12 of their features to date bristle with intelligence, snap, and the generosity of great entertainers. Many filmmakers could be called chroniclers of the human condition, but the Coens are even further removed from the rest of us—they're anthropologists and historians, looking at humanity from the other end of the microscope.

Their essential list of Coen films are:

1. No Country For Old Men
2. The Big Lebowski
3. The Man Who Wasn't There
4. Fargo
5. Barton Fink

Mine:

1. Miller's Crossing (However, I haven't seen No Country For Old Men, so...)
2. Barton Fink
3. The Big Lebowski
4. The Man Who Wasn't There
5. Raising Arizona

I guess No Country For Old Men (since I really loved the novel as well-see The AV Club's feature on the differences between the two here) will bump everything down a spot. And I was very tempted to put Blood Simple in at 5, but I do really love the slapstick of Raising Arizona and it was perhaps my first Coen Brothers film seen. I do like Fargo, but I think it always has been somewhat overrated.

Comments

[Dad]

Blood Simple hands down #1. Haven't seen the new one but from previews top five . Fargo, Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski

[MC]

Hmmm, maybe Blood Simple belongs on the list instead of The Man Who Wasn't There, which I've only seen once, but I have seen Blood Simple a few times and always liked it. It's hard to go wrong with these guys.

[Arie C van der Hoeven]

I've rented most of these films via Netflix. If I go by my past ratings my top five would be:

1. Miller's Crossing
2. Raising Arizona
3. The Big Lebowski
4. Fargo
5. Barton Fink

I also gave "The Hudsucker Proxy" 5 stars, but I'll omit it out of embarrassment. (okay I'm an easy critic - all these were 5 stars) I gave O Brother, Where Art Thou? 4 stars, though I remember liking the movie.

Blood Simple is a good movie, perhaps technically better than some of these, but I didn't enjoy it as much. I'll be happy to bump Barton for No Country once I see it.

[lou ford]

No Country is pretty great. I found it bleaker than even Man Who Wasn't, and more violent than Fargo. It might only have one uplifting moment in the whole film. Normally the Cohen's are more optimistic. I find myself thinking about it a lot. I like everything but Hudsucker, Barton, and O'Bro.

[MC]

Hmmm, you prefer Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty to Hudsucker, Barton, and O'Brother. Those are the only two that I find suspect. I have the tendancy to be forgiving to directors that I like, but those two films are a bit weak in my opinion.

[MC]

I recently rewatched both Blood Simple and The Man Who Wasn't There, and I have to agree with my Dad that Blood Simple bleongs in the top 5. So I'm changing my vote and switching the two, and moving Blood Simple past The Big Lebowski.