Release: 21 February 2008 in South Korea
Running Time: 122 minutes
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casting: Tommy Lee Jones(Ed Tom Bell), Javier Bardem(Anton Chigurh), Josh Brolin(Llewelyn Moss)
Synopsis: In rural Texas, Llewelyn Moss discovers the site of fighting between drug dealers and decides to take the two million dollars. This makes the heartless killer, Anton Chigurh look after him for the money. During this chase, an old sheriff, Ed Tom Bell oversees the investigation but do not actively participate.
<Above information from "The Internet Movie Database; IMDb.com">
I guess I have a problem with my biorhythm because I do not feel asleep until around 2 o'clock. Maybe it is because I supplement sleep during the classes and IR periods to fill the amount I need. Anyway, because I feel sort of lazy and not willing to study after midnight, I often watch videos when I am not much loaded. Using this time, I have watched many videos mostly of drama and movie such as "Boston Legal", the last "Harry Potter" series I missed in the theater, and this one, "No Country for Old Men."
 |
| "You know what's going to happen now. You should admit the situation. There would be more dignity in it." |
For most of the times, I start to feel asleep, then stop the video, and continue the next day or days later. However, there were two I just could not stop; "Old Boy", a Korean movie by director Park Chan-Wook, and this one I am reviewing right now, "No Country for Old Men" by Coen brothers. These two movies share the characteristics of a thriller movie. Both movies depict the story of a cat and mouse drama where a psycho traces a man whom he wants to revenge or take something away from. However, there are also clear differences between the two movies. While the "Old Boy" focuses mainly on the relationship between the man being revenged and the one who revenges, "No Country for Old Men" focuses on the individuals who rarely appear together in the scenes.
I hate studying literature even though I do enjoy reading the literary works. I hate people when they try to derive grandiose meanings from literature like "Emma" by Jane Austen when, in my perspective, it merely seems to be a diary of a woman who likes useless gossips. I do not understand people trying to write a paper on a two-sentence long poem by Wordsworth and lists all the possible meanings no matter whether they are from the actual poet's thought. Overall, I hate people when they exaggerate what they get from an work of art and when the things they allegedly have earned seem crappy and crude. Therefore, I never really enjoy writing journals for the literature classes and discussing about the so called the hidden meanings of literature. To express more radically, I always felt like I am learning how to write a good looking "BS."
Fortunately, my attitude was different with this movie. I felt strangely motivated to better understand the directors' intentions and philosophy. The film is notably simple and even gives the sense of dryness. The simplicity, however, did not bring tediousness. Although I did not recognize while watching it, the movie does not take advantage of any background music. Music is one of the fundamental tools for a movie since it forms an appropriate mood the director wants to create for the scenes. This astounding simplicity rather impressed me because it was accompanied with the deep sense of vanity and desolation. The heavy atmosphere dominating the entire film "banned" me from falling asleep and I just had to stay the night.
There are several things that contribute to the atmosphere of this movie. First of all, the setting takes quite an important role. The film takes place mainly in Texas, the west of the United States and the filmmakers succeeded in recording the dry and barren landscape of the American west. The barren land where the fight between the drug dealers took place and Moss found his fortune of two million dollars can almost be called deserts. The buildings including the hotels, where Moss stays during his fugitive period, are always plain without any decoration. There exists constant sense of silence and desolation in the setting. For example, in the streets, cars do not come across much and the hotels are pretty much empty all the time. The directors have accomplished well to construct foundation for their movie by background.
This movie depends a lot on the characters for its unique atmosphere and the theme after all. The individual characters' importance is shown in the fact that the main characters hardly meet each other and they usually appear alone in many scenes. Anton Chigurh, Ed Tom Bell, and Llewellyn Moss are the three major characters and Anton Chigurh is the man whose face is depicted frighteningly in the movie poster. He is the most impressive character to many reviewers and I am one of those people struck by the peculiar mood he always accompanies with. His outlook is impressive at the first glance; his long and girlish hairstyle contrasts his face and terrifying facial expressions. He carries a powerful air gun and does not hesitate when killing people even without clear cause or necessity. His voice completes the horror his opponent feels; it is extraordinarily deep and so resonant that it carries an irresistible power. These factors allow Anton Chigurh alone form the entire atmosphere of this film.
Ed Tom Bell is an old sheriff who is experienced but powerless because of age. He talks to himself a lot and even when he is speaking to others, it seems like he is talking to no one. I thought the "Old Men" in the title indicates this character and it is quite obvious since he is the only old one among the major characters. Llewelyn Moss is one who discovers the money and is murdered by Anton Chigurh as a result of his decision to take possession of it. These two characters also contribute to the atmosphere of desolation.
All these factors lead to the overall theme of this movie. I thought this movie is talking about the vanity on which everything in our lives is based on. Anton Chigurh kills everyone with even a little necessity to get rid of. I think we can say that Chigurh has his own, clearly set standard. We cannot blame him for it since the time period that the movie takes place is certainly more permissive for murder than now. The murders he execute are so quick and clean that it gives the sense of vanity for the viewers. The coin which Chigurh uses for deciding whether to kill a person or not epitomizes the vanity of life this movie tries to deliver. Anton commands the other side to pick a side of a coin to decide whether he would execute the person. This mere conjecture decides one's life for ever.
This movie follows the basic formula of a typical thriller movie where a character is chased by other. Some might say that basic structure might lead to boredom due to the lack of innovation. However, this one showed why basic structure functions as basic.
I hate studying literature even though I do enjoy reading the literary works. I hate people when they try to derive grandiose meanings from literature like "Emma" by Jane Austen when, in my perspective, it merely seems to be a diary of a woman who likes useless gossips. I do not understand people trying to write a paper on a two-sentence long poem by Wordsworth and lists all the possible meanings no matter whether they are from the actual poet's thought. Overall, I hate people when they exaggerate what they get from an work of art and when the things they allegedly have earned seem crappy and crude. Therefore, I never really enjoy writing journals for the literature classes and discussing about the so called the hidden meanings of literature. To express more radically, I always felt like I am learning how to write a good looking "BS."
Fortunately, my attitude was different with this movie. I felt strangely motivated to better understand the directors' intentions and philosophy. The film is notably simple and even gives the sense of dryness. The simplicity, however, did not bring tediousness. Although I did not recognize while watching it, the movie does not take advantage of any background music. Music is one of the fundamental tools for a movie since it forms an appropriate mood the director wants to create for the scenes. This astounding simplicity rather impressed me because it was accompanied with the deep sense of vanity and desolation. The heavy atmosphere dominating the entire film "banned" me from falling asleep and I just had to stay the night.
There are several things that contribute to the atmosphere of this movie. First of all, the setting takes quite an important role. The film takes place mainly in Texas, the west of the United States and the filmmakers succeeded in recording the dry and barren landscape of the American west. The barren land where the fight between the drug dealers took place and Moss found his fortune of two million dollars can almost be called deserts. The buildings including the hotels, where Moss stays during his fugitive period, are always plain without any decoration. There exists constant sense of silence and desolation in the setting. For example, in the streets, cars do not come across much and the hotels are pretty much empty all the time. The directors have accomplished well to construct foundation for their movie by background.
This movie depends a lot on the characters for its unique atmosphere and the theme after all. The individual characters' importance is shown in the fact that the main characters hardly meet each other and they usually appear alone in many scenes. Anton Chigurh, Ed Tom Bell, and Llewellyn Moss are the three major characters and Anton Chigurh is the man whose face is depicted frighteningly in the movie poster. He is the most impressive character to many reviewers and I am one of those people struck by the peculiar mood he always accompanies with. His outlook is impressive at the first glance; his long and girlish hairstyle contrasts his face and terrifying facial expressions. He carries a powerful air gun and does not hesitate when killing people even without clear cause or necessity. His voice completes the horror his opponent feels; it is extraordinarily deep and so resonant that it carries an irresistible power. These factors allow Anton Chigurh alone form the entire atmosphere of this film.
 |
| Heartless killer, just the right description for Anton Chigurh. |
 |
| Can't you feel the horror from this guy? I certainly do! |
Ed Tom Bell is an old sheriff who is experienced but powerless because of age. He talks to himself a lot and even when he is speaking to others, it seems like he is talking to no one. I thought the "Old Men" in the title indicates this character and it is quite obvious since he is the only old one among the major characters. Llewelyn Moss is one who discovers the money and is murdered by Anton Chigurh as a result of his decision to take possession of it. These two characters also contribute to the atmosphere of desolation.
All these factors lead to the overall theme of this movie. I thought this movie is talking about the vanity on which everything in our lives is based on. Anton Chigurh kills everyone with even a little necessity to get rid of. I think we can say that Chigurh has his own, clearly set standard. We cannot blame him for it since the time period that the movie takes place is certainly more permissive for murder than now. The murders he execute are so quick and clean that it gives the sense of vanity for the viewers. The coin which Chigurh uses for deciding whether to kill a person or not epitomizes the vanity of life this movie tries to deliver. Anton commands the other side to pick a side of a coin to decide whether he would execute the person. This mere conjecture decides one's life for ever.
This movie follows the basic formula of a typical thriller movie where a character is chased by other. Some might say that basic structure might lead to boredom due to the lack of innovation. However, this one showed why basic structure functions as basic.
I also love this movie, and especially love the Cohen brothers. Almost ALL of their films seem to carry a philosophy with them, and you will find similar characteristics in Fargo, Barton Fink, and A Serious Man. Fargo is even better than No Country. What I like about the bad guy in No Country is how decided he is. The film really avoids all those other cliches that thrillers tend to over use. Like when the bad guy is about to kill the hero, and instead of getting it over with he decides to chat and brag which ends up in escape. Not Anton. He just gets right to it. And such a unique weapon.
답글삭제Other films similar to this one in terms of "mood" are not many, but you might also like "There Will Be Blood."
This movie is based on a novel which is written in a similar way. It's in the school library.
All in all, excellent review. And I kind of agree about the BS thing. Kind of.