I am re-watching this movie after seeing it multiple times over the last few years since it came out in 2007. I am thinking, every shot is perfectly placed or timed or moved so that you will get the complete story out of the shot...well done you Roger Deakins...genius you. Roger's shots of landscapes is just breathtaking. This guy is probably the best in the business, yet there is a certain humility in his work. No showy camera moves. Every camera move serves the film's pace and it also tells a story. He is so good, that Pixar hired Roger Deakins as a consultant for their 2009 movie, "Up" so that they could properly use and translate real world cinematography to be used in animation the right way.
Scenes are perfectly edited such that even in an action scene, there is no destabilising rapid cutting like you see in many action movies today. It all flows perfectly. Good cutting job Roderick Jaynes...or Joel or Ethan...Roderick Jaynes is an alias they use when they edit their movies, but they credit Roderick Jaynes, who does not exist - one of their many successful attempts at wit.
Every actor is so perfectly cast, even the day players that may appear in just a few minutes or few seconds, perfectly fit the roles. Good job! - casting directors, for hiring very believable, perfectly fit actors for all roles. You just understand what kind of personalities these characters are only from their few seconds of on-screen time, that you get to appreciate this piece of work just a little bit more.
The sound, my God, the sound. Who would guess that a movie that is mostly people talking and mostly quiet, with almost no movie music at all, set in the 80s in 'small town', Texas, will not only pay huge attention to the sound design but, as it turns out, every damn sound tells a damn story. Whether it is the faint distant sound in the hotel lobby of the attendant being shot, or the faint footsteps of Anton Chigurh approaching Llewelyn Moss' room, or even the sound of the gun that Anton has so meticulously muffled, that each gun-shot noise has all but disappeared into thin-air...literally...cos it just sounds like air being forced through a tiny hole. Every sound was carefully designed, produced, edited and placed in each scene, without exaggeration...that it eventually becomes music to your ears.
Most of all, the Coen Brothers write all their movies, and direct all their movies. And man do they do so brilliantly. Many actors in their movies, have said they are 2 people that share one brain. The actor could ask one of the directors a very specific question and then sneak of the second to ask the same question and they'd get the exact same answer. The actors have said, every day, they would recieve these flash cards containing story boards - which are drawings depicting what would be shot on that day. These guys meticulously and thoroughly plan each shots and they know what the movie would look like on a day-to-day basis.
Go on wikipedia and look at their filmography. Each movie is almost completely different from the next, each film existing in genre of its own:
Miller's Crossing is a gangster film set during the Prohibition (1920 to 1933).
Barton Fink, set in 1941, is about a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a film studio in Hollywood, and an insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle.
Fargo is a crime comedy film set in the winter of 1987 about a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides near Brainerd, Minnesota…and a struggling car salesman who hires two criminals to kidnap his wife, for money.
The Big Lebowski is about Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, nicknamed "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named Jeffrey Lebowski. Then music, murder plots, and hilarity ensues.
No Country for Old Men is a neo-Western thriller about an ensuing cat-and-mouse drama as the paths of three men intertwine in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas.
A Serious Man is a dark comedy set in 1967 about a Minnesotan Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.
True Grit is a western about a mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit, then agrees to help a 14 year old girl to track, capture, arrest and possibly hang the murderer of her father. They along with a sheriff travel and meet interesting and some very dangerous characters in their adventure.
Inside Llewyn Davis is a comedy-drama about one week in the life of a talented but unlucky singer who is active in New York's folk music scene in 1961.
As you can clearly see, the Coen Brothers, make completely different movies each time, reaching spanning many decades and periods in time, and mixing different genres, or selecting a very specific genre in a very specific location from a very specific time period. Very very few directors do what the Coens do. Why? Because it is damn difficult, that's why. To do a type movie that you have never done before means, heavy research, capturing the period, learning the way the language is spoken, the way people move and act, creating a look to the film, costumes, etc But when done well, you create magic.
They also represent the language from that location as authentically as possible, which always sounds so good even to a foreign audience like myself - foreign in country, not foreign in interest (film).
According to rottentomatoes.com, which has figured out a way to put figures to rate films, and accurately, there are the ratings of each film listed above.
Miller's Crossing: 91%
Barton Fink: 91%
Fargo: 94%
The Big Lebowski: 80%
No Country for Old Men: 94%
A Serious Mana 94%
True Grit: 96%
Inside Llewyn Davis: 94%
Impressive.
These guys are rare and true masters of their craft.
Possible trivia: In No Country for Old Men, a character is called Llewelyn. In Inside Llewyn Davis, the main guy is Llewyn which is Llewelyn minus the second 'e' and third 'l'. I wonder if the similarities in both obscure names was not done on purpose.
Possible trivia: In No Country for Old Men, a character is called Llewelyn. In Inside Llewyn Davis, the main guy is Llewyn which is Llewelyn minus the second 'e' and third 'l'. I wonder if the similarities in both obscure names was not done on purpose.
