Post by Doomsday on Apr 26, 2024 0:33:50 GMT -5
For my next filmography exercise I'll be visiting the movies of Joel and Ethan Coen. Personally, I consider the Coen Bros. to arguably be the best filmmakers working today. Some of their films sit on my all-time favorites list such as The Big Lebowski and No Country For Old Men, however I noticed that there were quite a few that I've never seen before such as Barton Fink, The Ladykillers and The Man Who Wasn't There. Others such as Raising Arizona and O Brother, Where Art Thou? are movies I've only seen once years ago and hardly remember. While I go through these and share my thoughts I'll indicate whether it's my first time or if it's a revisit. I'll also try to indicate recurring themes that I find and how they might rank in the canon of Coen.
Blood Simple (1984)
View count: First time
The first film by the team of Joel and Ethan Coen, Blood Simple doesn't just work as an effective crime thriller, it almost serves as an omen of things to come from the filmmakers. It's dark and twisted and has the little quirks that we've come to recognize in movies under their label. As far as debuts go, this one ranks in the upper tier.
We're introduced to Ray (John Getz) and Abby (Frances McDormand of course) as they're driving to a remote motel. Abby is on the run from her husband, Julian (Dan Hedaya) who also happens to own the bar where Ray works. Julian hires a private investigator played by the great charactor actor M. Emmett Walsh, to kill the couple yet when greed gets involved and things go sour the collateral damage begins to pile up.
Blood Simple is effective because it's, for lack of better words, simple. As the Coens would go onto revisit later, they focus on a very centralized, small town, small time happening and characters as we watch it implode from the inside. We focus on a handful of seemingly minor characters in everyday life whose decision-making leads to their downfall. One theme that the Coen Bros. incorporate into several of their films is greed; how it affects everyone involved and destroys everything it touches. It's a motive that's front and center in Blood Simple. The movie is also a study in how effectively a screenwriter can make events trickle down and flow each other without feeling forced or driven by plot devices. Again, the Coens are practiced in stories that take small, obscure events, like stealing a rug for example, and watching them spin wildly out of control. Like I said earlier, Blood Simple acts as a harbinger of what is to come from these filmmakers.
Even though Blood Simple isn't the deepest or most thought provoking movie, it is a very solid debut from these filmmakers (Joel Coen is solely credited as director). While the Coens have a filmography that's probably more diverse than any other filmmaker, they're probably best known for their crime dramas. Blood Simple is certainly a good start.
After 7 years of the Criterion blu ray being on my shelf, I finally gave Blood Simple a rewatch. There was a lot I didn't remember and it's a solid movie, it's also very clearly a first swing at the bat. Lots of cool lighting and shots but there are some other more jarring edits and camera moves that might be reconsidered by the Coens today. And Walsh's motive, the spark that ignites the rest of the film, is a little convoluted as it is. So you were hired to kill a couple for cash but then decided to fake killing the couple so you could really kill the guy who was going to pay you anyways and you accidentally left your lighter which could have belonged to anyone and needed to get it back and...okay fine. It's a fun movie and definitely has the Coen 'hair going up on the back of your neck' feel to it, I think it just sits in the good not great category.