Daniel Camarillo
Cinema- 26
03/13/09
Mid-Term
No Country for Old Men The opening of the film has actor Tommy Lee Jones narrating about himself and past law enforcement officers. I was a little frustrated to think I was going to have to listen to him throughout the entire film. I then realized that little commentary in the opening scene set the movie for what it became. The complexity of moral and social implications would have anyone in the situation Josh Brolin’s character faces, in a bind. Would you take the money or go to the authorities? The Coen brothers have a unique way of capturing the audience and making them hold on to there seat waiting for the next scene. I believe the style, characters, and techniques of the film were built around the Coen’s distinctive directing. The film takes place in the 1980’s near the Mexican border in Texas. It is dark and dusty, similar to a modern western. Shot through with moments of humor these come, as in life, from real situations and observations. This film has a universal theme that everyone can recognize and appreciate. A director usually chooses to use one thematic element to emphasize the film. I believe for this film, the Coen’s focus on ideas. They make the characters have significance beyond the film itself. Mexico has been dealing drugs in the United States for decades. It has escaladed so high that thousands of people die each year in one way or another. The dark and bloody shoot outs are really problems we face today in our society. A drug run gone completely wrong; Josh Brolin’s character, a welder and Vietnam veteran (Llewelyn Moss) wanders upon a case filled with two million dollars. Tommy Lee Jones’s Character (Ed Tom Bell) is a sheriff that doesn’t seem like he gives a care about anything. Although the film is about one chasing the other, I believe the film quickly makes Javier Bardem’s character (Chigurh) the main focus, with his psychopathic tendencies; a man that will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. I believe this film highlights Chigurh’s insanity in the scene at the gas station. He asks the attendant a question, and the attendant attempted to make small talk. The scene made me feel awkward, and I didn’t know what I would do in his situation; I suppose that was the Coen’s intentions. “What’s the most you’ve ever lost in a coin toss?” Chigurh flips a coin for his participants, the coin being a motif, symbolizing life or death and his neglect for human life. During the film you could not help but notice the Coen’s use of camera angles, lighting, and music to help draw you into the suspense. In the scene, Llewelyn is sitting on a bed in a hotel room, in the dark with an unusual yellow light from the window, waiting for Chigurh to open the door. What the audience can see is Llewelyn’s outline of his body and the light coming from under the door. Camera still pointing at the bottom of the door, Chigurh walks past casting a shadow. Chigurh realizes he is making a shadow and turns the light off. Now everyone is in the dark waiting in anticipation for what is about to happen. The Coen brothers do an amazing job making the audience feel that anxiety. Coen brothers did not think the film needed much music, making it more realistic and suspenseful. Long time composer for the Coen’s said, "most musical instruments didn’t fit with the minimalist sound sculpture he had in mind [...] he used singing bowl, standing metal bells traditionally employed in Buddhist meditation practice that produce a sustained tone when rubbed." The movie contains a "mere" 16 minutes of music, with several of those in the end credits (“No Country for Old Men,”n.d., Music score and sound). Skip Lievasay did the sound effects; he used a mixture of emphatic sounds (gun shots) and ambient noise (engine noise, prairie winds) in the mix. Chigurh’s cattle gun sound was in fact a pneumatic nail gun. There are many elements that make up a good movie, but using them in unique ways makes a great movie. The Coen brothers use a mixture of styles and their own techniques to make the character driven movie work. The camera angles and lighting makes the movie suspenseful and the characters and acting make the film convincing and true to social situations. I believe this quote sums up the movie, “You don't understand. You can't make a deal with him. Even if you gave him the money he'd still kill you. He's a peculiar man. You could even say that he has principles. Principles that transcend money or drugs or anything like that”.

Works Cited
Coen brothers. (2009, March 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:08, March 13, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coen_brothers&oldid=276743654

Ebert, R. (2007). No Country for Old Men. Retrieved March 10, 2009, from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071108/REVIEWS/711080304

No Country for Old Men (film). (2009, March 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:00, March 13, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=No_Country_for_Old_Men_(film)&oldid=276868233