No Country For Old Men

In this new movie by Joel and Ethan Coen, the Texas border with the Rio Grande has been brought to life as harsh and merciless terrain. This movie is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Western thriller, and just like the movie ‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’, it is also set in 2001. The coens have for sure made an epic return, and with this movie have set aside the goofy comedy that tainted the other stark comedies. Other than the American cinema which films only show to deceive, this movie focuses solely on its target audience and aims to deliver, this can be witnessed throughout the entire film. The film seems deeply disturbing, consists of violent actions and the focal point of the story depicted is a funny film noir along with three different male actors, the story brings forth. There is still hope The movie is aggressive and powerful, and when combined with humor you get this astounding triad in male actors, all of them exude masculinity akin to a bull. Hope doesn’t have a simple setting but rather intricate with plot twists and expert direction.

The year is 1980 and the place in question is Korea. Unlike other movies, this one doesn’t show any signs of the year it is set in, however, Tommy Lee Jones plays the role of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell who is portrayed as a kind and rational police officer hailing from a family of lawmen. Ed is just about ready to call it quits due to society allowing criminals to get away with all the havoc they want. There’s a hint of music to Thomas’s voice along with a well-structured Texas accent, this, paired with the features of his face is enough to give the man a Texan aura. The beginning scene in which young unhinged killers are told to go towards the gas chamber is sure to leave anyone with goosebumps. Roger Deakin has a most beautiful still and foot tattoo shot out, which is then complimented by the incredibly talented Per Nordin. Nordin’s piece can be indirectly related to that of Cohen’s opening song for Blood Animal which was a film disturber made in the late 1980s.

Sheriff Ed Tom is a much-needed reminder that there are decent and funny people in this dark world. When he discovers a decaying drug deal complete with corpses and shot-up trucks in the middle of a desert, his youthful deputy comments ‘It’s a mess ain’t it sheriff,’ and Sheriff Kerr replies ‘If it isn’t yet, it will till the mess arrives.’ in a brusque tone. The young deputy adds that it is quite a tragedy and it makes him feel sorry.

The other character is psychopath Arnold Chigurh hired by some unknown group to recover a bag with 2 million dollars which in the insfarsio was lost at the drug deal. Chigurh raises his self-esteem by replacing the life of an assassin, with a mercenary, who has a peculiar love for air-pressure bolt guns. His hair is terrible and incredible, there is also nothing ridiculous in him and even an irony for his head. He sets his goals whether unintended targets like slaughtering or Sin City. He is nearly a serial killer and seems to greatly enjoy murdering people not for the cash.

The cringe-inducing scene where the sometimes violent and overbearing gas station owner runs amok in his fuel station is quite baffling. (To what extent have the Coen brothers’ annual appearances at the Cannes Film Festival built a case for their learning a thing or two from fellow auteur Michael Haneke?)

Perhaps the Coens cast Josh Brolin in their film in a way to proclaim their ‘vigorous’ discovery, having made him a sensation in the film. The role of a muscular mute who happens to find drug money while on an innocent hunting spree, is so well executed by Josh that he further crosses the Mexican border and gets chased by Ed Tom who has to rely on him. Theron goes after Moss who is nothing but a ‘good ol boy’ in need of a protector with a decent wife (Kelly MacDonald) who is quite worried for him instead. Brolin has been blessed with some of the wittiest and funniest lines in the film. Llewellyn quotes “If I don’t come back, tell my momma I love her.” “But your momma’s dead,” replied Carla Jean. After somehow concluding, Llewellyn says, “Well, then I’ll tell her myself.”

The premonition of the complete extermination of civilization’s forces and norms persists in McCarthy’s novel, is elaborated upon in the film, and feels chilling. Ed Tom’s trauma from Nazi Spain and his path for inner healing are parts the story ignores. Yet, it makes the fight for survival under the endless blue sky of the Texan sun an even bloodier struggle between righteousness and sheer evil. The Coens remain faithful to the somber tone in the novel’s last pages, which is said to be more polished than the ultimate page in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, towards which this tale appears to be headed. The foreboding sense captured within Cormac McCarthy’s novel is beautifully preserved by the Coen brothers, with a unique twist to the aesthetic consisting of the well-known touch of Cormac’s tang to the mix.

McCarthy, with a considerable amount of darkness accent inside his novels, manages to deviate the Coen brothers from the core of their incessantly tormenting and morbid style. To this day, the Coens’ movie-making style has remained their main and defining characteristic. So, these are set in beautifully looking interstate motels with the expected degree of the Coen universe’s unsettling drama portraying the reality for their characters.

Tommy Lee Jones and Barry Corbin display an impressive juxtaposed acting performance where Ed Tom visits his Uncle Ellis who was also once a police officer. Ellis is quite disillusioned himself and explains to his nephew that America has always been a cruel country that has no qualms in devouring its own. He further continues stating that, such American visual interpretations are very similar to the overpowering clouds that linger low on Windows for long periods, America has a severe and menacing side to it.

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