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iView Author: Bhavesh Purohit (India)

Email: b_star87@hotmail.com

Welcome to the world of Coens

I have been addicted to coens movies recently until I saw their latest crap Burn after Reading. Well not many people hated the movie, but being a hardcore Coen fan, the movie was a letdown. Why I like them so much? Its not that they make larger than life stories or big budget high action movies. This is the only reason I like them. Without passing any social message, their movies sole purpose was just nothing. They are just compilation of certain incidents of a thin story. Thin, very thin storyline.

So what makes their movies exciting. Yes the incidents, the characters, the situations. Coens are the bloody bastards of Hollywood who have always explored the psychic characteristics of human being and life. Anything wrong going with the protagonist will always go continue to go wrong till the end. Be it the couple from Blood Simple or from Raising Arizona. Or the Dude from Big Lebowski. The protagonist always gets into some kind of trouble which keeps getting worse till the end. More than that there is always a character who is whacky and the one who creates trouble for the protagonist.

The best thing about a coen movie is the atmosphere they create. I don’t know what to call it but all their movies, all their scenes have a sense of weirdness in it. Even a serious scene is bounded with very subtle humor and an object is used as a metaphor to explain the situation. Very less but smart dialogues, extremely subtle but very funny situation, patient scenes, weird situations, troubled protagonist are trademark of a coen movie. I call their movies bastard movies because they are bastard in every sense. Their movies clearly say “I don’t wanna pass any fucking message, there is a character who is getting fucked and will keep getting fucked till the end, u will enjoy the entire fucking process”.

You are completely lost in the entire fucking procedure and refuse the movie to end.

Let me tell you something about my favorite coen movie, what I liked about the movie and favorite scenes. This might contain some spoilers.

Blood Simple- The duo’s 1st movie. Can you imagine what they achieved with their first movie? They just said this is how our future movies going to be like. It’s movie with a very thing plot but the characters created are undoubtedly bastards. You keep guessing whos gonna die and the finally you are given with a bang answer. The situations followed are so dam real and so not contrived unlike other typical Hollywood or Hindi movies. The person who played the private investigator is one of the most psychotic characters I have seen on screen on par with Heath Ledger’s Joker. The atmosphere is very patient throughout keeping dialogues minimal which only increases the tension.

I loved the scene where Ray suspects that Abby might have killed her husband Marty and goes to bury his body somewhere to save her. In the process he finds that Marty is not yet dead so he buries him alive. The scene is shot with so much patience and completely without a score that it eventually ends up creating a lot of tension.

Unfortunately not many people in hindi films do that. They heavily rely on background score and drama to create tension. They should once check out blood simple or any coen movie to see how they create tension without using a BS.

Miller’s Crossing- Now this happens to be my favorite coen movie. Apparently the movie is based on Dashiell Hammett’s ‘Red Harvest’ on which Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo is also based and also few other Hollywood movies. Well I haven’t read the book neither the other movies but can say that Miller Crossing is more of the coen factor than the movie. The plot maybe based on Red Hrvest but the execution is more coen. The performance by Gabriel Bryne is simply excellent and also by other characters. I can’t remember a scene which I did not like and have seen the movie several times. The movie is simply addictive and the more u watch more things u like about it.

Fargo- The most celebrated Coen movie until No Country for old man(which I think was overrated) lived up to the hype and ratings. Fargo is a movie which actually grows on you each time you watch. Each scene is written executed so dam brilliantly. Carl, the funny looking guy played excellently by Steve Buscemi and not to forget Peter Stormare who played the psychotic guy who hardly spoke throughout but conveyed his character more than anyone else. Again the movie has a very thin plot but it is the characters and scenes which makes the movie a masterpiece. The famous wood chipper scene is fucking brilliant that I was thinking about it for days and watching it again and again.

Big Lebowski- One of the most funniest and whackiest movies I have ever seen. The Dude and Walter are the most bastard characters I have ever seen. Man, what crazy movie it is. I was laughing like hell throughout. Again Steve Buscemi was excellent in a very small role. The dialogue “Shut the fuck up, Donny.” has the best timing throughout the movie. I can go on and on about the movie. “ They peed on your fucking rug” “ That rug really tied the room together”. Oh man these dialogues don’t sound funny now but with the movie they will have you rolling. One of the most original comedies.

There are a few more like The Man who wasn’t there which is shot completely black and white and also a very good movie in more of Blood Simple Style. Then there is Raising Arizona which I thing the most emotional but yet a weird movie by Coens.

After Big Lebowski, Hudsucker Proxy is something to look out for. The film is very smart in its comedy and has a lot of funny moments. Tim Robbins did an excellent job of playing a dumb and innocent guy.

One thing is for sure- for a Coen movie you always seem to discover a few new elements after every watch of their movie. Unfortunately, I did not like recent works probably because I could not connect them with their kind of work.

No Country wasn’t bad but I guess it was too overrated.

Burn After Reading was crap. A thin plot with pointless situations. A boring movie.

I hope Coens come back with a bastard movie again with whacky characters and situations. They are the rotten kids of Hollywood.

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