Mini Movie Marathon: The Coen Brothers

The Coen brothers are an America filmmaking director/producer duo that from the 1980s to 2010s have worked in various genre fusion films. They most do dark comedy, period pieces or films with a distinct style and universe. After the 2020s, they started working on separate projects.

Blood Simple (1983)

A man pays a seedy ex-private detective to stalk his wife to see if she’s having an affair and to kill him and her lover if she is. This is a low budget thriller that plays on the situation and the atmosphere of the character’s circumstance. The light beams and cast shadows made the suspense in the film by the light acting as an obstacle the villain using against the main characters. There’s imagery that subtly foreshadow events in the film that look odd at first but is really clever when you notice them.

Oh Brother Where Aren’t Thou (2000)

A retelling of Homer’s Illiad in the depression era south follows three convicts escaping a chain gang to head back to their families. The quest has them chased, hunted, being one hit wonders, charmed by sirens and defeating an evil army. The sepia-toned effect was digitally applied and was the first film to do so in that process. The whole feel of the movie is like an old fashioned storybook filled with a lot of humour.

Fargo (1996)

This film is somewhat based on a true story which is why the story can seem so dark with all of the murders that occur in the film. The film is about a corrupt weak car salesman hires criminals to kidnap his wife to extort his father-in-law for money to pay down debts. The criminals take advantage of the situation and were completely incompetent that caused the death of his wife and various people the criminals bump into. The other aspect that the film is remembered for is heavy Northern Dakota accents and the “Minnesota Nice” interactions with the characters. It’s a compelling drama that can seem humorous at points. This film is also very different being a winter movie and the protagonist solvibg the mystery is a pregnant policewoman.

Barton Fink (1991)

This is a black comedy thriller about a 1940s screeplay writer traveling to Hollywood for the first time to write a screenplay for a film studio and meeting interesting people from his stay. The insurance salesman neighbour at the rundown hotel he is staying in possibly one of the most interesting characters being emotionally unhinged and weirdly super nice. I remember the film for the fiery ending. The film feels like a noir but it’s like a film about writer’s block and how creative people in dome industries feel about the “creative process” otherwise known as an artist’s novel (Künstlerroman.) There are other themes about high and low society which are from his interactions with his neighbour and the successful writer who gives him unusable advice. But the film being an artist’s novel can feel pretentious for a coming-of-age story about wide-eyed optimism versus the reality of working in the creative field.