Gangsters, Writers, and Wood-Chippers

by Danny Munso

The early output of the Coen Brothers sees release in a collection heavy on great writing and brilliant filmmaking, but woefully short on supplemental features.

No Country for Old Men

The Coen Brothers' latest film, No Country for Old Men, has just hit theaters, making this box set of five of their first six films (only 1994's underrated The Hudsucker Proxy is missing) especially timely. Though the filmmakers have certainly had their fair share of misfires, none of them are included here, making this set essential viewing for any lover of film.

Blood Simple

Blood Simple (1984) announced their arrival with a gunshot -- actually, several gunshots -- in a grisly, harrowing noir piece that seems intent on shocking the audience, rather than impressing them. The story follows a bar owner's (Dan Hedaya) hiring of a P.I. (M. Emmett Walsh) to kill his cheating wife (Frances McDormand) and her lover (John Getz). Even in their first work, the Coens' unique writing style is firmly in place, as it toggles between shocking violence and a dry sense of humor. Of all their films, this is by far the most violent, and though it is a tad stylized, it links in with the dark story they are portraying. A rich thriller, Blood Simple is still among their strongest films, even 20 years on.

Raising Arizona

The same cannot be said, surprisingly, for Raising Arizona. Often cited as one of their best, Raising Arizona is a comedy about ex-con Hi (Nicolas Cage) and his police officer wife, Ed (Holly Hunter), stealing a baby because they cannot conceive one on their own. A complete 180 from Blood Simple, Arizona shows the Coens' love for genre films, and while the former was their nod to noir, this one is their version of the slapstick comedy. And it is definitely funny -- as best seen when Ed falls in love with Hi while taking his mug-shots -- but the film has not aged well, and some of the jokes seem a little tasteless. The physical comedy is enough to save it, but I guess kidnapping isn't as funny a subject as I thought it was the first time I saw the film.

Miller's Crossing

Miller's Crossing is the weakest film of this bunch, and while there is much to like about it, it is almost a little (dare I say it) clichéd for a Coen Brothers film. The story is about a mob boss (Albert Finney) and his lieutenant (Gabriel Byrne) who fall for the same woman (Marcia Gay Harden) as a turf-war with a rival breaks out. To their credit, the Coens nail the period dialogue and make you wonder what kind of films they could have made with Humphrey Bogart had they been born earlier or him later. However, for a story with so many plot threads, it's way too predictable, and the film, despite its merits, falls a little flat.

Barton Fink

A story about a screenwriter? This must be good. Written during a period of writer's block on Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink follows the creatively challenged title character (John Turturro) who abandons his noble aspirations and sells out to Hollywood by penning a wrestling movie. Any writer can empathize with Fink as he sinks deeper into despair and must decide whether to stick to his guns or give in to the human desire to be accepted. The film is bitingly funny, favoring satire over slapstick to skewer the Hollywood system that the Coens were living on the fringes of at the time. As a comedy, Barton Fink is pretty great, but as a manifestation of the true insecurities and pleasures of being a writer, it's even better.

Fargo

The set's crown jewel is Fargo, the brilliant film that brought the Coens into the mainstream, won two Oscars (including Best Original Screenplay), and features their most iconic character: Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), the pregnant sheriff of Brainerd, Minnesota. She investigates a kidnapping gone wrong at the hands of its bumbling mastermind (William H. Macy) and clueless thugs (Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare). Marge is unique to this set as she is the only lead character that we have no trouble sympathizing with. Though the Coens love to put highly flawed people at the center of their stories, we're with Marge the whole way. Fargo is still the quintessential Coen film, with its big laughs and even bigger puddles of blood. Most of the deaths (a wood chipper, anyone?) are both funny and cruel, but the laughs never undercut the script's tension. With apologies to the fun O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo represents the last great film by the Coens and contains a magic they only recently rediscovered.

The collection contains some of the great work by two of the truly unique and masterful filmmakers to ever pick up a pen and camera, but if insight into their process is what you're after, plan on looking elsewhere. But if it's five great films you want in one package, this collection is hard to pass up.



Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.