Initial Thoughts on The Coens

You can say what you want about the filmography of Joel and Ethan Coen. You may say they're pretentious show offs and their films have nothing to say. You may also say they are brilliant filmmakers with a unique eye for visuals and ear for dialogue. Despite what you feel about these sometimes misunderstood mad geniuses one thing's for sure, you can't say they are boring.

The Coen Brothers came on the scene in the mid-eighties when American independent cinema was coming into its own. While other leaders of the indie movement like Jim Jarmusch dealt with more minimalist and introspective work, the Coens would go the opposite direction and dazzle us with genre films that turned the genre on its head. Their first film "Blood Simple" showed they had talent to burn with inventive camera movements and a noirish plot that makes so little sense when you think about it but was made to look believable.

The Coens followed that up with what I think is their first masterpiece "Raising Arizona". This was the first in a long line of broad black comedies, with characters who look like they come right out of a comic book. Yet once we're at the edge of unbelievability, the Coens end the film on a sombre and ambiguous note. Name another filmmaker today who can do that with an outlandish comedy.

Later would come the great gangster film "Miller's Crossing", the Hollywood story "Barton Fink", and their first flop with the under appreciated "Hudsucker Proxy". Finally came acclaim from the mainstream with their most popular film "Fargo" which was a fine balance between black comedy, and violence.

I never thought a Coen film would ever win an Oscar for best Picture but I was proven wrong with their latest masterpiece "No Country for Old Men", and for fans who feared they might've given up their innovative voice for more prestige, their latest film "Burn After Reading" certainly put all that to rest.

I wanted to do the Coen Brothers as my first examination of a contemporary filmmaker to because I feel they are very often misunderstood and I truly believe they are the best American Filmmakers working today. After recently just re-viewing some of my favorite Coen films, I have no doubt of their brilliance, they are able to put poetry in film through their words and their visuals, and when the two meld together nothing stops them. Despite having the reputation of not taking their work seriously, the Coens are always working, and they have created some of the most daring and unique worlds in contemporary cinema.