But that aside, McCarthy's No Country for Old Men is a rigid, gripping thriller, one that pressures its drama by regulating it, giving events in an upfront, discreet, arranged way that builds up way more impact than, say, Dan Brown's exaggerated attempts to build tension by screeching at the reader that it's time to be enthusiastic. The Coen brothers' screen version can't help but be more dynamic than McCarthy's novel; even though they maintain the book's cool tone by having the characters rarely raise their voices or even play with outward emotion, just the intensity of their stares gives the story an immediate urgency beyond the book's. Instead, the book is sort of heavy, as though every event follows callously from the one before.
The Coen's, by contrast, have a distinctive but more malleable style; they tend toward heightened narrative whether they're doing noir or comedy, but their tendency to play explore styles and genres makes it harder to recognize their authorial stamp, except that the vast majority of their movies are terrific. No Country for Old Men is no exception. It's a bracing thriller, a game going back and forth involving a lot of extra actors running around complicating the story and throwing out stylized, entertaining, and frequently strange performances. It's also almost terribly funny. The characters stay straight-faced and rarely bat an eye no matter what they run up against; they express tension, misery, anger and frustration alike by just getting a
Throughout the movie, Brian goes through the Identity Foreclosure, Identity Moratorium and Identity Achievement statues of James Marcia’s identity statuses theory. When Brian lives up to his obedient, “Good Citizen,” nerd image, he’s in the Identity Foreclosure status since he unquestioningly adopts his parents’ and society's visions, values and roles. He follows rules, questions rebelliousness and allows others to view him as weak for being a geek. Then, he transitions into an Identity Moratorium status where he delays his commitment to being the Brain and explores “alternative ideologies” and sides to himself when he smokes weed and connects to the troubles and philosophies of the rest of the Breakfast Club (Weiten, 457). Finally, at the end of the movie, Brian achieves the Identity Achievement status where he grows closer to a sense of identity and direction after “thinking through alternative possibilities,” or hanging out with the rest of the Breakfast Club (Weiten, 457). After being accepted by others, Brian builds his self-esteem and values his life despite his failures once and for all.
According to Dudley Andrew’s definitions of adaptations, O Brother is a “borrowing,” meaning “the artist employs, more or less extensively, the material, idea, or form of an earlier, generally successful, text” (30). In a borrowing, Andrew explains, “the main concern is the generality of the original … its existence as a continuing form or archetype in culture” (30). By ignoring vast sections of the original text, yet incorporating some of the most memorable characters and incidents, the Coen brothers achieve this effect, especially with the addition of the powerful soundtrack. Additionally, in the grand tradition of canonical literary works one is supposed to have read in college, people often obtain a hazy knowledge of the classics through oral accounts from person to person. I imagine this use of the oral tradition would not entirely displease
No Country for Old Men (2007), is directed, written, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. This film is a Western-thriller that involves authority, crime, corruption and power. Llewelyn Moss, played by Josh Brolin, is out hunting one morning and discovers the remainder of a drug deal gone badly. After finding a few dead bodies, abandoned vehicles and two million dollars, he takes the cash from the scene of the crime and hides it in the air vent of a hotel room. Chigurh played by Javier Bardem, is a psychopath who was hired to recover the two million dollars. He kills and threatens everyone in his path while hunting down Llewelyn. Sheriff Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, is also trying to locate and protect Moss from Chigurh. Chigurh uses a tracking
In this essay, M.D. will analyze the roles and choices the main characters made while relating them to the main theme of good versus evil and fate versus free will in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men.)
In Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country For Old Men,” fate plays a significant role in the novel and is present in the lives of each of the characters he portrays. Fate, as defined in the dictionary, is “the will or principle or determining cause by which things in general are believed to come to be as they are or events to happen as they do.” The theme of fate is demonstrated in all of the characters in the novel, but most evidently in Llewellyn Moss, Ed Tom Bell, Carla Jean, Carson Wells, and Anton Chigurh. Fate is the main difference that lies between all of these characters. In his interactions with other characters, Anton Chigurh continually suggests that each and every choice we make determines our fate.
The following work aims to take a closer look at cultures, leadership and paradigms in Columbia Pictures’ (1992) film; A Few Good Men. This film provides many examples of differing cultures as well as illustrating examples of leadership, management, and followership. Many lessons can be learned; standing up for what is right and standing up for what you believe in are apparent, as well as leaders not always making the best decisions. At the end of the day, one must be at peace with the direction of their own moral compass and actions.
The Breakfast Club is a film that exhibits many dynamics within society which are then displayed throughout school systems. Throughout watching this, I was able to relate some of these sociological groups to my own experiences within high school and analyze sociological elements and themes within the film.
The question is whether No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach provide adequate examples of the decline in American moral values. From my perspective of today’s world and my interpretation of No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach, I can see how the argument could be made that they have declined or haven’t changed at all. I see a difference between the relationship of Ringo and Dallas vs other members of their traveling group compared to Sheriff Bell vs Chigurh. These relationships, in my opinion, explains a lot about the development of moral values, or lack of, in the western United States. In this paper, I will describe the moral values that are represented in each movie and I will also try to describe my understanding of why American moral values may have declined between No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach.
Cormac McCarthy’s novel, No Country for Old Men, enlightens the life of Llewellyn Moss, a welder and Vietnam veteran, who happens to stumble upon several murdered bodies, a sufficient supply of cocaine, and two million dollars of cartel drug money. Moss decides to seize the money and consequently sets off a chase for his life against the old hand sheriff Ed Tom Bell and hired psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh. However, McCarthy essentially exploits Moss’ and Chigurh’s escapade only as a subplot and ultimately conveys a deeper meaning. The novelist heavily relies on Bell’s failure to reconcile his morals of the approach crime used to take years before. Through analyzing the characters, moral relativism, and
Society is built upon a foundation of norms, but not all individuals adhere to said norms, some are outliers. If the actions of an individual causes pain onto another, society defines that the normal reaction for that individual would be to exhibit a state of empathy, but this is not always the case, as there are those who do not feel or exhibit the normal psychological reactions to differing scenarios (sociopaths). As individuals’ progress and experience obstacles in their lives, they become familiar with the different aspects of their mind, such as their persona, shadow, and self, ultimately achieving individuation. In
Ignorant souls will probably tell you that No Country for Old Men is a film of thirst for blood, material wealth and a sheriff's investigation. Those that suggest this, however, are the same that tune in weekly for their dose of Big Brother: The Evictions and are swayed by the words of their local car salesman. The Coen brothers’ masterful 2005 adaption of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men is a standout in recent cinema history, pushing aside this year’s spit-out of Transformers from explosion-junkie Michael Bay. Taking a different approach from their usual quirky, humour films littered with three word profanities (cue: Burn after Reading Osbourne Cox fans), the Coen’s have successfully stepped into a dark, deeply disquieting drama
No Country for Old Men is a novel that revolves heavily around the theme of nihilism and nostalgia. Main characters, Sheriff Bell and Anton Chigurh represent this immensely throughout the novel.
Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men has created controversial views on the significance of this novel. This piece involves a drug deal gone wrong when Llewelyn Moss, a veteran, happens to stumble upon three dead bodies, heroine, and a briefcase full of 2 million dollars. Told in different perspectives, the story continues with Moss on the run from a psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh in search of the money while also being tracked down by Sheriff Bell. Critics like James Wood from The New Yorker see this novel as “an unimportant, stripped-down thriller” solely based on the novel’s outer surface . On the other hand, William Cobb from the Houston Chronicle refers to McCarthy as the greatest living writer and that this novel “... has conjured up a heated story that brands the reader 's mind...and this is a novel that must be read and remembered”(Cooper 2). The literary merit of the novel becomes noticeable when looking beyond the thriller perspective. McCarthy’s literary merit in the novel is discrete, which is why it just appears to be a western thriller that many believe has no greater purpose other than an entertaining story. No Country for Old Men is a neo western thriller based on its writing style that divides the story into different perspectives containing elements such as fragmented sentences and untypical dialogue. The novel remains within the context of a 1980’s Texas plot which influences the diction so it can reflect a western atmosphere. Although it contains
Because the movie frequently shifts from intense, enthralling action scenes to dramatic slow-paced scenes, Anthony Lane writes that “as a thriller, No Country for Old Men is tight, pointed, and immune to the temptations of speed. I found myself […] in a state of rare excitement […].” While the action scenes are very fast-paced, the film slows down between them to either emphasize a character trait, further the development of the story, or create a comedic scene. For example, the horror of Chigurh is emphasized between major fight scenes when he kills an innocent person remorselessly (Hunter). The pacing also decelerates to develop the story.
This movie is one of many classic movies that have the ultimate understanding of life and the human physiological behavior. This movie entitles three mechanisms of hunting to describe critical aspects of life, hunting for animals, hunting for men and hunting for meaning. Hunting is the act of tracking and taking a life; this act differs from hunting an animal to a human. This particle can teach a lot of principles like being patient, good timing and the art of tracking.