No Country for Old Men (2007) is an American crime thriller film directed by the Coen brothers, based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel No Country for Old Men. This is a cat-and-mouse drama, telling the story of a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong, causing violence and death subsequently.
This essay analyses a 4 and a half minutes opening sequence of the film. The introductory sequence of the film simply starts with the names of the production companies, this is often what we have for the opening credits of a film. It is then followed by the title of the film.
The Coen presents the viewers with 12 establishing shots throughout the opening scenes before a police officer detains the villain Anton Chigurh into the police car. The establishing shots demonstrate the isolation and danger of the remote areas in the scenes. The mise-en-scene in the opening sequence shows the tension and threat in it while adding a sense of
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Both scenes do not show us a clear nor close up shots the villain’s face. This indicates the danger and threat of this unknown character that will bring to the story.
After murdering the police officer, there is a shot of the villain washing his bleeding hands, free from the handcuff. His wounded wrists show that he uses the handcuffs brutally. This bloody scene demonstrates the cruelty and merciless in him that will bring more violence and death subsequently.
Vladimir Propp (2006:99) once suggested eight ranges of character roles, as known as the ‘sphere of actions’, one out of eight is the villain. From this short 4 and a half minutes, Chigurh obviously acts as a villain role, he is clearly the ‘bad guy’ in this film. This film is one of a few films that portray a villain as the central character and even wins in the
Bayless, Ryan S., and Allen H. Redmon. “’Just call it’: Identifying Competing Narratives In The Coens’ No Country For Old Men.” Literature-Film Quarterly 1 (2013): 6-13. Web. 18 Nov. 2013.
1. Schmitt’s purpose in writing this travel narrative, is to show the differences between the Chinese and American cultures, when it comes to many different things. Main examples in this narrative are; living under the same roof, loss of a loved one, and funeral etiquette. In the Chinese culture it is excepted to come into common areas in your under clothing. Where in America, this would not be appropriate at all. In most places in America, law enforcement would be called on some one outside of their living area in nothing but their underwear and shoes. The narrative shows the many differences in funeral etiquette. One such being, white floors being the
The movie begins with a shot of a cemetery of unmarked crosses. From the beginning, the audience is clued in that this isn’t going to be a simple film. Herzog does an outstanding job dragging out the transitions between scenes, whether it be the sun setting on a highway, or fields of corn shaking gently in the breeze, to create a bleak ambiance that carries out throughout the film. It gives time for the audience to analyze the new information they’ve been given to add onto their own judgements. When the audience first gets to view the original crime scene where the bodies of two young men were discarded, only the sound of insects and other nightlife can be heard, creating an unsettling effect that only adds to the gruesome
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
In the sense of a cinematic point of view the common themes are shown in Shane that reflect the typical Western. The beautiful scenery plays a huge role cinematically and is a key feature in many Western films. For example, in the opening scene, a deer is filmed as it takes a drink of water from a spring with the beautiful background scenery of mountains. This shot from the beginning shows innocence and beauty that the west has. The openness and purity of the setting draws the audience in and is shown throughout the rest of the film. Another cinematic element that Shane incorporates into the film that is use in many Westerns is the violence and fighting and how they are filmed and portrayed. In the film, the first fight scene was with Shane and Joe Starrett against the landowners in the towns bar. The scene was filmed with no music, only the sounds of the men fighting, hitting and breaking things around them. This classic violence element of fighting in Westerns is show in this film and is filmed well as it intensifies the fight between them.
The storyline jumps from one storyline to the next and presented in nonchronological order. Tarantino gives us bits and pieces of one story then jumps to another. This style of narrative is unusual. Ultimately, the whole story comes full circle. The opening scene ends where the scene began. We see the conclusion of the robbery and how it connects to the film.
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.)
Of Mice And Men The novel ‘Of Mice and Men’ reveal life in the 1930’s. A time very diverse to ours. Steinback, the author of this novel wrote about various issues such as lifestyle of the travelling ranchmen, loneliness, friendship, the American dream, racism and sexism. The book is about two migrant labourers, George Milton and Lennie Small in California.
As the movie, “No Country for Old Men,” begins, the audience hears the near hopelessness and jaded voice of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, played by Tommy Lee Jones, as he describes his family’s lineage as lawmen and he reflects on a diabolic killer he helped to send to death row. This monologue in conjunction with the imagery of the dissolute and sparse landscape, quickly transports the audience into Sheriff Bell’s world of feeling frustrated and defeated. A world he is not sure he still wants to be a part of, where crimes are so atrocious and “big it’s almost impossible to take its measure” and he often laughs at them because there “Ain’t a whole lot else you can do” (No 01:26:51 – 01:27:47). Within minutes of the opening scenes, a significant contrast takes place. Going from the calm and reverent character of Sheriff Bell to the ruthless and psychotic creature of Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem.
Bitter about the evolution of the corruption of society, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell plays the official hero clinging to old traditions and reminiscing about the old days in No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. Delusions of a peaceful utopia during the time his grandpa Jack was a sheriff has left Bell looking at the world through hopeless eyes; a world on its knees with only one explanation for its demise: Satan. Not necessarily a religious man, Sheriff Bell, when asked if he believes in Satan, remarks: “He explains a lot of things that otherwise don’t have no explanation. Or not to me they don’t” (218). Throughout No County for Old Men, Sheriff Bell is determined to save Llewellyn Moss in order to prove that justice can be served in a world
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
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.
The Terrible Old Man is a short story written in 1920 by H.P. Lovecraft, who was a famous author of sciene fiction, fantasy and last but not least horrer. I will, by analysing the characters, the setting and the ending, try to interpret and find the main theme of this story.
Of Mice and Men was written during a period of racism. In the 1960's it was important for everyone to get along with eachother because not everyone was equal. George and Lennie showed a great part in friendship throught the whole book. At the ranch in Selinas mostly everyone showed friendship in some way. Friendship was a great factor when the book was published because of all the racism going on at the time.
Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller ‘Rear Window’ (Hitchcock, 1954) begins with the immediate use of mise-en-scène in order to establish a sense of atmosphere, equilibrium and the mundane, soon to be disrupted as the events of the film unfold and are observed through the eyes of the voyeuristic protagonist, Jeff. Setting, cinematography and various other expressive mise-en-scène techniques work together to influence the overall appearance of the film. Though, by taking a closer look, these techniques reveal the significance of the narrative and characters. In the opening sequence, Hitchcock’s original visual style provides signposts for the audience to recognize what will be significant in the future: instead of establishing what is only happening in the moment in time; mise-en-scène is used to suggest what is to come. This arrangement of the “Classical Hollywood” narrative - starting with the setting and characters in a state equilibrium - acts as a seemingly all-purpose, archetypal opening by establishing location and introducing character. Simultaneously we can see that this sequence is vastly different from the rest of the film: it is leading the viewer into a false sense of security – the calm before the storm – as Jeff soon happens to piece together information leading to the possibility that one of his neighbors murdered their wife. This sequence is one of the only moments in the film we see things the protagonist does not, thus this carefully constructed opening is preparing