Scene Comparison: The Coin Toss The award winning film, No Country for Old Men, adapted from Cormac McCarthy’s 2007 novel, is a riveting tale of a brutal chain of events related to money, murder, and drugs, which rolls through West Texas in the 1980’s. Told through the perspective of the stories three main characters – a soulless killer, an old time sheriff, and an experienced country boy – both the novel and the film keep the audience anxiously waiting for the next gun fight or brutal killing. Amazingly, the film’s adaptation, directed by brothers Ethan and Joel Coens, manages to capture the themes and overall essences of the novel by maintaining all distinguishing mannerisms and dispositions of the characters; while also keeping the …show more content…
The directors chosen camera technique, a simple two composition that progresses the scene a steady pace, forces the audience to feel a part of the awkward exchange; obviously, a quality of film that could not be as profoundly achieved through the narrative in the novel.
In addition to the benefits of camera techniques, the Coean brothers’ add in subtleties that in enhance the overall eerie feel of the scene, aspects that are not included in the novel. One of the most well thought out and creative addition, is the hanging electrical wires on the back wall, just behind the proprietor head. Unarguably, each one looks like nooses. No doubt, this inventive visual enhancement was intentional and it most definitely heightens the aura of death in the scene.
Another technique not seen in the novel that serves to heighten the tension felt in the scene, is the un-crinkling of the Chigurh’s cashew wrapper. This seemingly simple aspect does wonders at adding suspense to the scene and demonstrating the strain and uncomfortableness for the gas station attendant and perhaps even the irritation of Chigurh. The excruciating, drawn out rustle of the cashew wrapper also brings to the attention of the audience that this scene, like many others in film, has no music; consequently, the only sounds are the tense dialogue and the exaggerated chewing of Chigurh. The fact that the awkwardness can be felt throughout this
First, film devices and techniques in the scene where Buffalo Bill tortures Catherine Martin who is in the hole of Bill’s house help support the element of suspense and horror. The first film device portrayed in this scene is the camera angles. It used a high and low camera angles. The low camera angle faced downwards when it is showing Catherine Martin making her seem small and weak. However, the high camera angle shows Buffalo Bill being seen at the top of the hole in the basement as he is looking down on Catherine Martin. This illustrates the power Buffalo Bill has over Catherine Martin as he laughs and tortures her. Another film device that is used in this scene is the sound. At the end of the scene, a strange music soundtrack plays in the background when Catherine Martin sees blood marks on the wall and screams out of fear. Buffalo Bill mocks her screams and movements which scares her even more. The third film device is the lighting. In the scene, Catherine Martin has no light in the hole making it dark and dull which makes it spooky. As soon as Buffalo Bill lowers the basket, the light captures Catherine’s face as she sees the bloody marks of other victims who tried to climb out the hole.Next, film devices and techniques in the scene where Clarice Starling talks to Buffalo Bill about Fredrica Bimmel help support the element of suspense and horror. The first film device portrayed in this scene is parallel action. At the beginning of the scene, the camera switches from Buffalo Bill’s house to where Mr. Crawford and the FBI investigators were at. It is parallel action because it builds suspense and it makes sure the audience is aware that Clarice Starling does not know that she is with Buffalo Bill. Another film device that is used in the scene is a subjective shot. It shows
A variety of camera techniques are used throughout the beginning sequence to enhance the mood and involve the audience. Camera techniques are harmonized with lighting effects to culminate this dramatic scene. I will begin by discussing examples of this. In the village, many close-ups and long shots are used to enhance facial expression and to set the sombre mood.
The film “No Country for Old Men” premiered in 2007 under the direction of Coen brothers. The film got inspiration from Cormac McCarthy’s novel “No Country for Old Men”. The film mainly focuses on three main characters the sheriff Ed Tom Bell, a psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh and a hunter Llewelyn Moss. The setting of the film is the 1980’s Texas (Ebert 1). Llyewelyn Moss one of the main characters in the film is a hunter as well as welder and during one of his hunting trips to the desert he comes across a drug deal gone wrong. He discovers several dead bodies in the scene, including a dog.
Filled with a plethora of themes and convictions, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men excels in its endeavor to maintain the reader’s mind racing from cover to cover. The setting is the Texas-Mexico boarder; the story embodying a modernized western-themed Greek tragedy filled with drug runners and automatic weapons. Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam veteran, finds himself on the run from forces that seem to be an instrument of karmic consequence. While on the run, Llewelyn is given the opportunity to end the madness that has arisen so immediately in his life. But he doesn’t. Instead he braves on, defying his own advice, and persistent on luck, only leaving him a misfortunate ending. To fully recognize the circumstance the novel
No Country for Old Men, written by Cormac McCarthy, is a neo-western thriller set in the year 1980 where drug trafficking and violence along the Mexican border were at its highest. The story draws the reader to Moss, an everyman who stumbles upon a case filled with money during the aftermath of a failed drug trade. Soon after, he is being pursued by both a sociopathic hitman named Chigurh and the town’s sheriff Bell. The events that transpire between these three are overshadowed by the fact that each character is morally ambiguous and each character’s morals are challenged in this story. Morality is a recurring theme throughout the novel, and this is evidently seen in each chapter’s monologue and towards the end. Bell, although he questions his own morals due to the events that he has experienced and seen, is the symbol of morality. McCarthy uses both symbolism and Bell’s narratives to show how society’s moral values are gradually being degraded through each succeeding generation and how there is truly “no country for old men.”
The filmed opened up with a flashback of a girl in a red dress. By showing this a sense of anticipation is created. Throughout the book a feeling of suspense is created by the way the director decided to film each scene. The director also made sure
This scene gives the viewer a clue to the story and intrigues the
Throughout the novel known as No Country for Old Men (by Cormac McCarthy,) we view an aged story retold yet
Cormac McCarthy’s work centers on how he leads the themes and irony of how the characters run away for the evil. The way he would write was to show how people run away from their problems in life, in a romantic western . The western romantic ideal was made from a unromantic reality that has been appointed role of contemporary scholarship and culture to run away from the new ways of life that no one wants to change. At the beginning of the novel shows a 16-year old boy named john grady who has lost his grandfather to old age, during the funeral he had decided that he fully wanted to become a cowboy.
In this scene the music becomes eerier, darker, and more suspenseful. The music choice mirrors and helps emphasize the town's feelings towards
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
The films North by Northwest (1959) and Double Indemnity (1944), directed by Alfred Hitchcock and Billy Wilder both have significant strides within the history of film, and both films made different in artistic innovation. North by Northwest was a late film of the post war era, and Double Indemnity was an early film of film noir. The objective of this paper is to compare and contrast both films within the context of sexual content, comedy, and suspense.
A violent contract killer, a blue-collar welder, and a weary sheriff are all players in the ensemble No Country for Old Men. The Coen Brothers adaptation of the novel written by Cormac McCarthy is a multi-genre, visual buffet about a man’s strength of will and dedication. It’s about death, fate and American violence. It is set in 1980 and centers around the chaos of questionable decision making and killing without a purpose or at the very least killing without ethics. Every Coen Brother movie has utilized violence as a way to enhance realism, entertainment and narrative. Each of their films employ bloodshed 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
In Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men and Elmore Leonard’s Raylan the depiction of characters varies drastically. The morality of each character is portrayed with differing standards. Additionally, Leonard has a tendency to guide his readers’ opinions of his characters, while McCarthy has a preference towards allowing his readers to formulate opinions based on his characters’ actions. Consequently, Raylan paints a picture of a more black and white, good versus evil type of world, whereas McCarthy depicts a world with many hues of grey. Women, in particular, have a stark contrast in their roles within each novel, from the minor roles in No Country for Old Men to two of the major antagonists in Raylan.