Theme Of No Country For An Old Man

Good and evil have existed since the beginning of mankind. Good defends the righteous, as evil has been bent on destruction. In today’s society, many people believe that good will always triumph over evil. The murderer will eventually be caught by the police; the carjacker will one day meet his doom; the superhero will defeat the evil villain. Simply, in some circumstances, this is not entirely true. Good does not always prevail over evil. This is exceptionally true in the movie No Country for Old Men by the Coen brothers. The dominant theme in the Coen brother’s movie is evil.

For this assignment I have chosen to focus on the film Good Will Hunting primarily because I have seen the movie prior to this course and I feel it is one of the best films I have gotten a chance to see. Will Hunting's profound genius was as much a burden as it was a gift. Initially seeing the film I enjoyed it but viewing the film in the scope of all that I have learned in this course made the viewing experience much more meaningful, as I now had a deeper understanding of Will's internal conficts, and how they directly effected his relationships, beliefs, and actions. The film is an excellent example of the issues involving interpersonal communication and how they play a part in either making or breaking our

Harold and Maude, a movie directed by Hal Ashby and released in the 1970’s, did not receive much attention and popularity when first released. Since the movie depicted obsession with suicide through a 20-year-old character Harold, the movie received backlash because during the 1970’s there were high rates of suicides among teenagers and college students. However, over time college students found the movie very entertaining, therefore bringing the movie into the lights and making it a cult hit. In Blue Velvet, a neo-noir mystery film directed by David Lynch and released in 1986, received a variety of critical responses from a wide range of audience, but this movie’s unique style earned Lynch his second nomination for Best Director. The idea of innocent getting caught in a web of evil is portrayed through the character Jeffrey Beaumont, who first encounter’s a severed ear in a grassy abandoned field. In this paper I will compare and contrast these two movies that include key actors Bud Cort, played as Harold, and Kyle MacLachlan, played as Jeffrey and include a few key points that have made these movies enjoyable to watch.

This film highlights the flaws of humanity in a western world. The films ability to touch on topics of classism, prostitution, and alcoholism makes the content mature and unlike typical western films. This revolutionary and innovative western created a foundation for many future films. The sophistication of the content, and lack of adherence to the production code makes this film an “adult”

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.)

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.

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

Throughout the entire movie No Country for Old Men there is a very strong theme of the juxtaposition of fate and free will. There is endless emphasis on the decisions that characters make, and how their decisions will ultimately affect their lives. All the characters are presented with situations where their choice plays a role in their fate. In No Country for Old Men, the fate of characters is determined by their actions and choices.

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

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.

Films are a form of art in which film makers are allowed to express themselves however they want. Other times film makers are asked to bring a novel to life and the film No Country for Old Men does exactly this. This film is based off the novel written by Cormac McCarthy and takes place in parts of Texas and the Mexican border during the 1980s. The film directors Joel Coen and Ethan Coen use style and skills to produce a thrilling adaptation of the novel. The film No Country for Old Men introduces suspense and tension through the carful use of editing and sound in the coin flip scene, while the films genre of fate and free will is strikingly still present.

This essay is based on films of the same story, told in different ways, with emphasis, themes, meaning and interpretation shaped or shaded by the situation of the storyteller; the cinematic mise-en-scene. Based on the same story, the films reveal and reflect the film-maker’s social norms and views, emerging from their different national contexts. While exploring the two films, this essay will examine elements of film language or semiotics: color saturation (or black and white), sound, setting, type of camera angles used; repetition of visual motifs (Metz, 1985). The two films explored were made in the 1960s. Neither film is American, yet both reveal influences and reflections on American cinema and American power; the Western film, adherence or detracting from Hollywood Classical cinema tropes, i.e. close-ups, shot-reverse-shot, POV, depth of field (Bazin, 1985: 128-9). The two films are Kurasawa’s Yojimbo (1961) and Leone’s Fistful of Dollars (1964), from Japan and Italy, respectively. How are they different; how similar? Why do they use the same plot,

The film grants audiences to gestate their understanding of the movie and the manner experiences antiquated regarding racial violence and prejudice. The ineptitude of history implies to the intellectual chattels that chronicles and culture can have on all progeny. Malcolm Little would ultimately revolutionize into his worst adversary, that entangled with the decisions he would subsequently make. Malcolm's philosophic mentality and provocation with death was indicative to his life. The remarkable depiction in the film pronounced the indubitable fortitude and essence of the audience.

[1] Before I start this essay, I feel the need to remind the reader that I find slavery in all its forms to be an oppressive and terrible institution, and I firmly believe that for centuries (including this one) bigotry is one of the most terrible stains on our civilization. The views I intend to express in the following essay are in no way meant to condone the practices of slavery or racism; they are meant only to evaluate and interpret the construction of slavery in film.

First I will present a basic breakdown of the movie including: who the characters are, their roles, and plot summary. Next, I will present the arguments in regards to the theories of Utilitarianism and virtue theory, and how the film and characters conveyed them. From here I will show the breakdown of the meta-ethical aspects of the film in regards to human nature and how evil attempts to triumph over good. I will conclude by summarizing how these characters had complete disregard for ethics and their own morals.