No Country for Old Men

Introduction

The Coen Brothers burst onto the scene with Blood Simple, a crime thriller set in Texas. For their most recent project, they return to where it all began 24 years earlier with another Texas-based crime thriller. For the third time in their careers, the film is not their original material, but an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's pulp novel No Country for Old Men - The Ladykillers was a remake and O Brother, Where Art Thou? was an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey.

It's 1980 and Vietnam veteran Llewellyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is out hunting when he comes across the carnage of a drug deal that has gone badly wrong. Everyone is dead apart from one man asking for 'agua'. Moss ignores him, turning his attention to a figure in the distance, sitting against a tree. Deducing the man is dead, Moss approaches him and finds he has a case full of cash which Moss takes home and stashes under his trailer. Unable to sleep, he fills a container with water, tells his wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) "I'm fixin' to do something dumber than hell". He returns to the 'agua' man, who has been murdered, and two jeeps appear chasing him across the scrubland. Thus begins a pursuit for the $2 million by psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), Mexican gangsters and laconic Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones).

This film was the big winner at the 2008 Academy Awards, picking up Oscars for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem.

Video

Absolutely stunning, with glorious cinematography by Roger Deakins and sets and costumes that really place you in 1980. The transfer to DVD is superb, as good as DVD gets.

Audio

Equally impressive, with good use of the surrounds when required and one of the most subtle scores I've ever not heard - I didn't realise there was any non-diegetic sound until Carter Burwell's name appeared in the credits. Some of the dialogue is a little hard to make out, but that's exactly how they talk down there!

Extra Features

Some DVDs really push the boat out in terms of extras, with a second disc of supplementary material, whereas others merely have a trailer, if anything. This is about in the middle offering:

Working With the Coens is a brief 8 minute featurette consisting of cast and crew interviews, exploring what it's like to work with Joel and Ethan Coen.

The Making of 'No Country For Old Men' is a fascinating 'behind the scenes' taking you from inception to production.

In Diary of a Country Sheriff, Tommy Lee Jones and others discuss the role of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and his part in the story.

Conclusion

As a big fan of the Coens' work, I have been unenthused by their recent mediocre output such as Intolerable Cruelty and the dreadful remake of The Ladykillers, but this has well and truly restored my faith in them as filmmakers. I loved No Country for Old Men at the cinema and the experience on DVD is no less rewarding - it's a great film. Tommy Lee Jones continues the form he showed in the brilliant The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, the Glaswegian Kelly Macdonald was perhaps an unusual choice to play a Texan housewife, but is excellent and Javier Bardem is just incredible, giving us an instant all-time great movie villain.

Bardem's portrayal of Anton Chigurh is so spine-tingling because of his bizarre hairstyle and chilling delivery - there is humour in his dialogue and you almost feel guilty for laughing as he torments a gas station owner, asking him "What time do you close?" to which he responds "Now" but then Chigurh corrects him, saying that "Now is not a time". When he asks the man what time he goes to bed, you don't know if it's a flippant question or a threat. Chigurh's choice of weapon - a gas-powered bolt gun - just adds to his eccentricity and menace but, when he uses a silent shotgun, his trail of devastation is all the more bloody and harks back to Blood Simple.



No Country for Old Men is a subtle blend of the Western with a chase movie with a dash of film noir thrown in: it takes place in the barren territory of Texas/Mexican border; Moss is being pursued by Chigurh who is followed by Sheriff Bell, a man who wonders what sort of criminal exists today. Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of the laconic and world-weary lawman is pitch-perfect with his lined face and gravelly voice adding to the character. There are a couple of superb chase sequences - the first when Moss is hunted by the gangsters and their dog and a second when he is trying to escape Chigurh who is shooting at him as he drives down the street. The editing by Joel and Ethan Coen, under their usual pseudonym of 'Roderick Jaynes', is breathtaking. The film is also laced with the black humour that has typified the Coens' best work:
"If I don't come back, tell my mother I love her"
"But your mother's dead Llewellyn"
"Well then I'll tell her myself"

"It's a mess, ain't it Sheriff?"
"If it's not, it'll do till the mess gets here."

"Just how dangerous is he?"
"Compared to what - the bubonic plague?"

The ending of the film has divided opinion but is faithful to the novel and I think it fits the narrative arc perfectly. I pre-ordered this as soon as it was available and it is a tremendous film, not let down by the DVD which is heartily recommended, though those with the equipment may choose to buy the HD DVD or Blu-ray disc.