film: No Country For Old Men (Coen Brothers) (Trailer incl)

[dshock]

hahahahahhahha,
Yes!

 

[alasdairm]

i watched this again last night (quite sober) and though it was pretty commonplace. by no means exceptional work by the coen brothers (who i normally enjoy hugely).

alasdair

 

[AmorRoark]

I thought this was an awesome movie. But fuck the ending. Bullshit. and fuck tommy lee jones for being in the ending.

Maybe someon could explain it to me, cause i didn't understand how the end related to the story at all...

NSFW:

I was under the impression the dream sequence and dialouge at the end were suppose to symbolize the idea that change and subsequently, death can't be stopped. This ties into the rest of the film as Bardem's character represents death itself. I'm hazey about the whole "unavoidableness" or lack thereof because unlike fate or God Bardem is suppose to be a real person. But the inevitability of all humans dying is the link, I think.

Going off this, Tommy Lee's character is realizing his place in the world and how soon it's fading. How men like himself and his father are going extinct in the ever-changing world. His father "going ahead" was reflective of his passing.

And the line:
"and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. Out there up ahead."
Meant that he would, like his deceased father, live and die with the same ideals and experience of the West. I believe it's suppose to be dark and cold because Bill hasn't connected to God, and thus death seems like blackness. Regardless, death is obsolete.

I found this particularly interesting actually. The ideals and understanding of their way of life in the West is quickly disappearing... and I think the West has been (at least for a while in America) at a relative stand-still compared to the rest of the country. So I guess what I'm trying to say is the dying out of the romanticized Western viewpoint is a tribute to the general reality many end up facing (to some degree). A sense of loss of the world you grew to understand. I see this in my grandparents. And somewhat in my parents. I'm sure I'll live through it as well.

 

[pennywise]

NSFW:

I was under the impression the dream sequence and dialouge at the end were suppose to symbolize the idea that change and subsequently, death can't be stopped. This ties into the rest of the film as Bardem's character represents death itself. I'm hazey about the whole "unavoidableness" or lack thereof because unlike fate or God Bardem is suppose to be a real person. But the inevitability of all humans dying is the link, I think.

Going off this, Tommy Lee's character is realizing his place in the world and how soon it's fading. How men like himself and his father are going extinct in the ever-changing world. His father "going ahead" was reflective of his passing.

And the line:
"and I knew that whenever I got there he would be there. Out there up ahead."
Meant that he would, like his deceased father, live and die with the same ideals and experience of the West. I believe it's suppose to be dark and cold because Bill hasn't connected to God, and thus death seems like blackness. Regardless, death is obsolete.

I found this particularly interesting actually. The ideals and understanding of their way of life in the West is quickly disappearing... and I think the West has been (at least for a while in America) at a relative stand-still compared to the rest of the country. So I guess what I'm trying to say is the dying out of the romanticized Western viewpoint is a tribute to the general reality many end up facing (to some degree). A sense of loss of the world you grew to understand. I see this in my grandparents. And somewhat in my parents. I'm sure I'll live through it as well.

Wow AR, that was incredibly insightful. An excellent analysis of the thematic elements of the film. I always like hearing people's interpretations like this, because it is interesting to how they compare to my own.

NSFW:

My own interpretation was very similar to yours, especially in terms of Barden's character representing death, and the film being symbolic of the inevitability of death.

The only area where my interpretation differed was in that while I thought the message was about the inevitability of death, I also felt there was the message that in the face of the darkness of death, all we can do is try to hold onto whatever light and goodness we can find, and that there are some people who, despite how fruitless it might seem, do whatever they can to fight against the darkness. That came much from Tommy Lee Jones's character, and how he fights against the despair he feels from following this killer around and seeing the havoc he wreaks, as well as the scene where Bardem's character flees from Jones's in the motel room, rather than kill him too, as well as Jones's mention of tending to fire and light in his ending monologue.

I also think you did an excellent job of articulating the statement about the sense of loss of the essential character of the romanticized Old West. There really is a sense of defeat about Jones's character at the end, and it is ambiguous as to whether in the end evil really won out, but I think this very ambiguity is reason to believe that somewhere someone will still fight to preserve the battle against evil and death.

Well put.

 

[AmorRoark]

Aww thanks!

NSFW:

Indeed, I like the spin you put on it as well, especially the fighting the darkness issue. I love that they purposefully put an ambeguity on the 'who wins?' issue. I guess it's up for us to decide and, perhaps, as you've suggested, fight for the good.

Good interpretations (like the one given by you and a number of others in this thread) really help flesh out some of the ideas floating around in my own mind. These discussions are one of the reasons I loved this film so much. Only good films really develop through discussion and meditaiton long after I originally watched them.

 

[jam uh weezy]

Woa that really was very insightful. That was kind of both of you to write that up.... It makes more sense now that I view it with that perspective lens...I'm gonna watch it again and see if i can formulate my own theories and whatnot.

The only thing I really understood myself was a feeling of bleakness the character was communicating....

thanks again.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

After hearing your viewpoints AR, I definately will be seeing this again.

 

[L2R]

i watched this again last night (quite sober) and though it was pretty commonplace. by no means exceptional work by the coen brothers (who i normally enjoy hugely).

alasdair

you weren't stunned again by the photgraphy/cinematography? during my one screening the film was stunningly beautiful.