The Cinema of the Coen Brothers: Hard-Boiled EntertainmentsThe films of the Coen brothers have become a contemporary cultural phenomenon. Highly acclaimed and commercially successful, over the years their movies have attracted increasingly larger audiences and spawned a subculture of dedicated fans. Shunning fame and celebrity, Ethan and Joel Coen remain maverick filmmakers, producing and directing independent films outside the Hollywood mainstream in a unique style combining classic genres like film noir with black comedy to tell off-beat stories about America and the American Dream. This study surveys Oscar-winning films, such as Fargo (1996) and No Country for Old Men (2007), as well as cult favorites, including O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and The Big Lebowski (1998). Beginning with Blood Simple (1984), it examines major themes and generic constructs and offers diverse approaches to the Coens' enigmatic films. Pointing to the pulp fiction of Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, and Raymond Chandler, the study appreciates the postmodern aesthetics of the Coens' intertextual creativity. |
Contents
Its the Same Old Song | |
A State of Mind | |
A Handsome Movie about Men in Hats | |
For the Common Man | |
A Comedy of Reinvention | |
In the Land of Tall Tales | |
The Hayseed Epic | |
Recreating Classic Film Noir | |
Darkness in the New West | |
Parable and Paradox | |
The Ends of the Auteur Drawing Conclusions About Coen Brothers Movies | |
Filmography | |
Bibliography | |
Other editions - View all
The Cinema of the Coen Brothers: Hard-boiled Entertainments Jeffrey Todd Adams No preview available - 2015 |
The Cinema of the Coen Brothers: Hard-boiled Entertainments Jeffrey Todd Adams No preview available - 2015 |
Common terms and phrases
Abby absurd adaptation aesthetic Allen American artistic asks Barton Fink Bernie Big Dave Big Lebowski Blood Simple Cain Cain's Camus carnivalesque Carter Burwell Caspar Chandler characters Chigurh cinema classic film noir Coen and Ethan Coen brothers Coen Screenplay comedy comic contemporary Cora Country for Old crime critics cultural dark death dialogue dream Dude Dude's Ed Crane Ed's Ethan Coen Everett Exline Fargo fatal film noir film's filmmakers Gaear gangster genre Glass Key Hammett Hi's Hollywood Hudsucker Proxy human humour identity intertextual Jerry Joel Coen joke Larry Lipnick literary Marty masculine McCarthy’s meaning Miller's Crossing moral Moss movie's murder narrative Norville novel Odets parody pastiche plot Postman Always Rings postmodern protagonist Raising Arizona reality Review Rings Twice Roderick Jaynes Roger Deakins satire says scene screwball sense Serious Sheriff social stereotypes story studio Sturges style tells texts themes Ulysses Verna viewer Visser visual West writing York