The Brothers Noir

Arguably no indie filmmaker has benefited or exploited the noir tradition more effectively and thoroughly than Joel and Ethan Coen. The Coen brothers are one of the most creative pairings on the contemporary scene. Unconventional and arcane, they have maintained artistic control through writing, directing, producing, and even some times editing their movies. They form a unified team, with their individual contributions so intertwined that no one can say precisely who did what (Usually Joel directs, Ethan produces and they both write.). With fourteen films to their credit, including Blood Simple (1985), Miller’s Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), and the Oscar winning No Country for Old Men (2007), the Coens have created a world that doesn’t look like anybody else’s.


The Coen’s commercial successes, Raising Arizona (1987), and Fargo (1996), are set in recognizable worlds inhabited by more or less ordinary characters. The rest take place in the stylized noir tradition (Blood Simple), remote gangster lands (Miller’s Crossing), or abstract studio sets (The Hudsucker Proxy). As formalist filmmakers, the Coens have pushed Hollywood conventions to the point of absurdity. Like those of many filmmakers, their ideas were formed by pop culture, which means that their work is self conscious. Each of their films pay homage to a classic Hollywood genre, with a knowingness born of numerous hours spent in the dark. Simply, the Coens are clever directors who know too much about movies.


The only shallowness of their work is a result of their creating sealed universes that have few references outside the world of cinema. It would appear that the Coens believe linking form and content is irrelevant, that brilliant style will somehow lure viewers into uncritical acceptance of their schemes (Which works). Their films are both unique and derivative, displaying dazzling camera techniques, meticulously conceived scenes, elaborate set pieces, brilliant production design and smart dialogue.


The Coens, not their characters or the actors who play them, are the stars of their movies. Unlike Tarantino, who puts his performers center stage, the Coens pull the audience away from the actors and showcase their talent.


From the beginning it was the Coen’s self knowingness that endeared them to high-brow critics and sophisticated audiences. Box-office failures like Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink would have ruined most filmmakers, but in the Coen’s case, they have managed to increase their stature as supreme filmmakers.


The Coen’s work, like the arty Miller’s Crossing, or the desolate styled Barton Fink, feels sealed off and motionless. But this doesn’t mean their work is devoid of serious themes or ideas: Hysterical individualism, often translating into greed, runs through most of their films, creating underlining premises often overlooked.


MILLER'S CROSSING TRAILER