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Filmmaking virtuosos Joel and Ethan Coen areamong the most accomplished in the industry . With dozens of moving-picture show under their belts , they have two musical genre of choice : drama and drollery . plastic film likeFargo , Inside Llewyn Davis , dependable Grit , Burn After Reading , Blood Simpleand many othersare now classic .
Arguably , their two most iconic motion-picture show areNo Country for Old MenandThe Big Lebowski . Both these film are the best in their genre ( dramatic event and comedy , severally ) and are embedded in pop culture . Both are great and can easily be considered the greatest celluloid by the sibling filmmakers . Here are five understanding whyNo Country for Old Menis the best Coen film and five reasonsThe Big Lebowskishould be in consideration for that title .
No Country For Old Men: It Has An Excellent Villain
The gap scenes ofNo Country for Old Menintroduced audiences to Anton Chigurh . This frigid - blooded sociopath ’s lead of terror is the drive force of the film , acting as this near - supernatural figure meant to frequent Llewelyn Moss ( Josh Brolin ) .
Chigurh is evil personified and is well one of the with child villain put on movie , thanks toJavier Bardem’sperformance ( and the worst haircut ever ) . Bardem steals every scene he is in . No other movie has made a coin flip look so menacing , not evenHarvey Dent .
The Big Lebowski: It Features A Greater Cast Of Characters
Coen regulars John Goodman , Steve Buscemi , and Peter Stormare toy with child supporting role inThe Big Lebowski , with Goodman stealing the show as Walter Sobchak , a Vietnam veteran who is passionate about bowling . Other confirm playersinclude Phillip Seymour Hoffman , Julianne Moore , Tara Reid , and even Sam Elliot .
At the nub of it all is Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey " The Dude " Lebowski . Arguably Bridges ’s greatest performance , The Dude is a slacker and avid bowler who is caught up in the sorry conspiracy ever .
No Country For Old Men: It Is The Perfect Film Adaptation
Very few films complement the novel they are establish on . Cormac McCarthy ’s novel of the same name was originally spell as a screenplay , marking it as a more unique and stylistically unlike affair than his other novels .
The motion picture trace the novel closely to great consequence , as it truly enamour McCarthy ’s vision while countenance the Coens a chance to flex their excellent directorial skills .
The Big Lebowski: It Utilizes Its Influences In The Best Ways
WhileThe Big Lebowskiis not explicitly based on any one source , it does take a mess from hard - boiled noir novel , specifically those by author Raymond Chandler . The Big Lebowskiplays out like a mystery , against the background of Los Angeles in 1991 . Conspiracies unravel at several key moments , with plentitude of wrench and turns take plaza .
While the structure of the film is inspired by these novel , Lebowski shakes things up by providing humour . The entire thing is basically a big joke , mask a serious police detective story .
No Country For Old Men: It Sports A Unique, Bleak Style
There is no smidgin of happiness inNo Country For Old Men . Everything in the film feels terrible , which is obviously the point . This spans from the gruesome tale at the commencement , detailing the execution of a nestling slayer , to Chigurh ’s purpose of a wrapped bolt pistol as his main weapon .
The look and audio of the film are also unequaled , though is understandably shape by the the likes of of film director Sam Peckinpah . The use of auditory sensation is also effective , as the Coens forego the consumption of a consistent score , opting for conniption with no euphony . Eerie stuff .
The Big Lebowski: It Sports A Unique, Humorous Style
As cite earlier , The Big Lebowskitakes a lot from noir novelsby Chandler , just with jape scatter in . A lot of the feel of the film also takes from the epoch . The titles cards are very of the era , the bowling alleys look like they could only exist in the 1950s , and the narration is ripped straight out of honest-to-goodness series .
Oh , and the soundtrack is faultless . Bob Dylan , the Gipsy Kings , Elvis Costello , and others play in the movie , really wed the way together .
No Country For Old Men: It Set The Standard In A Sub-Genre
The neo - westerly corporate trust ingredient of western films with modernistic offense motion picture . or else of chasing down outlaw on horses like inPat Garret and Billy the Kid , there are automobile chase like inHell or High Water . No Country for Old Mendid not invent theneo - western . Instead , it set a new standard for how to make them .
Everything from the Texas setting to the way Tommy Lee Jones acts as Ed Tom Bell feel like it was ripped out of a technicolor westerly of the 50 . It ’s not only the greatest neo - western ever , but it could also easily be among the very honest westerns of all time .
The Big Lebowski: Insanely Quotable
“ Yeah , well , you know , that ’s just , like , your ruling , man . ”The Big Lebowskijoins the ranks of comedy likeAirplaneas being some of the most repeatable films out there . The staying power of the film has been its citation , with almost every reference rescue a great line . These lines have remain a fundamental part of the pop civilization mental lexicon .
The film overall is also just incredibly shady , with scenes still being reference to this day ( including the use of The Dude in commercial message ) .
No Country For Old Men: It’s The Culmination Of Every Coen Brothers’ Film
By 2007 , the filmmaking sib had some serious classics under their smash . This cinema feels like a combination of each of those , from the lurch - black humor ofFargoto the gorgeous landscape painting ofRaising Arizona .
No Country For Old Menare the conductor at the top of their powers delivering a film that could sum up up their careers perfectly . It ’s the perfect Coen motion-picture show , fully representing their natural endowment in a way no other film before did . It finally earned them both Best Director and Best Picture at the Academy Awards , a unfeignedly deserved accolade for one of the great films ever made .
The Big Lebowski: It Set The Blueprint For Modern Coen Comedies
A comedy by the Coens is a very particular affair , as they do n’t feel like other kinds of comedy . There is a sort of delicate balance between the idiotic , the probable and the bleakness and their clowning get laid how to do it . The Big Lebowskidelivered that in a way wholly unique to this film , as it set out to tell a story with no result .
The movie just ends . The plot threads are not explored further , questions stay unrequited , part go with no ceremony . Is this a bad affair ? No , because it adds layer to the humor of the celluloid . This would later invigorate the likesBurn After ReadingandHail Caser ! .
NEXT : The Coen Brothers ' 10 Most Memorable Characters , Ranked
