There’s already a lot written about Coen Brothers’ No Country for old men and I do not wish to descend into a redundant interpretation. Instead I shall say that unlike Pan’s Labyrinth, in this case, the film matched (in fact, exceeded) whatever expectation I subconsciously had. The broadening arc cast over every individual’s (mis)guided interpretation of life, the hazy envelope that covers acts of will and faith and the underlying nature of causality are just some of the film’s powerful revelations, delivered through a mass of bloody chaos and paranoia. Just brilliant.
Atonement was another film I watched over the past couple of weeks. The film has a lot of potential, but I just wish Joe Wright had decided to keep the film’s cinematography clean and simple, rather than imbuing it with pointless stylistic touches of supposed splendor.
Before the Devil knows you’re Dead was a disappointment for me. The film’s first half is a frustrating and condescending manipulation of the audience, frequently reversing the sequences it makes us assume, while Lumet strikes me as being impatient in the latter half. I really have to watch some of his earlier films.
Meanwhile, I’m waiting (almost breathlessly) for this winter term’s showings of Nights of Cabiria, 4 months…., There will be Blood and The Savages. Speaking of Mr.Anderson, there’s a funny article where he comments about No Country for Old Men: ““You really think that movie was better than ours! C’mon, do you really believe that?”.
Able Arrt 