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Okay, so apparantly I am dumb as a post. I will admit that. I admit it freely. Why, you ask? Because I totally did not get this move. Nope. Not at all.
I understand that part of the movie is a meditation on the escalation of violence, but I don't get the point after that. Llewelyn's (Josh Brolin) death at the end left me completely boggled. I mean all of that running and hiding and shooting and everything else, across the Mexican border and back again, and he gets murdered randomly in a hotel room? Not even killed by Chigurh who's been stalking him for the entire film.
A few points:
- Javier Bardem was down right chilling. Loved him!!
- Loved Kelly McDonald as Carla Jean. Loved her and Llewelyn together. Her refusal to call the coin when Chigurh comes to kill her is awesome. I loved that she refused to be complicit in her murder, that she leaves it up to him (although it would have been interesting if she had resisted her own murder, we're not really expecting that she will. Carla Jean is the type of woman who does what she's told). She makes it clear to him that he doesn't have to kill her, that it's his choice and his decision. The look of annoyance and outrage on his face, "they all say the same thing", was priceless. I also like that it's kinda left open as to whether or not he does kill her. Personally, I think he totally shot her in the head because he's just that kind of guy.
- Although I understand Woody Harrelson's presence in the film, I don't *get* Woody Harrelson's presence in the film. Carson Wells doesn't really contribute all that much to the film besides increasing the body count.
- I liked the space and the quiet in the opening and how the film narrows down into the cities as the action increases. It was a lovely visualization of the film's increasing tension.
All in all, I liked components of the film, but not the film as a whole. I definitely don't get how it won Best Picture. I will admit that it is possible that I am not sophisticated enough for this film. Maybe I'm just too low brow because I'll tell you what I did enjoy, and will be writing up soon: A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Woot -- Now, those were some crazy ass films.
I understand that part of the movie is a meditation on the escalation of violence, but I don't get the point after that. Llewelyn's (Josh Brolin) death at the end left me completely boggled. I mean all of that running and hiding and shooting and everything else, across the Mexican border and back again, and he gets murdered randomly in a hotel room? Not even killed by Chigurh who's been stalking him for the entire film.
A few points:
- Javier Bardem was down right chilling. Loved him!!
- Loved Kelly McDonald as Carla Jean. Loved her and Llewelyn together. Her refusal to call the coin when Chigurh comes to kill her is awesome. I loved that she refused to be complicit in her murder, that she leaves it up to him (although it would have been interesting if she had resisted her own murder, we're not really expecting that she will. Carla Jean is the type of woman who does what she's told). She makes it clear to him that he doesn't have to kill her, that it's his choice and his decision. The look of annoyance and outrage on his face, "they all say the same thing", was priceless. I also like that it's kinda left open as to whether or not he does kill her. Personally, I think he totally shot her in the head because he's just that kind of guy.
- Although I understand Woody Harrelson's presence in the film, I don't *get* Woody Harrelson's presence in the film. Carson Wells doesn't really contribute all that much to the film besides increasing the body count.
- I liked the space and the quiet in the opening and how the film narrows down into the cities as the action increases. It was a lovely visualization of the film's increasing tension.
All in all, I liked components of the film, but not the film as a whole. I definitely don't get how it won Best Picture. I will admit that it is possible that I am not sophisticated enough for this film. Maybe I'm just too low brow because I'll tell you what I did enjoy, and will be writing up soon: A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Woot -- Now, those were some crazy ass films.
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no subject
Date: 2008-03-27 08:14 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-03-27 11:51 pm (UTC)From:It is a mediation on the escalation of violenc, but it's more than that. How violence is just a force for it's own sake, yet claims that it has no choice (Chigurh's refrain throughout.) How his violence taints everything it touches - note that when Llewelyn gives those kids money for a shirt they calming leave, there is no complaining that one got while another didn't. But when Chigurah gives those boys money at the end, they immediately start bickering. Everything he touches is poisonous.
I think Carla Jean was murdered. Note how Anton checks the soles of his boots for blood after he leaves.
Of course, the movie is really about Tommy Lee Jones - the "old man" of the title. I haven't decided whether his dream means that he decides to go after Anton and try to stem the tide of violence as best he can or whether he continues to hide and stay defeated.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 12:13 am (UTC)From:And don't let me put you off of No Country for Old Men. This isn't an anti-rec at all. That would be the non-rec for Good Luck Chuck, but it's just that I didn't really understand all of what was happening. In my defense I was also keeping my eye on a very bored three year old. She mostly content to scribble on paper with colored pencils because I have no crayons, but there were a few times where I had to remind her not to draw on the couch. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 12:31 am (UTC)From:I also like that idea that he taints everything that he touches. So, even his getaway can't be clean because, if we believe in karma, or even destiny as he does, there is a build up -- a karmic stain, if you will, that he carries at all times. That stain affects the things he does even if they are unconnected to the brutality and violence.
I think Carla Jean was murdered. Note how Anton checks the soles of his boots for blood after he leaves.
I forgot about the boots. Poor Carla Jean, I really liked her. And now that I think about it, perhaps that, too, impacts the trajectory that Chigurh's life will take. If we're talking violence for the sake of itself and without reason -- just the force of reactionary events that lead to the moment where violence explodes -- Chigurh's murder of Carla Jean (something that she refuses to participate in, unlike his other victims) then necessitates his own run-in with a random violent act. So, we get the car accident. Somehow, she disrupts the pattern of perverted and imagined choice, leaving him open to the violence that has been circling him throughout the movie because now, HE MUST choose. Perhaps as he calls it for her, he calls it for himself. The magic of that coin that isn't just a coin, but is. Stupid games and stupid violence and your reading just totally opened the film up for me, so YAY!! :)
As for Tommy Lee Jones, I thought that dream meant that he would sit and wait until he died. He will stay defeated and hidden because there is no place for him in the world as it has become, a place so alien from the old days. He is like his father and we know that in his dreams his father is waiting for him in the dark, cold desert. He's built a fire and I imagine that fire as a beacon for Tommy Lee Jones. So, he'll wait and die and he'll join his father in the desert, seeking warmth in an environment that they can no longer see (read understand). That first dream ties closely to that. His father gives him money and he loses it. Kinda like, his father has passed on the torch of law enforcement and he has lost it. Failed to live up to the legacy established by his father's.
Awesome. You just made that movie a hell of a lot more interesting. See, I knew I wasn't sophisticated enough ... :P
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 01:17 am (UTC)From:Oh, and yes! about the car accident. It is the first time he "makes" the choice as it were, so bad karma finally attaches itself to him.
I found the movie brilliantly acted and incredibly unsettling. It followed me around for days.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 01:39 am (UTC)From:There was never any chance I would be seeing Good Luck Chuck ... ::shudders::
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 02:02 am (UTC)From:Why am I not surprised ...
Your kids blow me away because sharp and bright, man. I can't even keep up with a 14 year old, dude, seriously.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 03:42 am (UTC)From:It's about the pointlessness of it. Carson Wells talks up the situation, tries to impress Llewellyn and reinforce how important it is to be a big bad gunman, but he's not even a threat to Anton. You can't fight the Chiurgh's of the world by playing their games. He still kills Carla Jean, but she's the only person that defeats him.
no subject
Date: 2008-03-28 03:51 am (UTC)From:I love that!! and I totally agree.