nmurtagh88
Posts: 4
Joined: 2/9/2008
|
I have seen No Country For Old Men twice now and I think it's a modern masterpiece and the Coens' best work yet. However, I'm reading these reviews that are trying to say that there is no real point to the film, or that it's meangingless, or that it lacks substance, and I couldn't disagree more.
My take on the essence of the story is that it shows the triumph of the mad and insane over the ordinary folk, and then roots deeper to show how the ordinary folk can't understand the whole thing, and then roots deeper again to show how the ordinary folk try to cope with their incapacity, to understand the whole thing... (breath). Therefore, really 'in essence' I think it's about how we ordinary folk deal with the things in life we just can't understand. That's why I think this movie has loads of substance, and of course loads of meaning.
I think the profound undertone of this story lies in Tommy Lee Jones' character, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. He is an ordinary folk, who meets something that upsets and frightens him and of course, it's something he can't understand. No-one can understand this man of chaos, really, however Bell is compelled to review this defeat. As a Sheriff who was looking forward to retiring a proud man, he is haunted by the whole episode and feels incompetent, insingificant, isolate and even in his worst moments you can imagine him feeling slightly responsible and ashamed. He is old fashioned and comes across as a person who has always done things his way. He encounters a sign of changing times and he can't comprehend the complete lack of respect shown, futhermore it petrifies him. Then, in the final scene, the way in which Bell copes with it all is revealed, well at least I think so.
Some believe that the movie was entertaining, and then it just ended, leaving you bewildered. I must admit, when I first watched it I felt slightly bewildered too, but after watching it again I think it is brilliant. [Spoiler Alert!]. Sheriff Bell describes his recurrent dreams to his wife, 'the one's with his father in them'. He describes how they both are on horse back in a mountain, and it's cold and snowy, but his father rides on without saying a word. I think this dream epitimises Bell's current feelings of loneliness. He feels like someone has left him behind, and I think this person maybe God. I base this on Bell's dialogue when he talks about God overlooking tragedies, (something on those lines, halfway in the movie). Furthermore, I think this dream represents Bell's whole episode. He belivevs that his father left him to go and build a fire, so that when he got there, his father would be waiting to warm him. Similarily, although he is alone in a dark place now, Bell believes that God is waiting to comfort him. And that's how he copes.
Even though I felt alot rests on the final scene, I think that the definitive moment in the movie was when Bell visited the crime scene where Llewelyn Moss was killed. Bell was frightened and had to edge himself nervously in. He very loosely searched around, then sat on the bed in relief. However, my interpretation is that he knew in the back of his mind that Chirgurh was there. He wanted to visit the crime scene to persuade himself that he was being dutiful and doing all he could, and he convinced himself just enough to cope. However, in the back of his mind, he had decided to retire instead of pursuing his fear, a defeat that will stay with him, but again one he will cope with.
In conclusion, this film has endless interpretations, and that's why it's a great film. I believe that it explores very deep and personal feelings and that is why it is a movie of substance, and of course meaning.
Of course, I must mention that I liked everything else about the movie, hence *****.
< Message edited by nmurtagh88 -- 3/9/2008 12:23:07 PM >
|
Printable Version
RE: No Country For Old Men - 
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread