No Country For Old Men

It's a personal goal of mine to watch as many of the Oscar-nominated movies as I can, particularly those in the major categories. I'll share my thoughts on them as I go. I've already watched "Juno," so I'll add an entry about that later. I'll start with the movie I just watched this past weekend:

"No Country For Old Men"

Quite a stunning movie in many ways. I had no idea this was a Coen brothers movie at first, but it didn't take long to figure it out. The accents, the local quirks, the dark humor, and the landscapes. All very trademark, and I kept reverting to comparisons to "Fargo" while watching this.

The cinematography is simply spectacular on this one. Even given the turbulent nature of the movie (essentially, a drug deal gone horribly wrong and the resulting money chase), the wide expanses of land as depicted in the movie brought about an odd calm and even peace to the proceedings.

That is, in between scenes filled with abject violence.

The blood interspersed with the portrayals of the geography and oddly funny moments made for quite a contrast throughout the movie. After all, how often do you squirm at the sight of a bone sticking out of someone's arm and then laugh uncomfortably at the discussion that ensues in that particular scene?

And then there's the silence. Lots of it. Silence is definitely a useful tool to build up tension, and there is a fair amount of it here. Silence because there's nobody around to talk to, silence because survival depends on it, and silence to allow the viewer to soak in what's unfolding. It's all there, and well-filmed, if you ask me.

Another Coen/"Fargo" tidbit here. If you happened to think Peter Stormare was a homicidal nutjob in "Fargo," he was a pussycat compared to Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh in "No Country."

Cold-blooded, ruthless efficiency, unfeeling, seemingly impervious to pain......and those are just the best things I can find to say about him. There are some downright chilling moments of manic yet calm intensity that you'll see in him (a particular gas station exchange comes to mind), and the only question I have about Bardem's Oscar nomination is the category for which he was nominated. In many ways, I felt that this was as much about him as it was about the other protagonists.

The Angel of Death would cower at the sight of Chigurh. Yes, he's that dark. See if you'll ever look at a coin flip or dusting off the bottom of your shoes the same way again after watching this.

So what exactly is it about this movie? The initial synopsis is pretty clear: drug deal gone bad, money recovered, person discovering money goes on the run, hitman sent to recover money, cop on his tail, etc. Yet, it's not about the money. It's not about the chase.

It's about the characters. A Vietnam veteran living in poverty showing greed that you end up sympathetic towards; his wife and her naiveté; Chigurh and his ruthlessness upheld by twisted integrity; and the Sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones in a restrained yet powerful performance) in the twilight of his career still struggling to comprehend the incomprehensibility of violence.

This isn't one to "enjoy." Very few movies about human nature are. This is one to soak up. And so I don't say "Enjoy it. I did." Instead, I say "Soak it up. It's worth it."