Review of Blood Simple by the Coen Brothers

I was recently watching Inside Llewyn Davis by the Coen Brothers and I was so impressed that I thought I'd check out their other films. To my delightful enlightenment it turns out they have a long history of producing high quality film products. Their reputation stretches all the way back to 1984 with the release of Blood Simple which is the subject of this review. As a side note, or main note, I've just picked up Peter Biskind's book about the Indie scene of the 1990s The first chapter talks about the Coen Brothers and Jim Jarmusch among others who made indie films during the 1980s. Anyway I'm reading more about it. Look at my other blog about Biskind's other book about the "New" Hollywood of the 1970s. Great read. Highly recommended.

Anyway, on to the film. It was great So many memorable shots. I salute the director and cinematographer. The best, perhaps, scene was where M. Emmet Walsh sticks his hand around the windowsill and Frances McDormand, not to be confused with Andie MacDowal, why did I get these two confused?, stabs his hand with a knife pinning it to the wooden windowsill. And it stays there for several minutes. I was anxious to know what would happen next, I couldn't formulate a guess. Many times throughout this film I couldn't guess what would happen next. Would he kill the cheating couple? What would happen with the private eye? It was good screenwriting all the way. Plenty of twists and turns. No predictable outcomes. It kept me rapt with attention. And the part where M. Emmet Walsh shoots through the wall is great, creative, cinematography. It shows his struggle with Frances without showing either of them at all in the scene. More is said by having little bullet holes with light shining through them, then by anything such as crosscutting or some such thing.

As someone from New York, upstate, but having lived in the City and New Jersey, this film was a departure from films that overtly portray life in Manhattan or LA. It was centered in Texas and had a decidedly southwestern tone. I couldn't get over the cowboy boots while he was dragging the body from place to place. Furthermore I was reminded of Edgar Allen Poe's Cask of Amontillado when the husband was being buried alive. That scene was also memorable. The pistol that wouldn't shoot. The burial that proceeded. Great cinema. Ideally shot, staged, and acted. Couldn't have been better.

I'm interested to see Barton Fink which won the top prize at Cannes in 1991 over one of my favorite films, Europa, and film directors Lars Von Trier. After I do get a hold of it, it better satisfy or else I wll write a scathing blog about it. I'm sure it will not dissappoint, but who knows? Perhaps I will screen both films, back to back, and write a blog comparing both and assert a claim as to which is better. Should be fun, I hope you will read it.