Analysis+-+No+Country+for+Old+Man

//No Country For Old Man Analysis//- Coen Brothers Jocelyn Hung.

List 10 ways that your director's style shows in the choices that they made in this film.

1. Narration: In almost all of Coen Brother's film there are narration. For example, in //The Big Lebowski// there was a cowboy narrator, in //Raising Arizona// Hi did the narration and in //No Country For Old Man//, the Coen Brothers chose to open the movie up with shots of the "Midwest" with an over-voice narration by the Sherif. This is very typical of the Coen Brothers because they are known for their carefully designed dialogues and narration. This voiceover creates tension and creates a ominous atmosphere because the voice of the narration is very monotoned.

2. Accents: The Coen Brothers are also known for their character's accents. They spend an incredible amount of details in the character's accents. In //No Country for Old Man,// the characters had very distinctive and typical accents of the Midwest. Both Llewelyn and his wife have a very strong Texas accent, but they have two very different effects. Llewelyn's wife's accent is more of a sweet southern accent, while Llewelyn himself have a rough cowboy accent. This shows their character's personality —his wife is sweet and Llewelyn is tough and coarse.

3. Music: Throughout the entire movie, there was barely any background music. This was choice made by the Coen brothers to create more tension. The awkward, uncomfortable, and almost forced silence creates a disturbing effect. The silence, though most of the time unrealistic, successfully puts pressure on the audiences and helps build up to the climax.

4. Choreography/editing (timing): Timing and "the chase" is a key element in all action/thriller movies. One scene stood out in //No Country for Old Men//: it was the scene where the dog chases Llewelyn into the river. The Coen Brothers are expert on cutting the clip on the right time. This chase ended when Llewelyn shot the dog right when it jumped on him. The moment was timed perfectly so the dog jumps towards him but does not bite his face. This scene is iconic of the editing of a Coen Brothers film.

5. Choreography (sequence): The Coen Brothers are also known for their carefully choreographed sequences. Tension, in the scene in which Anton Chigurh arrives at the motel where Llewelyn is hiding, is built successfully though the sequencing and editing of the scene. The entire time, the audiences anticipate that Anton will find Llewelyn because the scene cuts between Anton bursting into the other room and Llewelyn trying to remove the money through the other end. And the long and dragged on footages of Llewelyn just sitting and waiting for Anton to arrive creates uncomfortableness —as if Anton would just shot him any time.

6. Cinematography: In almost all of the Coen Brother's movie, there are scenes where the characters are just "on the road" in the wilderness or open roads. It can almost be considered as a signature. In many other Coen Brother films there are shots of rolling country roads. It is typical to see a shot of characters "on the road," and they are framed almost the exact same way No Country For Old Men ^ Fargo ^ No Country For Old Men ^ Raising Arizona ^ Fargo ^ Raising Arizona ^

7. Cinematography (framing): What sets Coen Brothers apart from many other directors is that they use incredible cinematography to tell stories. Conventional thriller movies would use choppy clips and jump cuts to create a flashy feeling, where the villain "jumps" out at the victim. Instead the Coen Brother choose to have Anton visible in the background as he approaches the cop. This created anticipation and distress for the audiences. It was much more intense because the audiences are informed that Anton is approaching, but still surprises the audience when he suddenly uses his hand cuffs to choke the cop.

8. Lighting: Every single scene is carefully lit. Many scenes in //No Country For Old Men//take place in dark places and the Coen Brothers used a lot of silhouettes in them. This gives the audiences an idea of what is going but does not allow them to see what is happening on screen clearly. The Coen Brother's detailed planning included lightings that help enhance the mood and show character's personality. The character Llewelyn is often only half li to show that he is a conflicted character with half the face of a devil.

9. Plot device (Coin Toss): The Coin Toss is a gimmick employed by the Coen Brothers; it is a well-known method used by many villains —in Batman the two-faced villain also uses coin toss.

10. Plot Device (Theme): In //No Country for Old Men,// violence and murder is depicted as an acceptable and almost normal thing that happens in the character's lives. Most character's reactions, especially that of Llewelyn's, are not overwhelming when they see dead bodies. Except Llewelyn's wife, who is sweet but strong, her reactions were dramatic compared to other characters in the film. When Llewelyn gets in a stranger's truck and Anton shot the driver, Llewelyn did not act surprised at all. He quickly reachers over the dead body to grab the stirring wheels and disregarding the blood-dripping corpse right under him.