Born November 29, 1954 in Minneapolis, today is Joel Coen's birthday. Happy number 48!
Working with his brother Ethan, Joel Coen may be the greatest writer and director of films working today. Their credits include the classics Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Man Who Wasn't There. This already represents an outstanding career's worth of achievement, besides the fact that the Coens are still young and in their creative prime.
Towering above all this, however, they created O Brother, Where Art Thou? A couple of years out, this film astounds me even more than the first time seeing it. People will be writing books about this movie in years to come. It is a career peak achievement for everyone involved. The plot and dialogue and characters, the cinematography and technical aspects, the music- everything about this movie bears the mark of perfectly executed genius. They were working on a Citizen Kane level here.
Moreover, if you wanted just one, this would be THE movie to represent the United States to the world. Here is what we're about. Here is the richness of our heritage, our music and spirituality and wit. It shows the goodness and determined forward thinking optimism that gives us our strength- without ignoring the hard parts. They captured a good part of the vibrancy and boldness of America, and the nuances and contradictions- for example the good-hearted political hack versus the corrupt reform candidate. Indeed this may well be the one most perfect cultural artifact of any kind to present to someone in a foreign land wanting to understand America.
Good work, o brothers.
.jpg?t=20120527181101)
Article comments
1 - Rodney Welch
"Working with his brother Ethan, Joel Coen may be the greatest writer and director of films working today."
Yeah, and monkeys may fly out of my butt. The Coens are a pair of clowns who occasionally make an interesting movie. O Brother is a wonderful movie, no question, but I think you kill the fun when you try to take the Coen Brothers -- a pair of clowns who occasionally make interesting movies -- and transform them into America's cultural ambassadors.
Besides, is the movie about America (an America that's been gone for some 60 years) or is it a pomo valentine to American music and American myths -- as well as the classical one the movie follows? Every story in the movie is one of myth and legend placed in Depression-era clothing; real figures made over into myths, real events rewritten to conform to the movie's love of whimsical overstatement.
2 - Rodney Welch
"Working with his brother Ethan, Joel Coen may be the greatest writer and director of films working today."
Yeah, and monkeys may fly out of my butt. O Brother is a wonderful movie, no question, but I think you kill the fun when you try to take the Coen Brothers -- a pair of clowns who occasionally make an interesting movie -- and transform them into America's cultural ambassadors.
Besides, is the movie about America (an America that's been gone for some 60 years) or is it a pomo valentine to American music and American myths -- as well as the classical one the movie follows? Every story in the movie is one of myth and legend placed in Depression-era clothing; real figures made over into myths, real events rewritten to conform to the movie's love of whimsical overstatement.