No country for old men

No country for old men





No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American thriller written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name.The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, and tells the story of an ordinary man to whom chance delivers a fortune that is not his, and the ensuing cat-and-mouse drama, as three men crisscross each other's paths in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas.

Directed by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen
Produced by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen Scott Rudin
Screenplay by	Joel Coen Ethan Coen
Based on	No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
Starring	Tommy Lee Jones Javier Bardem Josh Brolin

Actors + Characters

Tommy Lee Jones = Ed Tom Bell - A laconic, soon-to-retire county sheriff on the trail of Chigurh and Moss.






                                         Javier Bardem = Anton Chigurh - A hitman       hired to recover the missing money.







Josh Brolin = Llewelyn Moss -  A welder and Vietnam veteran who flees with two million dollars in drug money that he finds in an open field in Texas.









                                Kelly MacDonald = Carla Jean Moss -  Despite having severe misgivings about her husband's plans to keep  the money, she still supports him.






Producers, Directors and Screen play writers

Joel David Coen
Ethan Jesse Coen
November 29, 1954 (age 57) (Joel)
September 21, 1957 (age 55) (Ethan)
St. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S.



Plot 

We cannot relate to the main character at all, which is quite unconventional and so far the quest is missing. It is very interesting because although that there is no dialog, there are people dying and killed which make the audience suspect on what the film may be about and what the quest they think the main character is on. A drug deal that has gone wrong and everyone ended up shooting at each other shows us the main theme to the film. Now the other main character has the money and Anton is going after him.

Llewelyn Moss sees the aftermath of a drug deal gone awry: several dead men and dogs, a two million dollars in a satchel that he takes to his trailer home. When he gets back home he grabs the cash, sends his wife Carla Jean  to her mother's, and makes his way to a motel in the next county. 

Mise en scene

Lighting - 

Shots - Extreme long shots at the beginning of a hot country give us a scene of location and the fact that is so dry and it is conventional for a place of isolation and mystery. High angle shots so we can see that he is washing his bloody hands. When one of the characters looks through the binoculars, we can see the point of view from the characters view - point of view shot.

Editing - There is continuity editing which makes the film look better and flow better. There is also a tracking shot form the man in the truck point of view, which introduces a bit of danger and helps us to relate. There is match on action when there is a conversation between the 1^st main character and the shop keeper. The main character makes us feel very uncomfortable and the shop keeper thinks the same because we can see his facial expressions whilst the main character speaks.

Props - Everyone is holding a gun which shows that it is a dangerous place, it also shows how the scene is dangerous, serious which builds the tension and makes it known that something is going to happen to one or all the characters in the shot. 

Other - There is a dog that look likes its injured but cause you cant see it clearly we don't know so it may have a part within the scene. There are lots of bags of heroin inside of the truck. This shows that the people there are some sort of dealers and the drug suggests that there is going to be a lot of money involved, but it also shows that there may be some danger to the scene as well as any film involving drug deals, something always goes wrong and someone gets killed. 

Setting - Western America, Texas is a very dry place, with no one around. Which is unconventional as the fact that there are people there, lots of trucks. The setting reminds me of old western films or like the film cowboys Vs aliens, as they are thrillers and are set in the middle of no where to show the isolation and how the location makes an impact on the film. 

Diegetic sound - When the man speaks, we can tell that he is probably American because of his accent this help know the country that the film will be set in. He sounded like a typical cowboy and quite cocky, but there is not much dialog.

Non diegetic - There is no music or warning for the audience that he is going to be killed. There is no music throughout the whole film. It leaves us to think about it. 

The protagonist 

All we know so far is the looks of him. He has long hair and a very unpleasant face.

The two protagonist meet when the second one finds him half dead in a truck.

The protagonist seem to be talking to himself which shows that he is lonely and is used to travelling alone this reminds me of the film Jonah Hex, which also stars Josh Brolin, as in the film his character is lonely and is also a mean person.  

I think the way 1^st protagonist (Anton) looks makes him creepy and strange. Which gives us a little insight into his character, but also makes us think why is he like that.  

We can relate to the protagonist now because he has taken the dead man’s case with lots of money in it which gets him involved in the quest too.

We also find out that his mother is dead, but he is not taking it very well, because he told his girlfriend to say hello to his mother. This tells us why he may act like he does and it also tells us he has some issues which helps us relate to him even more. 

Over all 

It is a good film as it doesn't give anything away, which creates more tension and suspicion within the film which makes it more thrilling for the audience, this makes us think which is good as we can guess things about the film and then the film can surprise us.I like the fact that it isn't like typical action thriller, it makes it different and more interesting. The fact that it is set in Texas makes it strange but also better as it plays with our minds making it an overall great action film as you wouldn't suspect it to be set in a desert. As it is set in the middle of now where it emphasizes the isolation of the film, but also it is strange because no one makes a drug deal in the middle if no where so it shows us that the characters think they will get away with it, which is true because no one would suspect it. The film has no faults and it pulls off a successful action thriller.