No Country For Old Men

Sibling directors Joel and Ethan Coen are renowned for their ability to tell gripping stories with memorable characters. Whether it has been The Big Lebowski or Barton Fink it has always seemed that the Coen Brothers have been more interested in exploring the depth of their characters rather than telling the story and No Country For Old Men is no different.

The story follows Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a hunter and a Vietnam veteran who stumbles upon $2 million in cash from a drug deal turned sour. A wild cat-and-mouse chase ensues across Southern America as hired gun (Javier Bardem) sets out to reclaim this money, whilst both are followed by local sheriff Ed Bell (Tommy Lee Jones).

No Country perfectly displays the prowess of the Coen brothers – it is both gripping and tense and the brothers use silence effectively to achieve this. Every sound is accentuated; no soundtrack, no score. This enables every scene to lull the viewer into a false sense of security, whilst easily replacing this with an engrossing sense of nervousness and intensity.

This nervousness could only be heightened by the fantastic Javier Bardem whose character’s disturbed and warped mind is chilling. Once again Bardem’s silence, mixed with his schoolboy haircut and large eyes, made his demonic-yet-serene nature formidable. Throughout the film his calm dispatching of innocents and distorted view on “principles” makes his character, Anton Chugur, one of the most spine-chilling to have graced the big screen in recent years.

Overall, No Country For Old Men is a gripping, blood-stained tale, that is reminiscent of the westerns of yore, whilst being accessible and refreshing to a modern audience through its introduction of a sense of anxiety that is rarely done as well as it is done in Coen’s masterpiece.