Joel and Ethan Coen are brothers with a lot of unusual talent. With the former directing and latter producing (both writing), they have given us a string of films with a unique style unmatched by their contemporaries. Often people talk of their movies as being stylized parodies of their genre, but it really isn't that simple. Intelligent, witty dialogue - cinematography with artistic angles, movement and lighting - symbolism that lets you dig deeper into the story: all these elements combine into films you'll watch several times before you catch some of the more subtle details.
They create characters from real life, and a reality you may find disturbing, who you learn to genuinely understand and care about. From organized crime gangsters to trailer-trash hicks, from corporate ladder-climbers to snowbound sheriffs, these are well developed, unique people. Long before Quentin Tarantino, these guys were writing dialogue the way real people talk, with sometimes humorous accents appropriate to the characters. They understand that every line doesn't need to further the story, as much as set the atmosphere within which it happens.
Enough hype. Go rent these films now!
The Coen brothers filmography:
- Blood Simple - 1984
- Raising Arizona - 1987
- Miller's Crossing - 1990
- Barton Fink - 1991
- The Hudsucker Proxy - 1994
- Fargo - 1996
- The Big Lebowski - 1997
- O, Brother, Where Art Thou - 2000
- The Man Who Wasn't There - 2001
- Intolerable Cruelty - 2002
- The Ladykillers - 2004
Independent film-makers commonly work with many of the same people on different films, since it's easier to create unorthodox projects with people who are already comfortable with you. Here is a chart we've made that cross-references cast and crew members from the various Coen brother's films.