***GREAT FILM***
Death. That is the underlying theme that the Coen's are trying to express. Death is everywhere and it is the most evil thing of all. The one moment in the film that I wanted to examine in particular is the ending because I feel that this sums up what has just been shown to us. The Coen's always have a way of making you think during the final scene and in this moment in particular, they exceed in doing that extremely well. Below is the final scene in the film. I MUST CAUTION IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THIS FILM DO NOT WATCH THE CLIP AND STOP READING THIS REVIEW NOW. Instead go and watch the film. Here is the clip: This is my interpretation of this memorable scene above. The first dream he is talking about represents the values that his father had taught him throughout his life. He can't really seem to remember the dream. The roles are switched where he is the older man, while his father is the younger man. "He gave me some money.....I think I lost it". This simple sentence represents not just losing money, but losing the values that his father had taught him. His father is younger than he is but is still much older and wiser in the sense that he obtains those older values.
In the second dream, both he and his father are back in "older times", meaning that they are back at a time where evil was not as strong or present in society. He was going through a pass in the mountains at night by himself; darkness all around him. Cold and alone. His father would ride past him with his head down not saying anything to him or acknowledging him at all. His father was carrying fire with him, which represents the warmth and light of hope in a place full of darkness. Hope for the future. Hope that the evil in the world would not always win and would be destroyed by that beacon of light. His father was going ahead to secure a path that would enable his son to get there and one day join him in a place where there was no evil (Anton's actions throughout the film would represent the evil he is talking about). He would make a fire out in the dark and cold world and wait. Wait for his son to join him when he dies himself. A clock can be heard ticking towards the end of his explanation of this second dream. This is his mind giving a countdown until ultimately he can join his father in the afterlife, away from all this evil. And then, he wakes up. To me this is one of the greatest endings in cinematic history. Not only does it sum up the story in a sense, but it also tells the audience how evil has escalated over the years and continues to become more and more aggressive with each passing generation. Anton's actions of killing Moss, as well as many others throughout the film, show how evil continues to rise and progress and become stronger and stronger. His sense of hope being there with his father, and the light to guide him, will never be present in his world. It will only be in the afterlife. No Country for Old Men is easily in my top ten films ever made. It draws on the theme of death and the effects it has on the human mind. There is no changing the fact that there will always be evil in the world. It is just a matter of how to try and stop that evil from taking over. The film is also shot by, in my opinion the greatest cinematographer of all time Roger Deakins, who often gets greatly overlooked by the work he has done. He helps create that empty environment that gives the story its character. The emptiness becomes the character that drives the story and sets the dark, somber tone and setting for the film. If you haven't yet had a chance to watch this masterpiece of a film, you are certainly missing out. Please go and check it out. You will not be disappointed.
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Authors:Pat Brennan: Recent Film grad from Temple University with a love for all aspects of film. David Fincher for life. Archives:
November 2016
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