No Country for Old Men - Coen Brothers

In an age of instant gratification, watching film adaptations has become a more convenient alternative to reading books. However, most of such “adaptations” are so poorly scripted or executed, that they kill any chances for one to appreciate the original work even if it’s a real piece of art. However, there is a class of films such as The Godfather, To kill a mocking bird, A clockwork orange – to name a few – that have done justice to the books that inspired them. There is a third category of films that bring to limelight (and effectively pull up the sales of) many little-known books, with their nimble handling of the theme and subjects. No country for old men can be safely added to this list.

Based on a book by American author Cormac McCarthy, No country for old men follows the lives of three key characters in the Wild Wild West during the early 1980s. Anton Chigurh (Javier Barden in an Academy award winning performance) is introduced to us in the very first scene as a cold-blooded killer who strangles a cop and escapes before he is even put behind bars. Armed with a stun bolt gun, the eccentric but taciturn killer is on a mission, the details of which are uncovered later.

The film then switches to a picturesque Texas landscape where Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a retired Nam soldier, is hunting pronghorns when he comes across blood-covered lifeless bodies of men and animals, possibly the result of a shootout over a drug-deal. He discovers a satchel full of money, which he conveniently pockets and leaves, unwilling to help a dying man - the only survivor in need of water and medical help. In the night, however, his conscience urges him to help the poor fellow, and he goes back – a bad decision for someone who’s swiped an awfully large amount of money from the scum of all criminals, the drug-dealers. As expected, he runs into the Mexicans looking for the greenbacks. Never to let the money go, they chase after him but Moss escapes. A fighter and a soldier, he listens to his instincts that order him to run and hide until the whole mess is over. Upon reaching home, he orders his wife Carla Jean to go and temporarily stay with her cancer-stricken mother while he goes into hiding.

Moss takes up a room in a motel in Del Rio, Texas, where he stashes the money in an air duct. Unknown to him, Chigurh and the Mexicans are looking for the money, which they can track with the help of a transmitter located inside the bag. But our Hero isn’t a dumbass, he knows something is fishy when he sees lights on his room and figures that some ticked off folks are waiting inside to pounce on him. A little while later Chigurh also reaches the spot, thanks to the receiver. He enters Moss’s room and kills the unprepared Mexicans in a standoff who are waiting for Moss. But Moss escapes before Chigurh can kill him and retrieve the satchel.

In the third thread, an old sheriff Ed Tom (the venerable Tommy Lee Jones), nearing retirement, comes across the mess and realizes that this is as bad as they get. Drawing upon his experience as a cop, he figures out the situation, and tries to contact Moss via Carla Jean in an effort to save him from the invincible and ruthless Chigurh as well as the bloodthirsty Mexicans.

In the meanwhile, the unstoppable Chigurh manages to track down Moss to a motel, and an ensuing gunfight leaves them both wounded. Moss escapes into Mexico where he recovers, while Chigurh tracks him down and threatens to kill him and his wife over the phone. An undeterred Moss sneaks back into US, where his wife sets up a meeting with Ed Tom, but is killed by the Mexicans before Ed Tom can save him. Unmotivated and tired, Ed Tom retires and gives up the chase. In the last scene, Chigurh goes to meet Carla Jean, who is mourning her mother’s death after her husband’s, stating his intention to kill her. He walks out of the house, wiping his shoes (probably Carla Jean’s blood off them), and gets hit by a car at an intersection while he is driving off. He survives the accident and limps off before anyone can spot him.

In No country for old men, the Coen brothers have carved out a classic while maintaining its racy, thriller nature. They have impeccably brought out the different traits in us humans via three different characters – Chigurh is a killing machine with no emotions. Never betraying any emotion, his mechanical, robotic disposition could have been easily inspired from Terminator. A calculated and methodical killer, he talks less and kills more, and never for money, sex or revenge. He simply kills for his strange principles, as if they are some orders from a world beyond. Sympathy, pity, or reason do not exist for him in his mind, he simply flips a coin to decide the fate of his next victim as if it’s predecided (In a scene, he walks into a gas station and plays games with the old attendant, asking him to call head or tail on the flip of a coin, the outcome of which would decide his life. And this harmless, terrified man has done no wrong to Chirgurh!). In the words of a character, “He’s a peculiar man. Might even say he has principles.” Moss, on the other hand, is a tough fighter, as tough as they get, but a human being nevertheless who succumbs to greed, which is why he could never be a match for the machine-like Chigurh who has no greed, but the need to kill. In many ways they are complete contrasts with Ed Tom somewhere sandwiched in between. He is just another cop, who has more stories to tell and advices to give to his subordinates and his wife, than service to offer to his profession. He desperately wants to change the world or leave a mark at the very least, but is finally coming to terms with the fact that he is just another guy who cannot clean up all the muck in town. The west truly is, no country for old men like him.

The Coen brothers have faithfully stuck to many of their signature styles and techniques. The three main characters are never shown in the same frame, except in one where Ed Tom goes to the crime scene while Chigurh is hiding behind the door. They manage to keep the three threads separate even though they are intimately entwined with each other. There is also a strong element of fate and a message that not all ends well with good lording over the evil – a stance taken up by a lot of films off late. It is interesting to note here that the Coen brothers have not deviated from the book for the adaptation or experimented with any events or outcomes. Critics may shoot off about the lack of purpose in this film, but I say, not all roads lead to Rome, or in this case, simplicity. The film also does not offer any closure (a much debated ending) on any of the characters alive.

The cinematography is another commendable aspect of this movie. Very few cinematographers like Roger Deakins (who was nominated as well), can breathe in so much life in an otherwise lifeless expanse of Texas. He has done well with shades of light and darkness – an effective technique that itself tells the story sans the dialogues.

The film was nominated for eight academy awards out of which it won four – Best Director (Coen brothers), Best Picture, Best adapted screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem). Bardem singularly deserves praise for his representation of the cold-blooded, detached Chigurh – his performance is a job well accomplished considering his previous sensitive portrayal of a quadriplegic fighting for his right to die in Mar Adentro. He overshadows two very accomplished actors Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, who have delivered fantastic performances as well. Needless to say, any actor can only do his job to such perfection when he is backed by the able hands of directors such as Joel and Ethan Coen, who have only reinforced their reputation post-Fargo. With No country for old men, they have joined the league of extraordinary directors who are incapable of creating anything less than a superb film.

The Academy concurs, and so do we!

Check out the trailer of arguably the best film of 2007: