Release Date: November 9th 2007
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cinematography: Roger Deakins
No Country For Old Men is a western thriller witch two main characters: Anthon Chigurh and Llewellyn Moss. Chigurh is a hired hit man that is quite obviously a psychopath. He has been hired to retrieve the $2 million dollars Llewellyn accidentally stumbled across and decided to keep.
In one of the first important scenes we see Chigurh escaping from police custody by murdering the supervising police officer by strangling him with his handcuffs. The only thing Chigurh had with him was an oxygen tank which he claimed was needed for his emphysema. Throughout the film this is his favoured weapon and is used to murder many people who get in his way of finding the money.It may look like a harmless weapon the tank contained pressurized gas rigged to a rubber tube that had a gun on the other end that shoots powerful, lethal projectiles.
As Llewellyn fights to survive while trying to escape with the money Chigurh is hot on his his and is tracking his location by a tracking device that is hidden within the money.
This film uses many of the typical conventions that are found in thrillers. For example the whole film is driven by the Macguffin. In this case the money. As an audience we have no interest in the money; our attention is focused on the characters.
No country for old men also uses fast pace editing to create suspense. An example of this is the hotel showdown scene. The editing starts of really slow which helps build the suspense as the audience are on the edge of their seat waiting for something to happen as it is just too quite. Suddenly the lock is shot open and the fast pace editing begins. In the space of a few seconds the camera shot has changed from a point of view of the lock to a medium shot of Llewellyn to a point of view of part of the lock on the floor. Then it jumps straight to a close up of Llewellyn.
It can also be argued that the money was in fact a red herring and that Chigurh was using it as an excuse to act on his psychopathic urges and "play god".
Throughout the film it becomes quite obvious that Chigurh has a god complex. An example of this is when he decides someones fate by flipping a coin and if they are incorrect he would kill them. This shows the audience that he is power hungry and insane.
When the suspense an action reaches its highest point the audience are hit with a surprising plot twist. The protagonist Llewellyn is murdered by Chigurh. This is not a typical convention of a thriller as the protagonist is usually escapes death and becomes a hero.
At the end of the film after a visit to Llewellyn widow Chigurh is involved in a car accident which results in a bone from his arm breaking through his skin. Instead of asking for help and admitting defeat he simply wraps a shirt around it and walks away. This shows that he can not be beaten. This unwillingness to admit defeat is also visible earlier on in the film when he gets shot in the leg by Llewellyn. He doesn't seek help he just cleans the wound and carries on his hunt for Llewellyn and the money.
In one of the first important scenes we see Chigurh escaping from police custody by murdering the supervising police officer by strangling him with his handcuffs. The only thing Chigurh had with him was an oxygen tank which he claimed was needed for his emphysema. Throughout the film this is his favoured weapon and is used to murder many people who get in his way of finding the money.It may look like a harmless weapon the tank contained pressurized gas rigged to a rubber tube that had a gun on the other end that shoots powerful, lethal projectiles.
As Llewellyn fights to survive while trying to escape with the money Chigurh is hot on his his and is tracking his location by a tracking device that is hidden within the money.
This film uses many of the typical conventions that are found in thrillers. For example the whole film is driven by the Macguffin. In this case the money. As an audience we have no interest in the money; our attention is focused on the characters.
No country for old men also uses fast pace editing to create suspense. An example of this is the hotel showdown scene. The editing starts of really slow which helps build the suspense as the audience are on the edge of their seat waiting for something to happen as it is just too quite. Suddenly the lock is shot open and the fast pace editing begins. In the space of a few seconds the camera shot has changed from a point of view of the lock to a medium shot of Llewellyn to a point of view of part of the lock on the floor. Then it jumps straight to a close up of Llewellyn.
It can also be argued that the money was in fact a red herring and that Chigurh was using it as an excuse to act on his psychopathic urges and "play god".
Throughout the film it becomes quite obvious that Chigurh has a god complex. An example of this is when he decides someones fate by flipping a coin and if they are incorrect he would kill them. This shows the audience that he is power hungry and insane.
When the suspense an action reaches its highest point the audience are hit with a surprising plot twist. The protagonist Llewellyn is murdered by Chigurh. This is not a typical convention of a thriller as the protagonist is usually escapes death and becomes a hero.
At the end of the film after a visit to Llewellyn widow Chigurh is involved in a car accident which results in a bone from his arm breaking through his skin. Instead of asking for help and admitting defeat he simply wraps a shirt around it and walks away. This shows that he can not be beaten. This unwillingness to admit defeat is also visible earlier on in the film when he gets shot in the leg by Llewellyn. He doesn't seek help he just cleans the wound and carries on his hunt for Llewellyn and the money.
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