Remembering the Naughties: No Country For Old Men (For International Life )

http://www.internationallife.tv/Remembering-Noughties-16

“Change” was the catchphrase of 2008. America had inaugurated its first black President and a sense of optimism captured hearts and minds across the globe. This optimism was preceded by a change in the global economy. Yes, in 2008 I, like yourselves I’m sure, was busy buying whatever mindless garbage I could get my greedy, debt laden hands on, blissfully unaware of the impending doom. Oil soared to over $100 a barrel and the world was plunged into a dubiously unforeseen credit crunch. China attempted to blitz the world into ignoring its human rights record, with a spectacular opening ceremony for an Olympics dominated by the superhuman displays of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps. With the Oscars approaching it is appropriate to look back at this time two years ago, when the awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, were handed out for the Coen brother’s No Country For Old Men.

No Country For Old Men; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen; U.S.A; 2008

Summary: A hunter finds a group of dead bodies, a stash of heroin and $2 Million in the middle of the desert. Believe it or not Mr Llewelyn Moss, this is not your lucky day. After much sleepless deliberation, Moss decides to take the money fully aware of the risks involved.

The hunter soon becomes the hunted as Moss, played by Josh Brolin, is stalked by contract killer, Anton Chigurh, one of film’s most menacing and dispassionate villains. Arbitrary and yet somehow moralistic at the same time, every last minute of his screen time is smothered with tension. The off beat unpredictability of Chigurh is created superbly by Oscar winner Javier Bardem. Normal people just don’t think the way Chigurh does, with the man's unusual choice of weapon adding to his mystique.

Tommy Lee Jones plays aging sheriff Tom Bell. Rigidly old fashioned, Bell doesn’t like guns and the new ways are wearing him down. One step behind both Chigurh and Moss, the sheriff is in close attention trying to help Moss. Fresh corpses are an all too common sight for the old man and the help he offers the protagonist falls on deaf ears.

Fully deserving of the Oscars it received, the Coen brothers delivered an edge of your seat masterpiece. Superbly shot and typically well written, No Country For Old Men is one of the Noughties best thrillers. Brilliant but brief cameos by Woody Harrelson and Kelly Macdonald are proof of this film’s all round pedigree.

Memorable moment:The exchange between Chigurh and an elderly man who works in a petrol station. Tweaked by an innocuous bit of small talk, Chigurh presents the man with a choice that will ultimately decide his fate. Heads or tails is the question with no explanation of the consequences. Like Two Face, Chigurh absolves himself of any guilt, removing himself from the decision process. In his mind, everyone is guilty, everyone deserves it and chance will decide if he pulls the trigger. There is a later moment in which his perception is challenged but the nerve jangling tension of the petrol station scene is unmatched.

Best Line: Anton Chigurh: Don't put it in your pocket, sir. Don't put it in your pocket. It's your lucky quarter.