The film attracted a positive critical response, including a golden globe award nomination for stuhlbarg, a place on. Yet, scenes and lines from the movie kept replaying in my mind, leading me to either laugh out loud at a funny line of which there are many or stare at the wall trying to figure out what the hell it all meant. The picture is devoted to the travails of an unhappy midwestern jewish familya real. Viewers are reassured that, no jews were harmed in the making of this motion picture. Masterpiece a serious man teaches us about spirituality in 2019. Every coen brothers movie is a mystery of one kind or another. Four papers on the coen brothers film a serious man. Larrys wife sari lennick is leaving him for a pompous widower fred melamed, and someone is sending. Buster scruggs the mortal remains and the coen brothers. Theres some sexual material as well a distant view of a topless sunbather, a dreamsequence sex scene, and some brief but bloody moments of violence. The coen brothers discuss a serious man with time out film. The coen brothers new western grapples with the genres.
Coens retell book of job in a quiet minneapolis suburb. The coen brothers new western grapples with the genres history and their own career. Stay until the very end of all the credits at the conclusion of the coen brothers new movie, a serious man, and youll see something im certain has never been done before in the history of hollywood cinema. Sep 27, 2009 the 14th feature by the coen brothers, the oscarwinning writerdirectors of fargo and no country for old men, a serious man is also the most personal project yet by two. Then again, many other things in the movie seem irrelevant. Coen brothers wreak biblical adversity in a serious man the. Jewish physics lecturer larry gopnik is a serious and a very putupon man. A serious man the films of the coen brothers pictures. Like the loose odyssey frame of o brother, the book of job format of a serious man is. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the coen brothers debut, blood. A serious man offers a rather different portrait of america at the brink of the late 1960s than has been perpetuated by films since easy rider 1969 and woodstock 1970. A serious man 2009, the coen brothers bleak yet comedic portrait of a. Sep 25, 2014 notes on a serious man 2009 of all the coen brothers movies ive rewatched over the past couple weeks, this is the one that so far has risen the most in my estimation.
A serious man, the brilliant and underappreciated coen brothers film. Feb 27, 2017 a serious man coen brothers film analysis larry gopnik michael stuhlbarg is a physics professor at a 1960s university, but his life is coming apart at the seams. In creating a period film like millers crossing and barton fink, how do the coen brothers represent the american culture of their youth. A serious man and the futility of salvation consequence of. I recently saw a serious man, the coen brothers new film, at the tivoli. The coen brothers produced another noirish thriller in 2001, the man who wasnt there. The coens themselves stated that the germ of the story was a rabbi from their. In between an opening prologue of a yiddish folk tale and a truly stunning ending is the story of larry gopnik, a middle. Nov 21, 2017 the first time i saw it i thought it was just another a weird coen brothers movie. The coen brothers on losers, likability and inside llewyn. Masters of contrary comedy joel and ethan coen have struck another original note with their latest film a serious man.
The depressing spirit of a serious man thought catalog. It is set in what i assume to be a minneapolis suburb of their childhood, a prairie populated by. The conceit of a serious man and i mean that in the most literal sense is that god would have anything whatever to do with the inanities of. A serious man is a 2009 black comedydrama film written, produced, edited and directed by joel and ethan coen. A serious man, i didnt like it and i cant say why without spoiling the ending. Set in 1967, the film stars michael stuhlbarg as a minnesota jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith. The films prologue, conducted entirely in yiddish, concerns a doeeyed husband, velvel, and his far more circumspect wife, dora. Sound and meaning in the coen brothers a serious man. Dec 11, 2018 the frenchman is the closest avatar for how the coen brothers are often seen, as amused cynics, pointing out the absurdity of the human need to find meaning in a senseless universe.
At the conclusion of their new movie, a serious man, the coen brothers pull off a neat little joke. Nov 19, 2009 a serious man had me gripped from the first frames, and the film conjures a woozy, weightless feeling, combined with an almost hallucinatory clarity and heightened sense of itself. In fact, the movie made a point of saying that this story was pointless. This is the kind of picture you get to make after youve won an oscar, writes todd mccarthy in variety. What the coen brothers a serious man teaches us about. A serious man had me gripped from the first frames, and the film conjures a woozy, weightless feeling, combined with an almost hallucinatory clarity and heightened sense of itself. Sep 12, 2009 a serious man is a black comedy set in the coen brothers reallife hometown of st. A serious man coen brothers, 2009 may 12, 2010 by r.
Coen brothers wreak biblical adversity in a serious man. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. The coen brothers a serious man opens with a short yiddish folk tale about a jewish man allen lewis rickman living in an eastern european shtetl who returns home to his wife yelena. Dec 29, 2019 a serious man is a timeless watch born from a timeless read, the book of job, wherein the titular characters faith is tested by godjob loses his riches, his children, his property is burned to the ground, and hes stricken with painful illnessall because of an absurd bet the deity makes with lucifer. David tollerton wrote, the more substantial connection between a serious man and the book of job.
His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job, his pothead son, who gets stoned at his own barmitzvah, only wants him round to fix the tv aerial and his useless brother arthur is an unwelcome house guest. Oct 24, 2018 the coen brothers new western grapples with the genres history and their own career. Oct 09, 2009 a serious man has been compared overcompared, really to the book of job. The frenchman is the closest avatar for how the coen brothers are often seen, as amused cynics, pointing out the absurdity of the human need to find meaning in a senseless universe. A serious man, also in contention this year, is a more unusual choiceeven allowing for the fact that its creators, the coen brothers, have slipped difficult fare into the proceedings before. Set in late 1940s california, a laconic chainsmoking barber played by billy bob thornton discovers a way of blackmailing his wifes lover and using the proceeds to invest in a drycleaning business. The ballad of buster scruggs is an anthology tied to the best and worst of hollywoods wild west. After the seriously great no country for old men, the coen brothers have made the not greatly serious a serious man, which bears every mark of a labor of love. Nov 16, 2017 a serious man 2009, the coen brothers bleak yet comedic portrait of a 1960s suburban jewish family, begins not in twentiethcentury america but rather in a nineteenthcentury shtetl. Coen brothers simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
A serious man and the futility of salvation consequence. A serious man coen brothers film analysis larry gopnik michael stuhlbarg is a physics professor at a 1960s university, but his life is coming apart at the seams. By the time a serious man ends in a stunner of a conclusion, the coen brothers have once again pulled off a magic trick, forcing us to search for meaning in a series of scenes that possibly exist. The coen brothers are two of only seven directors with three oscars for the same movie. Crimewave 1985 film written by the coens and sam raimi, directed by sam raimi bad santa 2003 film starring billy bob thornton, produced by the coens paris, je taime 2006 tuileries an entertaining sequence by the coen brothers. It is a philosophical and dramatic masterpiece, and interpreting it completely is an impossible challenge.
Which means its something that a character in a coen brothers movie would probably do. Yet in some ways inside llewyn davis feels like nothing so much as a coen brothers film a movie one of them might make after the other had died, or, at least, theyd been irreparably separated. A serious man had me gripped from the first frames, and the film conjures a woozy, weightless feeling, combined with an almost hallucinatory. In one of the early scenes of the coen brothers film, a serious man. Parents need to know that the coen brothers a serious man features extensive useof marijuana in some cases by preteen boys and lots of profanity from fk and st on down the line. Mar 23, 2012 a serious man coen brothers, 2009 this is one of the richest, deepest, saddest, most mysterious movies ever made. What is the meaning of the opening scene in a serious man. Larry is a wellmeaning family man and professor of physics in a. A serious man ist ein usamerikanischer spielfilm aus dem jahr 2009. Nov 15, 2018 the coen brothers new western is about death. Feb 11, 2016 the coen brothers a serious man opens with a short yiddish folk tale about a jewish man allen lewis rickman living in an eastern european shtetl who returns home to his wife yelena. In the early stages of the film, the protagonist larry gopniks wife, judith, tells him that she has become close to a family acquaintance named sy ableman, and wants a divorce. A serious man has been compared overcompared, really to the book of job. After the final scene of the coen brothers a serious man is over, at the very end of its closing credits, there pops up an announcement.
The movie is based on the book with the same name written by corman mccarthy. Nov 19, 2009 after the final scene of the coen brothers a serious man is over, at the very end of its closing credits, there pops up an announcement. Revisiting a serious man, the most puzzling of the best. Put otherwise, a serious man is one thwarted attempt after another to find meaning in a world designed precisely to stymie such pursuits. It may not be credited as his debut, but mean streets is very much the first true martin scorsese film. Notes on a serious man 2009 of all the coen brothers movies ive rewatched over the past couple weeks, this is the one that so far has risen the most in my estimation. The 14th feature by the coen brothers, the oscarwinning writerdirectors of fargo and no country for old men, a serious man is also the most personal project yet by two. A serious man, set in the 1960s in the suburbs of minneapolis, came out in 2009. A serious man is a 2009 black comedydrama film written, produced, edited and directed by.
Buster scruggs the mortal remains and the coen brothers at. But none is more mysterious than a serious man, which was released in the uk 10 years ago today. Picking the best coen brothers movie is a fools errand. Laughing with the devil the devils laughs because gods world seems senseless to him. A serious man coen brothers, 2009 ransom fellowship. Joel coen born november 29, 1954 and ethan coen born september 21, 1957, collectively referred to as the coen brothers. The coen brothers discuss a serious man this is an archived page. A decade after its release, a serious man remains the brothers ultimate.
Michael stuhlbarg in a serious man 2009 focus features. The coen brothers discuss a serious man with time out. Todd berzon on teaching the mysterious opening scene of the coen brothers film a serious man alongside the book of job. Larrys brother, arthur, sleeps on the couch and spends his free time filling a notebook. A serious man is a black comedy set in the coen brothers reallife hometown of st. Like many other coen brothers films, a serious man tells of characters whose ability to understand the world and their place in it. Religion is a significant aspect in the lives of the family a serious man contemplates, yet it is a source of confusion more often than clarity. A serious man is more introspective and philosophical than most coen films, which could be one of the reasons for its relatively low rating. This movie follows a small town physics teacher named larry gopnik who searches for answers and meaning as his life slowly crumbles around him. The difference is the book of job has a happy ending. A serious man coen brothers, 2009 this is one of the richest, deepest, saddest, most mysterious movies ever made.