How To Analyze The Films Of The Coen Brothers

This title explores the creative works of famous directors Ethan and Joel Coen. Films analyzed include O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and True Grit. Clear, comprehensive text gives background biographical information of the Coen brothers. The "You Critique It" feature invites readers to analyze other creative works on their own. A table of contents, timeline, list of works, resources, source notes, glossary, and an index are also included. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Collected interviews with the quirky and distinctive writer/director team of such films as Raising Arizona, Intolerable Cruelty, and Barton Fink

This title explores the creative works of famous directors Ethan and Joel Coen. Films analyzed include O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and True Grit. Clear, comprehensive text gives background biographical information of the Coen brothers. The "You Critique It" feature invites readers to analyze other creative works on their own. A table of contents, timeline, list of works, resources, source notes, glossary, and an index are also included. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Many critics agree that Joel and Ethan Coen are one of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmaking teams of the last three decades. Combining thoughtful eccentricity, wry humor, irony, and often brutal violence, the Coen brothers have crafted a style of filmmaking that pays tribute to classic American movie genres yet maintains a distinctly postmodern feel. Since arriving on the film scene, the Coens have amassed an impressive body of work that has garnered them critical acclaim and a devoted cult following. From Raising Arizona and Fargo to O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men, the Coens have left an unmistakable imprint on Hollywood. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers investigates philosophical themes in the works of these master filmmakers and also uses their movies as vehicles to explore fundamental concepts of philosophy. The contributing authors discuss concepts such as justice, the problem of interpretation, existential role-playing, the philosophy of comedy, the uncertainty principle, and the coldness of modernity. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers is not just for die-hard Lebowski Fest attendees, but for anyone who enjoys big ideas on the big screen.

"The Coen Brothers: The Life of the Mind takes the reader through every one of their eight films, including O Brother Where Art Thou? A chapter on each film provides an analysis and detailed profiles of the brothers' chief collaborators and players, as well as a full synopsis and credits. The author also examines projects that the Coens have been involved in, including Sam Raimi's Crimewave. A must-read for the Coen aficionado and newcomer alike, this is the most up-to-date and in-depth study of their body of work yet published."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Full biography of the renowned film directors, the Coen brothers, and how they came to write, shoot, and direct some of the most gruesome, exhilarating, and funniest films of our time, including Barton Fink, Fargo, Blood Simple and the forthcoming George Clooney film O Brother, Where Art Thou?

Fans of Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men, and other modern classics will enjoy this “definitive history of the Coen brothers oeuvre” (Indiewire). From such cult hits as Raising Arizona (1987) and The Big Lebowski (1998) to major critical darlings Fargo (1996), No Country for Old Men (2007), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Ethan and Joel Coen have cultivated a bleakly comical, instantly recognizable voice in modern American cinema. In The Coen Brothers: This Book Really Ties the Films Together, film critic Adam Nayman carefully sifts through their complex cinematic universe in an effort to plot, as he puts it, “some Grand Unified Theory of Coen-ness.” With a combination of biography, close analysis, and enlightening interviews with key Coen collaborators, this book honors the films’ singular mix of darkness and levity, and is the definitive exploration of the Coen brothers’ oeuvre.

Filmmaker brothers Joel and Ethan Coen got their start in the independent film business in 1984 with their debut feature Blood Simple, which won the award of Best Dramatic Feature at Sundance in 1985 and was hailed as one of the best films of the year by the National Board of Review. Since their early success, the Coen Brothers have built a name for themselves and gone on to create other big-name movies such as Raising Arizona, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski. This book is a comprehensive account of these four films and Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Hudsucker Proxy. Production information and in-depth analysis and critique are provided, as well as discussions on how each movie functions in the broader context of the Coens' work, and the themes, strategies, and motifs often utilized by the Coens.