Welcome back to the first DECADE OF BEST PICTURES series of reviews where we will be taking a
look at a decade of Best Picture winners over the course of 10 days. In this
series we will be looking at the decade of Best Pictures from 2005-2015 in
reverse chronological order! This ninth entry will be for the 2007 Best Picture
winner NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN!
No Country for Old Men
is the Coen Brothers 2007 Best Picture. The film is arguably the best in their esteemed
filmography and is an incredibly special nihilistic neo-western. The film centers
around a trio of characters in south-western Texas as there is a series of
mysterious killings and the discovery of a substantial sum of money. The film
stars Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Woody Harrelson, and Javier Bardem.
I adore this film. It is one of the best films I’ve ever
seen and, in my view, is far and away the best Best Picture winner of the past
decade. The film really succeeds in looking amazingly beautiful, having
outstanding performances across the board, and having a fascinating story told
with a unique directorial vision. Before getting into the details of this
brilliant film, I need to comment on my interpretation of the story. I deeply
believe this film is about Tommy Lee Jones’ character and his view of the world
and how it is breaking down. This is somewhat different than the usual
expectation because the film most closely follows Josh Brolin’s character and
shows Jones’ character the least of the three main figures. It is his story
that ties the whole plot together and reveals the deeper meaning in the film
however. It is this perspective that makes me love this film.
As mentioned above, the first major positive in this film is
the look and cinematography. God of cinematography Roger Deakins (who
collaborates frequently with the Coens) shot this film incredibly well. Each
frame of this film is a work of art and moment by moment that look of dingy 70s
Texas weighs on you as you see the drama of the film unfold. There are so many
layers of depth added by the artful shots in this film and it really makes it a
dramatically better film (rather than just being an attractive looking one). The
high-quality production design in the film coupled with this especially well to
make the film look all that much better.
The performances in this film are also impeccable across the
board. Brolin and Jones have a very particularity to them and play their characters
so keenly and effectively. They both deliver a lot of emotional weight as well
as subtlety that makes their characters feel extremely at home in the film. The
performance of a lifetime was given by Javier Barden, however. He plays the
horrifying Anton Chigurh, who is very much an allusion to death. He is creepy,
relentless, and unstoppable. He never loses his cool in this film and has this
steady beat that made him stay with me as one of the best villains of all time.
He also is in my absolute favorite scene of all time (in a gas station) in this
film and it is played perfectly.
The last thing I want to address quickly is the strength of
the story. A lot of people critique this story as having no real arc and having
a bad ending. I disagree. The key thing to understand, as mentioned is that the
film is from Tommy Lee Jones' perspective. From his perspective, he starts in
this period of mundanity and, at the end, after seeing all of this terror that
Chigurh has caused, he has these dreams that demonstrate his realization that
the world has gotten too crazy for normal people. No one can keep up with what
is going on and that realization strikes him as we exit the story asking
ourselves what we just saw and whether we’re capable of understanding this
story or world. This allusion is deeper still because it is something that we
confront each day (though often in much different ways). This year I have heard
many lament the world we live in and not understanding it which is very much
the tone and point I see coming out of No
Country for Old Men.
Overall, No Country
for Old Men is truly a masterpiece and one the greatest modern westerns
ever put to screen. The Coens really knocked it out of the park and put this
all together absolutely brilliantly. This film was put through the awards
ringer against another one of the greatest films in modern memory, There Will Be Blood. Both are
masterpieces and the Academy couldn’t have gone wrong. I think they went the
right way with their decision though and there are few films more deserving to
be in this distinguished group of Best Pictures as No Country for Old Men.
Ryan’s Score: 10/10
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