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Rating: THIS IS NOT A COUNTRY FOR FUSILLI
Or: having seen the Coen brothers' film "No Country for Old Men", two debaser users discuss it, then diverge, and finally converge... An atypical review in the form of a dialogue for those who have seen the film and are puzzled... Reader, if you haven't seen it yet or are not puzzled, you can go Here or Here or to another review of your choice...
Characters:
Fusillo: the one who tries to split hairs.
CaptainHowdy: the moderate interlocutor, but not a Christian Democrat.
Fusillo: Nice but with flaws, in my opinion. Woody Harrelson's character is disposed of too quickly, and so is Llewellyn... You're there getting engrossed in his (Llewellyn's) adventures, and SNAP! You find him lying on a gurney in the morgue and you don't even know how he died... Then instead, a lot of space is given to stories (like the final dream), certainly significant, but they don't add much to what is understood from the plot. And my God, Bardem's character... The actor is certainly good, but damn it, those characters who don't even say "OUCH!" with a broken arm, they really annoy me... You also wonder why he wants that suitcase... What does he do with all that money? He doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, doesn't gamble, doesn't go to women. He just kills... What, does he want to organize a mass extermination solo? Come on, too inhuman to be true...
CaptainHowdy: Yes, you're right, some things can indeed be puzzling, but your final statement "too inhuman" captures the essence of the film, explaining the sense of inadequacy towards a world that is moving faster and not knowing where it's headed, this is essentially Bardem's character's metaphor: paradoxically, he has to be incredibly inhuman to be credible within the story's context.
Fusillo: I get the metaphor of the film but for me, it still doesn't make sense. If they had shown us Chigurh between the thighs of a blonde, or while gambling in a casino... but this way... Come on, it's Terminator, if you know what I mean... Anyway, paradoxically, I'll tell you something I read in my city's newspaper the morning after I saw the film... In the small supermarket of a small village here in the area, towards closing time, a thief with a gun came in and ordered the owner's daughter, the only human being in the shop apart from the thief, to empty the cash register. "I NEED MONEY!!!" exclaimed the criminal. "SO DO I!!!" replied the fearless girl... The thief at that point, perhaps seized by a guilty conscience, or perhaps by fear, fled... Moral of the story: my place is a country for old men...
CaptainHowdy: Well, but quoting Terminator, I think you're not far off from the message that wants to be conveyed, but the issue isn't so much the struggle between good and evil, but the struggle between different types of evil: the foolishness of the impoverished American (and thus almost average) and that of programmatic, cold madness, perhaps too lucid. It's a nihilistic world described by the Coens, where there's no room for humanity. The final monologue, in my opinion, closes the circle of this journey... P.S. Nice story, but is it true?
Fusillo: In fact, it's the model represented that seems unreal to me. Or rather, there may be crazies like Chigurh, but building metaphors or life rules upon them seems excessive to me. And even admitting the existence of such crazies, he is too, too crazy. Besides, I would have liked to see him clash with the Mexican traffickers... I wanted to see if he would still act all grand in front of a band of crazed, fully armed individuals. I don't know, look, yesterday I rewatched "Romanzo Criminale". There you find bloodthirsty lunatics who stop at nothing, but they, damn it, pursue understandable, albeit not shareable, goals... After the first kidnapping, having earned three billion lire, their first thought is: "What do we do? Do we go to women, do drugs, buy nice cars? No... Let's form a gang and dominate Rome." And in the end, they're kind of likable... Chigurh is a lone man who does nothing, has no ambitions unless purely abstract ones lead him to chase the suitcase. But then? What does he do with the suitcase? Open a bar, record a disk, take an interstellar trip? And here we are discussing a country that is no longer good for old men when that country probably never was... Oh, the story is true, true.
CaptainHowdy: I understand your point of view, but I believe that it's Cinema and, if you'll allow me, a little fiction and irrationality can fit to complete the metaphor, if this is accompanied by a set of technical factors that, you'll agree with me, are of the highest level I think we can say we are facing a great film. As for "Romanzo Criminale" (which I liked too), I think its flaw is precisely seeking the motivations behind the violence, which then produces a hyper-realism (Italian-style) that distorts the substance; I don't know if it's right that in the end, the protagonists end up being likable... Then if we talk about the final product, I believe the Coen's film is aesthetically more appreciable, at least according to my parameters, obviously.
Fusillo: Well captain, I didn't mention "Romanzo Criminale" to say that characters must end up being likable. That's a consequence that can happen or not... But speaking of fiction, for me what's important is coherence with the chosen register. We mentioned "Terminator", there the breaks with realism must be there, as it's a sci-fi movie. "No Country for Old Men" is a realistic film and the characters must be believable, if you understand what I mean.
CaptainHowdy: Well, if the problem is really Chigurh, I think not even the most prepared critic can make a completely objective defense of the character because it's indeed a truly brave insertion within such a film and therefore subject to obvious criticism: from my point of view, I appreciated much more than the character itself the interpretation given by the talented Javier. However, I think we are in front of a work that will be talked about for a long time, in my opinion, more for Bardem than for the story, indeed, in that I agree with you, "No Country for Old Men" is not a masterpiece...
Fusillo: No, it's not... All right then, let's leave it at that... Until next time!
CaptainHowdy: Ok, see you soon dear.
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