Just in time for the Holiday Season, Criterion has released a handsome edition of, arguably, the Coen Brothers best movie. Adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men took home four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director(s), Best Supporting Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay), its nihilist examination of our country proving to be a prescient vision. Stark in both look and theme, the film was shot on the plains of Texas, its hard-scrabble environment the perfect complement to the barren vision of McCarthy’s story.
Having stumbled upon a drug deal gone wrong, Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finds a briefcase with $2.4 million in cash. Though knowing it will likely bring down a world of hurt upon him, he absconds with it, intent on covering his tracks, hoping to start a new life with his wife, Carla Jean (Kelly McDonald). Meanwhile, local law enforcement, led by Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), is investigating the botched drug deal and soon determines that someone has made off with a great deal of cash. Unbeknownst to Moss and Bell is that Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) has been dispatched by the cartel to retrieve the missing money.
The Coens’ use of long passages without dialogue and a spare musical soundtrack help create a sense of realism as well as one of ever-increasing dread. Roger Deakins’ cinematography accentuates this, as the characters drive through inky black nights, live in dusty brown homes and flee through flat tan landscapes. As for the cast, it is an embarrassment of riches as in addition to the three principals, Woody Harrelson, Stephen Root, Barry Corbin, Tess Harper and Garret Dillahunt all make an impression, though some of their appearances are brief.
Of course, what looms large from the film is Bardem’s chilling, unforgettable performance as the Chigurh. He is a force of nature, a relentless agent of merciless fate who stops at nothing to dispense his own form of perverse justice. While the actor’s Oscar win is the proper acknowledgement of his work, more chilling is a study released years later reporting the findings of a group of psychiatrists who had watched over 400 films to examine the representation of psychosis in the cinema. They determined Bardem’s portrayal was the most accurate of a psychopath.
As always, Criterion has produced an impressive package, the 4K edition presenting a pristine copy of the film that, supervised by Deakins, does the cinematographer’s work juctice. A new conversation with the Coens, as well as one with Deakins, producer David Dilibreto and author Megan Abbott is included, as are archival interviews with the Bardem, Brolin, Jones and Macdonald. Three documentaries with extensive behind-the-scenes footage are included, as are essays by authors Francine Prose and Larry McMurtry.
As with other Criterion editions of their films (Blood Simple, Inside Llewyn Davis and Miller’s Crossing), the company’s pressing of No Country for Old Men brilliantly captures and preserves this Coen Brothers classic, a seminal work that is an essential addition to any home video collection.
