No Country for Old Men
by Ethan & Joel Coen (2007)
A Texas welder, during a hunting trip, accidentally stumbles upon the scene of what appears to be a botched drug deal and takes a briefcase full of money.
He will soon be pursued by ruthless hunters and especially by the remorseless killer Anton Chigurh.
Quote.
“Do you know what date is on this coin?”
“No.”
“1958. It traveled 22 years before it got here, and now it’s here, and it’s either heads or tails. And you have to say, choose.”
“Listen, I need to know what I can win.”
“Everything.”
“Excuse me?”
“You can win everything, choose.”
“Okay… heads, then.”
“Well done.”
“Don’t put it in your pocket, friend. Don’t put it in your pocket; it’s your lucky coin.”
“Where do you want me to put it?”
“Wherever you like, but not in your pocket. It would mix with the others and become just another coin. And in fact, it is.”
(Anton Chigurh is the owner of a gas station)
Let me introduce you to Anton Chigurh
It doesn’t really matter where the action is taking place.
We could be on one of those long, endless roads traversing the desert, perhaps with a broken-down car parked by the roadside; or in a motel along the way with identical rooms, or even inside a hospital.
We could be anywhere.
But one thing is certain: if he is looking for us, our hours are numbered.
Because he comes. And he kills. Without feeling, without apparent emotion, with a compressed air gun used by butchers.
He wanders around like that, with his strange haircut that is somewhat goofy, somewhat naïve, and decides whether to take a life or not based on the flip of a coin, like a sort of updated Russian roulette.
In times when money is everything and everything revolves around it.
Because with money, even the innocence of children is corrupted, we witness the death of all that is good, and uncomfortable characters, children of another era, are set aside and nearing retirement.
Because, gentlemen, this is not a country for old men.
And Anton Chigurh knows it well.
Considerations.
The Coen brothers, starting from the homonymous book by Cormac McCarthy, create a film where there is little room for hope.
Balancing between noir, road adventure, and western, with the three main characters chasing each other throughout the film, never appearing in the same shot.
A cruel, ruthless, and cynical portrait of human society, where values seem to have disappeared and where there is indeed little room for irony.
Everything is erased by an unheard-of violence that erupts suddenly, without reason and without control.
Javier Bardem brings to life a memorable villain that is unforgettable: a true exterminating angel with a bowl haircut, a psychopath whose eyes ooze madness and who seems to feel no emotions.
Tommy Lee Jones is also excellent in the role of the old, tired, and disillusioned sheriff, who looks at the world around him without understanding it anymore and without the strength or desire to try to change it.
No Country for Old Men won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Bardem), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Additionally, it received many other awards in America and Europe, including a David di Donatello for Best Foreign Film.
Absolutely a must-see.
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