Even in the latter, though they hew fairly closely to the text, one feels like they’d abandon it at any moment if it suited them. Their two proper adaptations, O Brother Where Art Thou? (Homer, The Odyssey) and No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy), feel decidedly irreverent. A Serious Man positions itself as a retelling of a Jewish folk tale. Inside Llewyn Davis cribs from an entire world of 60s folk music and seems to be based on the story of one almost-was in particular. Fargo claims, erroneously, to be based on a true story. Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, and The Big Lebowski are detective films (yes, Lebowski is absolutely a detective film) that feel like adaptations of 40s- and 50s-era pulp novels. The Coens have always had a somewhat squirrelly relationship with adaptation, in part because they’re inveterate jokesters and cribbers of texts. (Oh, I’m also pretty sure there’s a slight age difference between them, but I’m not gonna bother to fact check that, because what does it really matter?)īoth Lee and the Coens began their careers in the mid-1980s, crested for a time (late-80s through late-90s), made some mid-career masterpieces that were initially underrated (for Lee, 25th Hour for the Coens, The Big Lebowski), endured a fallow period (for Lee, this included Inside Man for the Coens, it included The Ladykillers and Intolerable Cruelty, films so bad it seemed, at the time, impossible they could ever bounce back), and then entered a stately late-career boom, though the Coens’ came a little earlier than Lee’s, with No Country for Old Men, probably the best film they’ve ever made (though these days I also feel compelled to make a case for Inside Llewyn Davis, another late-career masterwork). Apart from those things-and the fact that, in interviews, one (Joel) tends to talk more than the other (Ethan)-I’m hard pressed to tell you the exact difference between them. It’s tough after all this time to separate the Coens, Joel and Ethan, once referred to as the “two-headed director.” One of them writes short stories the other one is married to Frances McDormand. The program will be followed by a reception and the exhibition will remain open for viewing.This year’s Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar race contains two filmmakers who have survived in this business longer than nearly anyone manages to: Spike Lee and the Coen brothers. This special screening will be followed by a discussion with Zophres, moderated by Barbara Miller, Senior Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. Sixteen costumes designed by Zophres along with costume boards and other material are currently on view at the Museum in the exhibition The Coen Brothers Go West: Costume Design for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. In particular, the painstakingly detailed and boldly conceived work of costume designer Mary Zophres lends tremendous authenticity and texture to the film. The film is also an excellent showcase for the unparalleled craftsmanship and attention to detail of the Coen brothers and their collaborators. Yet the entire film is steeped in a love for classical Hollywood westerns, and also a desire to subvert and question the genre’s conventions. The six segments of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs vary widely in tone and style, and the film is at times absurdist, violent, mysterious, and lyrical. Originally conceived as a six-part television series, the project evolved into a feature-length anthology film. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is the eighteenth feature film directed, produced, and written by Joel and Ethan Coen. With Tom Waits, Tim Blake Nelson, Liam Neeson, Tyne Daly, Bill Heck, Zoe Kazan, James Franco.
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