The 1998 film "The Big Lebowski" left a noticeable mark on the creative path of the Cohen brothers. The project script was created based on the work of Raymond Chandler's "Deep Sleep", written almost 60 years before. Of course, the famous comedy was not an exact adaptation of the book: filmmakers made adjustments to the plot moves and many scenes invented by the writer.
Plot
Jeffrey Lebowski, nicknamed Dude, is an unemployed bummer, fond of smoking marijuana, playing bowling, drinking alcohol and listening to hits from his favorite band. Every day in his life is like the previous one, but everything changes when he gets involved in an adventurous story. An authoritative millionaire chooses Dude as a courier and makes him go to a meeting with criminals who kidnapped a young woman (the wife of this rich man). The ransom transfer process is not going as originally planned, and Geoffrey has to deal with a pile of unforeseen problems. Along the way, he met with many eccentric heroes.
Immediately after the premiere of the picture, the reviews on The Big Lebowski were very controversial, and the plot was condemned. Nevertheless, comedy has always remained on the list of cult projects.
Criticism
The film can not boast of great commercial success. Most professional critics were greeted by cool reviews of the Greater Lebowski. In some ratings on the Internet, comedy fought for the title of worst in the Coen Brothers filmography. Nevertheless, the specific plot attracted the attention of many viewers. The abundance of humor and unexpected plot moves allowed the film to receive the title of "the first cult film in the era of the Internet." Coen’s creation has become the basis for books, websites and even the annual Lebowski festival.
Fans of the comedy spread a whole philosophical doctrine based on its motives, and many phrases of the characters became winged. Subsequently, many professional critics radically changed their opinion about the project, and more enthusiastic reviews about the "Big Lebowski" began to appear in the press.
Heritage
Four years after the film was released, its fans began to hold a festival named after the key character. Only one and a half hundred participants attended its opening, but subsequently this idea was picked up by fans in many American cities. At such annual meetings, fans organize nightly bowling games, various contests and costume parties. During the weekend, everyone can participate in this action. Often, the actors of the film “Big Lebowski” become participants in the celebration - Jeff Bridges himself visited it at one time.
The film marked the beginning of the religion of Dudaism (from the English. Dude - dude), and its main teachings have something in common with the principles of the key character. Seven years after the premiere of the comedy, "The Church of the New Dude" was founded - a virtual organization with more than 50 thousand "Dudaists." Basically, site visitors celebrate all the positive aspects of the project, as well as analyze its plot twists in detail.
In addition, in their discussions, one can often trace the idea that the worldview demonstrated by the hero of Bridges reflects a desire to resist the aggression and greed of modern society.
Coen against remakes and sequels
The Coen brothers, who are not only directors of the film, but also its scriptwriters and producers, have repeatedly stated that they do not plan to shoot a sequel to their sensational hit. And still in 2011, John Turturro began to express great interest in again appearing in front of the audience in the image of Jesus Quintana.
Initially, the character had few scenes in the Cohen project, but thanks to the ideas of the performer of the role, his screen time significantly expanded. In 2014, it became known that Turturro received permission from the authors of the painting “Big Lebowski” to use his hero. In 2016, he began work on the film "Successful People", one of the heroes of which was Quintana.
Addition
In October 2005, Universal Studios Home Entertainment presented a “Collector's Edition” DVD, which included additional material for “Jeff Bridges Pictures,” “Preface by Mortimir Young,” a documentary on the work on “Making of The Big Lebowski”. A limited edition of the “Special Gift Set” was also released, including a bowling towel, several exclusive images from the Bridges collection and other notable souvenirs. In the 2000s, it became obvious that despite the negative reviews for the film "Big Lebowski" in 1998, the project is confidently gaining the status of a cult. Ten years after the premiere of the comedy, viewers were able to familiarize themselves with yet another publication that contained a fascinating interview with Ethan Cohen, explaining the most controversial scenes of the film.
Similar films
The audience, who liked the Coen creation, of course, counted on the continuation of the story, but years go by, and there is no information about a possible sequel. However, for the next viewing it is worth paying attention to films similar to The Big Lebowski. There are many paintings among them, and one of them is “Hesher” with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a key role.
The protagonist, like Dude, is skeptical of the world that surrounds him. Also among projects similar to the creation of the Coens, one can distinguish the comedy thriller of the Coen brothers "Gentlemen's Games." As in other works, filmmakers have relied on a charismatic lead actor (Tom Hanks) and unexpected plot twists. Viewers who want to see a character with many addictions, like Dude, should also choose Bad Santa to watch. In this project, Billy Bob Thornton appeared in the form of drunkards and a loafer, who once a year embarks on a serious adventure.
Leaders
It cannot be said that the actors in the film "Big Lebowski" (1998) opened the road to Hollywood precisely because of this comedy. At least, key actors were known to moviegoers before. For example, in the career of Jeff Bridges there were many famous paintings, including such hits as “Throne” (1982), “Man from the Star” (1984), “White Flurry” (1996) and others. Subsequently, the actor starred in such famous projects as “Iron Man”, “Crazy Heart” (Bridges won the Academy Award for this role), “Iron Grip”, “At Any Cost” and many others.
In turn, John Goodman before “The Big Lebowski” appeared in such projects as “Sea of Love”, “Revenge of the Nerds”, “Sweet Dreams”. Julianne Moore, who received the main female role, previously played in the films "Jurassic Park: The Lost World", "Hand Rocking the Cradle", "Assassins" and others.
Subsequently, the actress appeared in the films “Wild Grace”, “Hannibal”, “Seventh Son”, “Still Alice”, “Suburbicon” and others.
Of course, the controversy about the film "Big Lebowski" reviews again attracted the attention of critics to the mentioned actors, and it is possible that they received some subsequent high-profile roles thanks to this attention.
Interesting Facts
- For the entire film, Dude drinks nine cocktails called White Russian.
- The hero Jesus Quintana “migrated” to the project from the theatrical performance “Mi Puta Vida”, which the Cohen brothers accidentally fell into in 1988. In the production, as in the film, the role was assigned to John Turturro.
- Responses to the Greater Lebowski were controversial, and largely due to profanity. In the film, the expression “fuck” and its variations sounded 281 times.
- According to the plot, the hero of Bridges 147 times said the word "Man."
- The original musical series was written by composer Carter Burwell.
- In the movie, Dude never played bowling.
- Almost all replicas of heroes were written for specific actors.
- According to the creators of the picture, the presence of a bowling in the picture was caused by a desire to reflect the time period of 50-60 years of the twentieth century.
- Working on "The Big Lebowski", its authors wanted to create a film about the life of "ordinary Americans."
- Images of leading characters were copied from people who existed in reality.