In less than two months, the 2007 film âThe Old Men Can't Be Hereâ will be twelve years old. And all this time, the thriller, shot by the famous Cohen brothers based on the novel of the same name by the writer K. McCarthy, starring in such movie stars as Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, is considered to be the best in the genre, still no one surpassed.
Film achievements
One can endlessly argue about the advantages and disadvantages of this unique picture of its kind, and the opinions of both sides will certainly deserve attention, however, one way or another, the film "Old Men Have No Place", the meaning of which became the subject of our discussion, was 76 nominations of various prestigious film festivals were received, of which 31 prizes were won. At the annual Academy Award of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the picture was waiting for a real triumph, expressed in the receipt of four Oscars in such significant nominations as the best film, best directorial work, screenplay and male supporting role, which the great actor deservedly received Javier Bardem, who became the first Spanish actor to receive an Oscar.
Among other things, the awards of the film "Old Men Can't Take Place" include the main prizes of such a film festival as Golden Globe, where he was awarded the prize for best screenplay and best supporting actor, as well as the British Film Academy, where he became winner in the nominations for best directing, supporting roles and camera work. In the end, according to world critics, the film rightfully became on a par with the best films of the decade.
The Coen Brothers
The screenwriters and directors of the film "Old Men Can't Get Here" were made by some of Hollywood's greatest authors, brothers Joel and Ethan Cohen. This creative duet, the distinguishing feature of whose work is invariably an intricate plot, surprise, originality, intellectuality and black humor, is widely known to all lovers of real, good movie with a capital letter.
On the account of the brothers, who began their careers back in 1984 with the release of the neonarial low-budget thriller âJust Bloodâ, today there are almost thirty paintings, among which the most memorable and noted by the love of viewers and film critics are such works as âRaising Arizona,â Miller's Crossroads, Barton Fink, Fargo, Big Lebowski, Oh, where are you, brother ?, Man Who Wasnât, Intolerable Cruelty, Bad Santa, Gentlemen's Games "," Paris, I love you, "" After reading burn, "" Serious man, "" Inside yuina Davis "," Hail Caesar! " and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.
In addition, the Coen brothers collaborated with such Hollywood celebrities as Steven Spielberg, Angelina Jolie and George Clooney, becoming authors of scripts for their films such as "Spy Bridge", "Unbroken" and "Suburbicon".
Plot
The scene of the 2007 film âThe Old Men Are Not Right for Itâ was released in West Texas, whose desert and wild landscapes perfectly reflected the dry June of 1980, during which all the events of the painting took place, beginning with the unexpected discovery of the Vietnam War veteran, and now a welder Lewellina Moss, during a hunt at the Rio Grande who discovered a suitcase with two million dollars on the spot of a bloody showdown of drug dealers.
Having become the happy owner of this treasure that suddenly fell on his head, Lewellin runs on the run to meet his death, pursued by Mexican bandits, the ruthless killer Anton Chigur and police sheriff Ed Bell.
The extremely rich plot of the film "Old Men Can't Get Here" is hard to describe in a nutshell. Throughout the entire action of the picture, the spectators face a bloody pursuit, taken from the position of the fugitive Lewellin himself, his main pursuer Chigura, whose cold-blooded and some unearthly image fascinates witnesses of what is happening on the screen no worse than a python in relation to rabbits, and also conditionally suspended from all Sheriff Bell's events.
In the end, Lewellin Mossâs run was stopped by the bullets of Mexican bandits. Anton Chigur achieves his goal, gets into an accident, but survives and goes away with the money, and Sheriff Ed Bell leaves the service in the final scene, the significance of which we will talk a little later, tells his wife and the audience about his dreams.
Scenario
As already mentioned, the basis of the picture was the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy, which attracted the Coen brothers, first of all, with its non-standard approach to what was happening, its deep meaning and the ending, which was completely unconventional for the genre.
The rights to the film adaptation of McCarthy's work were bought by producer Scott Rudin, who later offered it to the Coens. The brothers adapted the novel to the script of the film "Old Men Can't Be Here" and in 2005 agreed to Rudin act as directors of the future picture.
The story told by McCarthy was so liked by the Cohens that they refrained from editing the literary basis that was usual for them and put the soul of the novel into their script, and also practically all the dialogues and monologues of the heroes remained unchanged, the main of which was the sheriffâs final speech, opening the curtain of mystery the meaning of the film "Old Men Here Doesnât Matter", practically repeating word for word its literary source.
Filming
The picture was shot from May 23 to August 16, 2006. Despite the fact that the plot of the film took place in Texas, most of the filming was made in the neighboring state of New Mexico, as well as in the largest world gambling center Las Vegas and its desert environs, and only a small town in Odessa, in which Lewellin Moss's hideaway wife was indeed located in Texas.
The very details of the filming of "The Old Men Can't Get Here" are marked by many interesting facts. In particular, the famous Paul Walker, who always wanted to play with the Coens, was supposed to play the role of Lewellin Moss. The actor even went through a casting, but subsequently the authors of the picture decided to stop for this role on another, no less well-known candidate Heath Ledger. But Ledger chose to star in the biographical drama "I'm Not There," dedicated to the life of legendary musician Bob Dylan. So, actor Josh Brolin became the performer of the image of Lewellin Moss, and even then not on the first try.
The fact that when the Coen brothers proposed to Javier Bardem to embody the image of the murderer Anton Chigur on the screen, the actor reacted unexpectedly, saying that he does not know how to drive a car, speaks poorly in English and generally hates violence as such.
In the end, Javier Bardem played Chigura so convincingly and frighteningly reliable that he received a lot more prizes for this role than in his entire career in the movie, becoming the first Spaniard in history to receive a gold Oscar.
Heroes
Before we begin to discuss the meaning of the film "Old Men Have No Place", we dwell a little more on the characters of the picture itself.
Formerly law-abiding Lewellin Moss, who survived the Vietnam War and whiled away his free time hunting, finding a suitcase with money, does not even try to think about his choice. He grabs his treasure and immediately turns from a hunter into a victim. At the same time, his act is understandable to the viewer, who, in the place of Moss, would most likely do the same. Thus, the character of Lewellin personifies everything mundane, straightforward and simple in the film.
The ruthless killer Anton Chigur, in spite of the secondary character of his character, is almost the most iconic hero of the picture and the ideological component of the whole meaning of the film âOld Men Can't Be Hereâ. As a hero, he immediately has two interpretations of his image. On the one hand, Chigur is a murderer, inevitable rock, inevitability and fate, which his victim cannot pass. On the other, he is death itself, tossing a coin to decide whether its time has come.
Doing his bloody work, Anton Chigur symbolizes time itself, endlessly striving forward and completely not worrying about the past.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell most of the time practically does not participate in what is happening. Basically, the viewer only hears his voice-overs, reflecting on the events unfolding on the screen, about his life, as well as telling various stories out of place.
This hero takes in the film, at first glance, some clumsy place, the secret meaning of which can be understood only by looking at the whole picture to the end.
Meaning
A clue to the meaning of the meaning of the film âOld Men Can't Find Itâ lies already in its very title, which is based on the first line of William Yatesâs poem âSailing in Byzantiumâ:
No, not for the old this land ...
Byzantium in this case is nothing more than a long-gone mysterious country of sages and legends. Nevertheless, this work is dedicated to the cycle of generations, consisting of the unshakable secrets of conception, birth and death.
Thus, the heroes of the picture are a reflection of the past, present and future. At the same time, the very âold manâ who has no place in the new world is Sheriff Bell. After all, he alone, representing the past, has the most explicit understanding of the essence of good and evil, right and wrong, knows how to live, and does not understand the present.
Lewellin Moss is a contemporary of the viewer, he is simple and understandable. He is the "today," he is the present.
The third hero, the killer Anton Chigur, symbolizes a man of the future. He is devoid of any feelings, rules and principles. He is time itself, and Anton exists only where another goal looms ahead. In the present, he is no longer there.
Instead of an afterword
After passing through the blood, the rumble of shots and the ongoing pursuit, the audience is destined only to the final monologue of Sheriff Bell to understand the whole point of the film "Old Men Are Out of Place" and answer to himself the question of what old men, in fact, were:
I always loved to listen to stories about old people. Never missed such a case. Do you want, do not want, but you begin to compare yourself with them. Do you want, do not want, but think about how they would live in our time ...
Not that I was afraid of anyone. I knew in this place you should always be ready for death. But I do not want to risk my life, trying to overcome what I do not understand. So for a short while and mess up the soul. Wave your hand and say: "And to hell with you, play, so according to your laws!"
Being most of the time practically aloof from what is happening and not even intersecting with other protagonists, Sheriff Bell eventually becomes like the author of all the events that may have been born in his head as a result of long reflections on his own life heard by the audience throughout the movie.
And all that the viewer saw was a kind of metaphor for an elderly person living in memories, but still clinging to the present in fear of an imminent death approaching ...