Below are my thoughts on No Country for Old Men- one of my most favorite, shockingly thought-provoking movies.
Life seems to be defined and organized by rules, algorithms, and cycles. But No Country for Old Men brings into question; does everyone play by the same rules? This film captivates its viewers through its unorthodox flow of plot and commitment to characters. The film begins with the narrating voice of Ed Tom Bell (played by Tommy Lee Jones), describing the evil and wonderment of another murderer he had come into contact with in his earlier days of being a sheriff. This narration sets the tone for the murders that have yet to take place at the hands of Anton Chigurh, and the eerie voice of the movie overall.
The plot is begun as the tragic hero; Llewellyn Moss (played by Josh Brolin) comes across two million dollars from a drug deal gone wrong. He powerfully plays a character who quite powerlessly attempts to fight death as he runs from a violent chain reaction of gang members, bounty hunters, and most of all, Chigurh. In the end, Llewellyn surprisingly dies in an anticlimactic gang shooting- coming to die just as quickly as his character came to life- instantaneously, and arguably without purpose.
The complexities of life are beautifully documented in this film as well as the always-struggling balance between life and death; chaos and order; fate and choice. Chigurh is the representation of order: a man with a psychopathic mind who sees life as a set of actions and reactions with minimal input from human choice. Javier Bardem, who was perfectly cast, brilliantly embodies this Chigurh- a man with obvious psychotic, calculated tendencies who is more mentally equipped to see order in our complicated world, and the inevitability of death that humans so often choose to ignore. He views life as principled, but with no actual purpose- he even goes so far as to relate the ever-evolving formation of his own life to that of a coin. “I got here the same way the coin did,” he states during an intense dialogue with the wife of Llewellyn, (recently widowed) Carla Jean Moss, during which he likens the possibility of killing her to the decision of flipping a coin – a 50/50 chance. This strengthens the message of the movie; that life is a path of accidents, unforeseen interacting events that always lead to a conclusion of death. In this specific context between Carla Jean Moss and Chigurh’s coin, Carla decides to not play by his rules, choosing the inevitability of death instead of choosing between heads or tails. She is then killed (spookily off-scene) because Chigurh feels he has no other choice, for these are the abrasive rules that he lives by.
Chigurh is often harshly the reaper of this inevitable death, but he is just as susceptible to it as any other human. In one metaphoric scene, as he is driving, and following the rules of the road, another driver does not adhere to the same rules (whether on accident or on purpose we do not know), fatally barreling into Chigurh’s car- nearly bringing him to his unavoidable end- but not quite.
The movie and the plot itself do not play by normal cinematic rules. Instead, it is as if the viewer continuously stumbles from scene to scene and character to character- almost always isolated. Very rarely are any of the main stars of the movie: Tom Bell, Llewellyn Moss, and Chigurh- even seen in the same shot. Instead, individuals are often shown alone in the simplistic, eerie beauty of New Mexico. Medium shots are often used to allow the audience to better feel that they are more profoundly witnessing the progression of the film, yet with not too much intimacy and prying into the movement of the characters.
No Country for Old Men isn’t a normal film; it is not a story about heroes and bad guys, good against evil, or cops versus robbers. It follows a different path and plot about fate and being in the right place at the right time (such as when Llewellyn finds the load of cash), or the wrong place at the wrong time (also, when Llewellyn finds the load of cash), and the blurry line that separates right from wrong.
Throughout the course of the action and scenes between Chigurh and Llewellyn that always left me a touch dissatisfied, the representation of law; the sheriff, Ed Tom Bell always seemed a step behind. A separate plot of his life seemed to be occurring as Llewellyn and Chigurh were in an intensely calculated fight over two million dollars- and the will to live. Yet Tom Bell was always dwelling in the past: “But I think once you quit hearing ‘sir’ and ‘ma'am,’ the rest is soon to foller,” he complains, obviously unable to accept the ever-shifting rules and ways of life (and death) around him.
Even though sheriff Ed Tom Bell was always slightly detached from the plot, he is the character the Coen brothers decided to rest their film with- although rather abruptly and without much closure. Even though this movie ended in an unorthodox manner, the questions of life and rules that it brought up were excellently posed, through precise dialogue, sinister action, dynamic characters, and beautiful shots. The ending is recounted- similar to the beginning- through the voice and perception of Ed Tom Bell as he recalls his dreams of another period when his father lived and a different set of rules were prevalent. It ends just like that- leaving an air of suspense, dissatisfaction, and uncertainty of permanence. This serves as a reminder that the only rule that truly governs us all is the rule of incessant unpredictability.
