STACK #196 Feb 2021

EXTRAS FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

is hidden within the stolen case that will enable him to locate the thief and the money. Chigurh then calmly shoots both the cartel men and sets out after Moss. The following morning, the state police – led by white Stetson-wearing Ed Tom Bell (the usual excellent performance fromTommy Lee Jones) – locate the remnants of the bloody shoot-out. Bell’s less experienced deputy says, “It’s a mess, ain’t it Sheriff?” The laconic Bell replies, “If it ain’t, it’ll do till the mess gets here.” Bell is close to retirement and is tired of chasing drug dealers across the Tex/Mex border. This is a new era for Sheriff Bell and he is visibly unsettled by the violent reality of this new drug culture, which is much more brutal and bloodier than he has ever seen before – hence the film’s title. He ends up in a race against time to try to save Moss and his wife from the deadly Chigurh. It is Bardem’s Academy Award-winning performance as Chigurh (pronounced sugar), with his helmet styled hair, that audiences remember. His psycho/sociopathic character never reveals any motivation for the killings he undertakes – it’s simply what he does, with absolutely no emotion. To him, people are just like cattle – which makes his weapon of choice appropriate. The tension of the infamous “coin toss” scene between him and an elderly garage proprietor is palpable when one realises that life and death, according to Chigurh, is as random as the flip of a coin. Cocksure bounty hunter Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), who is hired by the cartel’s business manager to retrieve the money and take control of the situation, is asked just how dangerous Chigurh is, to which he replies, “Compared to what? The bubonic plague?” The Coens delivered a viscerally compelling yet mesmerising cat and mouse thriller enhanced by Roger Deakins’ stunning cinematography, which creates a graphic composition that perfectly establishes the vast desolate location that enhances the tense mood of the film. Sheriff EdTom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) and his deputy locate the site of the drug shoot-out

NOCOUNTRY FOROLDMEN (2007) Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen

E than and Joel Coen are among the most creative of contemporary American filmmakers. Their favourite genre is American noir blended with satire – films such as Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing and Fargo being prime examples. For their twelfth film, No Country for Old Men, they mixed it with the western genre, resulting in a modern western with a tragic existential film noir ending. Author Cormac McCarthy originally conceived the story as a film script during the mid-1980s, and then rewrote it as a novel fifteen years later. Most of McCarthy’s dark and dystopian novels have been aptly described as “cinematic”, and this multi– Academy Award-winning movie proves that claim. Set in the harsh and inhospitable Southern Texas landscape in 1980, ex-Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (portrayed by the often- underrated Josh Brolin) is out hunting when he stumbles upon a major drug deal gone bad. Amongst the numerous bodies he finds one man still alive who asks for “agua”. Practically ignoring him, Moss searches for the “last man standing” and some distance from the shoot- out locates a dead body and a case containing two-million dollars. He takes the case of money and returns to his mobile home, telling his wife (Kelly Macdonald) what’s in the case. Feeling guilty, he returns to the scene with water for the wounded man but finds him dead. Atop of the rise where he parked his truck, Moss sees another vehicle draw alongside his and two men appear to slash his truck’s tyres. More gunmen arrive and fire at Moss, wounding him in the shoulder, but he manages to escape by diving into a fast- running river. Returning home, Moss sends his wife to stay with her mother and goes on the run with the money. Later that night, two cartel members take

Javier Bardem as the cold-blooded killer Anton Chigurh

Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss finds a case containing $2-million of cartel drug money

hitman Anton Chigurh (the charismatic Javier Bardem in a captivating performance) to the site of the failed drug deal. They give him a tracking device, telling him a transponder

Join STACK ‘s resident filmhistorian Bob J and our community of cinema buffs to have your say eachmonth in ‘ Bob J‘s Classic Movie Club ‘ Facebook group.

64 FEBRUARY 2021

jbhifi.com.au