Miller’s Crossing was Joel and Ethan Coen’s third feature, quickly following on the heels of their bruise-black 1984 debut Blood Simple and 1987’s hyper-caffeinated spinning-top caper Raising Arizona. Actually, I can’t think of another film from a major Hollywood studio over the past 30 years that asks more from its audience-yet rewards them with so much for their efforts. I’m not sure that I know why that is, but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say that it’s probably because its plot is too dense and Byzantine, its tough-guy and double-dealing dame patter is too rat-a-tat fast to stick, and the performances are too layered and subtle to fully register until you’ve watched it three or four times.
#Coen brothers films movie
The only movie in their top tier that doesn’t get enough love. Released on this day in 1990, Miller’s Crossing is probably the Coens’ least celebrated masterpiece. Why Does Bruce Willis Make Movies He Hates? Here’s mine: it’s Miller’s Crossing, hands down. Some of these genre experiments have worked better than others (RIP, The Ladykillers), but when it comes to which of their films stands as their greatest achievement, everyone seems to have a strong opinion. It’s almost as if they live in mortal fear of being labeled or pigeonholed. During their four-decade partnership behind the camera, Joel and Ethan have tweaked and toyed with screwball comedies, neo-noirs, musicals, Horatio Alger stories, social satires, old-school Westerns, and new-school Westerns. They seemed to absorb every last drop of film history (both high and low) like two halves of the same thirsty and encyclopedic hive mind.
Like the far chattier Quentin Tarantino, who would burst onto the rapidly evolving American auteur scene a few years after the Coens’ break-out hit Raising Arizona, the Minnesota siblings spent their teen years as movie-mad sponges. If you love cinema, then it’s safe to assume that you also love the Coen brothers.
0 kommentar(er)
