No Country for Old Men

Menetetty maa / No Country for Old Men. US (c) 2007 Miramax / Paramount. P: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin. D+SC+ED: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (2005). DP: Roger Deakins - negative Kodak Vision2 Super35 - 2K digital intermediate by Efilm - print 35mm 1:2,35. M: Carter Burwell. LOC: Texas, New Mexico. Starring: Tommy Lee Jones (Ed Tom Bell), Javier Bardem (Anton Chigurh), Josh Brolin (Llewellyn Moss), Woody Harrelson (Carson Wells), Kelly Macdonald (Carla Jean Moss). 122 min. Released in Finland by Finnkino, Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Marko Hartama / Marko Hietikko. Viewed at Bristol, Helsinki, 15 Feb 2008. The Coen brothers back in form on their strongest terrain. Downbeat Texas story based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, which I have not read. The plot (about a bystander who happens at the site where a bloody showdown of druglords has taken place near the US/MX border) resembles on the surface that of a mainstream thriller, but the angle is completely different. This film belongs to the core of the Coen bros., along with Blood Simple. and Fargo. It's a post-western and a post-crime film, with cattle stun guns and transponders bringing odd touches to familiar situations. There is a conscience in this story, and it is represented by Tommy Lee Jones' character. The imagery is extremely bleak, and the digital intermediate look is appropriate to this valley of death.