The Coen BrothersJoel and Ethan Coen

By: Nazanin Gerami

Childhood

Their parents are Rena and Edward Coen

Joel and Ethan Coen are Jewish brothers from St. Louis Park, Minnesota. As kids, they saved up money to buy a camera and they remade their favorite films.

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Education

They both graduated from St Louis High School

Joel Coen went on to study at New York University in the undergraduate film program.

Ethan Coen studied at Princeton University and got an undergraduate degree in philosophy.

Major Films

True Grit (2010)

No Country For Old Men (20207)

Fargo (1996)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

Paris, je t’aime (2006)

Burn After Reading (2008)

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Signature Styles

Film Noir

Same cast used in films

Lots of mishandled crime or twisted criminals in films

Film Noir

Film noir is used in most of the Coen brothers films. This scene is a great example because it includes crimes, femme fatale, sleazy setting, evil criminals, and a depressing ending. This is a scene from True Grit (2010), the main characters are interrogating two criminals that they ran into.

This style is also used in the film, No Country For Old Men because it involves a murderer who kills without mercy and it deals with a man who finds money and must escape his pursuers, who are greedy and lustful men and those are the structural elements of a film noir.

Same cast used in films

The Coen brothers use the same cast throughout some of their movies because they are comfortable with those certain actors and believe that they will portray the characters perfectly.

Jeff Bridges was casted in The Big Lebowski (1998) and True Grit (2010)

John Turturro was casted in Miller’s Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000).

John Goodman was casted in Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1998), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother Were Art Thou (2000), and Inside Llweyn Davis (2013).

Steve Buscemi was casted in Miller’s Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), and Tuileries (2006).

Mishandled Crime and Twisted Criminals

In The Big Lebowski, two criminals go into The Dude’s house and assume that he is the man they are looking for and they ruin his rug, but he wasn’t the right Lebowski.

In Fargo, Jerry Lundegaard hires two criminals to kidnap his wife to keep the ransom money from his father in law but he doesn’t plan it out correctly and later gets arrested.

Sources

http://sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/coens/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coen_brothers

http://www2.bgsu.edu/departments/theatrefilm/current/projector/vol2issue1folder/vol2issue1art2.htm

http://www.coenbrothers.net/coens.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDAxmWh66I0

Pictures

http://artthreat.net/2011/03/coen-brothers-israel-boycott/

http://www.geekscholars.com/the-friday-five-fargo-dontcha-know/

http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/6-filmmaking-tips-from-the-coen-brothers.php

http://gutenfilm.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/hall-of-greats-the-big-lebowski/

http://hardonmovies.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Paris-je-taime-Blu-ray/1036/

http://www.soundonsight.org/this-is-a-mean-old-world-westerns-in-contemporary-settings/

http://www.pinterest.com/dinadv/the-wonder-of-steve-buscemi/

http://www.soundonsight.org/the-coen-brothers-might-make-a-horror-film/