the big lebowski (1998) the coen brothers. the big lebowski (1998) cast the coen brothers

The Big Lebowski (1998)

The Coen BrothersThe Coen Brothers

The Big Lebowski

(1998)

Cast


Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)

Novels Include:

The Big Sleep Farewell, My Lovely The High Window The Lady in the Lake The Little Sister The Long Goodbye Playback Poodle Springs


California

If earth is an interplanetary lunatic asylum, Southern California is one of the violent wards.—Source Unknown


Cult MediaThe Coen BrothersThe Coen Brothers

The Big Lebowski (1998)


The Critics on Lebowski

The Coen brothers' ``The Big Lebowski'' is a genial, shambling comedy about a human train wreck, and should come with a warning like the one Mark Twain attached to ``Huckleberry Finn'': ``Persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.'' It's about a man named Jeff Lebowski, who calls himself the Dude, and is described by the narrator as ``the laziest man in Los Angeles County.'' He lives only to go bowling, but is mistaken for a millionaire named the Big Lebowski, with dire consequences.This is the first movie by Joel and Ethan Coen since ``Fargo.'' Few movies could equal that one, and this one doesn't--but it's weirdly engaging, like its hero.—Roger Ebert


The Critics on Lebowski Hot directors coming off major successes often follow up with quirky, more idiosyncratic pictures and so it is with the Coen brothers' follow-up to "Fargo." Spiked with wonderfully funny sequences and some brilliantly original notions, "The Big Lebowski," a pseudo-mystery thriller with a keen eye and ear for societal mores and modern figures of speech, nonetheless adds up to considerably less than the sum of its often scintillating parts, simply because the film doesn't seem to be about anything other than its own cleverness. World premiered at Sundance as a special screening, this Gramercy release looks headed for a mixed critical and luke-warm B.O. reception upon its release in March.--Variety



The Coens have a grand time establishing Bridges' character, and the bowling alley scenes they've written for the Dude and his buddies -- a loose-cannon Vietnam vet played by Goodman and a nearly wordless dunce played by Buscemi -- are pure gold. You can have all that ransom shtick: I would've been happier hanging out in the bowling alley for the whole picture.—Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle


The Critics on Lebowski In a word, The Big Lebowski is a mess. But what a glorious, wonderfully-entertaining mess it is. This film, the Coen Brothers' follow-up to the critically-lauded Fargo, isn't likely to generate the same degree of universal praise. In fact, those expecting something along similar lines to the 1997 Oscar nominee may be disappointed. The Big Lebowski is an off-the-wall comedy that has more in common with Raising Arizona than with Fargo. Its single weakness, and what amounts to little more than a minor distraction, is that it doesn't have much of a plot, and what there is contains the kind of gaping holes that even the most obtuse viewer can identify.—James Berardinelli


The Critics on Lebowski Of course, the Coens have never done the same thing twice in a row, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that The Big Lebowski is so far afield from Fargo. Nevertheless, the brothers' inimitable style is very much in evidence; if anything, it may be more pronounced here. This is one weird motion picture, but I use that term in the kindest fashion, because all of the quirkiness adds up to a level of delightful humor that few films this side of a Monty Python enterprise can match. This is a comic amusement park ride – a wildly uneven movie that offers tremendous pleasure for the moment, even if it doesn't stand up well to post-screening analysis and scrutiny. –James Berardinelli



Like meeting the Three Stooges after they've blasted their brains with mind-altering drugs, time-traveled into the 1990s and landed in a vintage bowling alley. –Judith Egerton, Louisville Courier-Journal


The Cult FilmThe Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim Sharman, 1975)


The Cult FilmEraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)


The Cult FilmLiquid Sky (Slava Tsukerman, 1982)


The Cult FilmDonnie Darko (Richard Kelly, 2001)


The Cult FilmLIVING TEXTUALITY. The authentic cult work, Eco observes, must seem like "living textuality," as if it had no authors, as postmodernist proof that "as literature comes from literature, cinema comes from cinema" (199).


Eco, Umberto. "Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual

Collage." Travels in Hyper Reality. Trans. William Weaver.

New York: Harcourt, Brace Jovanovich, 1986: 197-211.

The Cult FilmA COMPLETELY FURNISHED WORLD. Another closely related prerequisite of The Cult, Eco observes, is its capacity to "provide a completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the fan's private sectarian world, a world about which one can make up quizzes and play trivia games so that the adepts of the secret recognize through each other a shared experience" (198).





The Cult FilmA COMPLETELY FURNISHED WORLD.





The Cult FilmDETACHABILITY. The cult work, according to Eco, must also be susceptible to breaking, dislocation, unhinging, "so that one can remember only parts of it, irrespective of their original relationship with the whole." The cult viewer watching these moments--indeed watching for such moments—may let out an audible "I love this."





The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for cult film?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for cult film?Is it possible for a movie to gain cult status largely through nostalgia?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for cult film?Is it possible for a movie to gain cult status largely through nostalgia?Are “B.Y.O subtext” films(Joss Whedon’s phrase) ipso facto cult films?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for cult film?Is it possible for a movie to gain cult status largely through nostalgia?Are “B.Y.O subtext” films(Joss Whedon’s phrase) ipso facto cult films?What role do intertextuality, metaxtextuality play in the growth of cult film?


The Cult Film: Some QuestionsWhat is the connection between “cult” and quality? Is a “bad” film more likely to become a cult film?Can a cult film be consciously created or must it be discovered?Do certain actors/actress inspire “cultishness”?What is the relationship of camp and cult-ivation?What are the specific relations between genre hybridity/genre bending and cult status?Does box office failure enhance culthood? Can a blockbuster success become a cult film?Why is the fantastic, “left of real” (J. J. Abrams’ term), such a fertile ground for cult film?Is it possible for a movie to gain cult status largely through nostalgia?Are “B.Y.O subtext” films(Joss Whedon’s phrase) ipso facto cult films?What role do intertextuality, metaxtextuality play in the growth of cult film?Is cult film always counter-cultural?


Table of ContentsIntroduction / Edward P. Comentale and Aaron JaffePart 1. Ins (Intrinsic Models and Influences)1. The Really Big Sleep: Jeffrey Lebowski as the Second Coming of Rip Van Winkle / Fred Ashe2. A Once and Future Dude: The Big Lebowski as Medieval Grail-Quest / Andrew Rabin3. Dudespeak: Or, How to Bowl like a Pornstar / Justus Nieland4. Metonymic Hats and Metaphoric Tumbleweeds: Noir Literary Aesthetics in Miller’s Crossing and The Big Lebowski / Christopher Raczkowski5. The Dude and the New Left / Stacy Thompson6. The Big Lebowski and Paul de Man: Historicizing Irony and Ironizing Historicism / Joshua Kates


Edited by Edward P. Comentale and Aaron Jaffe

7. Lebowski and the Ends of Postmodern American Comedy / Matthew Biberman8. Found Document: The Stranger’s Commentary and a Note on His Method / Thomas B. Byers9. No Literal Connection: Mass Commodification, U.S. Militarism, and the Oil Industry in The Big Lebowski / David Martin-Jones10. "I’ll Keep Rolling Along": Some Notes on Singing Cowboys and Bowling Alleys in The Big Lebowski / Edward P. ComentalePart 2. Outs (Eccentric Activities and Behaviors)11. What Condition the Postmodern Condition Is In: Collecting Culture in The Big Lebowski / Allan Smithee12. Holding Out Hope for the Creedence: Music and the Search for the Real Thing in The Big Lebowski / Diane Pecknold13. "Fuck It, Let's Go Bowling": The Cultural Connotations of Bowling in The Big Lebowski / Bradley D. Clissold14. LebowskIcons: The Rug, The Irong Lung, The Tiki Bar, and Busby Berkeley / Dennis Hall and Susan Grove Hall15. On the White Russian / Craig N. Owens


16. Professor Dude: An Inquiry into the Appeal of His Dudeness for Contemporary College Students / Richard Gaughran17. Abiding (as) Animal: Marmot, Pomeranian, Whale, Dude / David Pagano18. Logjammin’ and Gutterballs: Masculinities in The Big Lebowski / Dennis Allen19. Size Matters / Judith Roof20. Brunswick = Fluxus / Aaron Jaffe21. Enduring and Abiding / Jonathan ElmerEndnote: The Goofy and the Profound: A Non-Academic's Perspective on the Lebowski Achievement / William Preston RobertsonWorks CitedIndexList of Contributors


Joel: Well, it’s one thing making up stories, and quite another having a conception of the human race. One doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the other. But, it is true, most of the characters in our movies are pretty unpleasant—losers, or lunkheads, or both. But we’re also very fond of those characters, because you don’t usualy see movies based around those kinds of people. We’re not interested in burly superhero types.--The Coen Brothers Interviews (96)


Ethan: I don’t remember how the idea [for The Stranger in Big Lebowski ] came to us. But we’ve always liked to create a certain distance that takes us away from reality by enclosing the story in a frame. Joel: The Stranger (Sam Elliott) is a little bit of an audience substitute. In the movies adaptations of Chandler it’s the main character that speaks offscreen, but we didn’t want to reproduce that though it obviously has echoes. It’s as if someone was commenting on the plot from an all-seeing point of view. And at the same time rediscovering the old earthiness of a Mark Twain.--The Coen Brothers Interviews (102-103)


Go here for a taste of Berekeley.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q59ZncmAtQ

“The Port Huron Statement was written in Port Huron, Michigan, at a meeting of Students for a Democratic Society. Tom Hayden, the driving force behind the manifesto, was a student at the University of Michigan and came from a working-class family. The Port Huron Statement reflects the dissatisfaction and disillusionment many young people were feeling in the 1960s. College enrollments were booming in the 1950s and 1960s, and many students objected to the way college administrators attempted to control their personal lives. Others students were beginning to be involved in the civil rights movement and were disappointed that the mainstream liberals were not supporting those efforts. (We refer to the student radicals of the 1960s as the "New Left" to distinguish them from the more mainstream Left of the Democratic party.)

After 1962 the student movement increasingly focused on opposition to the Vietnam War, though it built on the basic principles outlined in this manifesto.” -smv http://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/111huron.html


from David Lavery, “’Secret Shit’: The Uncertainty Principle, Lying, Deviation, and the Movie Creativity of the Coen Brothers”

Famous for their send-ups of film genres, the Coens parody other forms as well with a panache that belies their media personas as unassuming, sometimes anti-intellectual, kids-in-a candy store. In the delightful introduction they co-authored for the book publication of the script of The Big Lebowski, for example, they offer an excerpt from But Is It Funny?, a scholarly assessment of the film, beginning with a convoluted analysis of Three Stooges slapstick and eventually scrutinizing Lebowski, by the British critic Sir Anthony Forte-Bowell—“the editor of Cinema/Not Cinema, a journal of movie semiotics. Since Perry and Walker have not seen fit to include this seminal work of Coen criticism in these pages, allow me to requote it here in its entirety:



Humor may also derive from the distribution of pain among characters whose buffoonery precludes the viewer’s, reader’s or listener’s identification To cite a familiar example, Moe raises two fingers in a horizontal V-shape and impels them toward the eye-socket of Curly, who interposes his upraised hand and catches the V at its apex, thereby inhibiting the fingers from achieving their end. After expressing his satisfaction through the repealed utterance of a laugh-syllable commonly rendered “nyuk”, the attention of Curly is diverted by the right hand of Moe as it flutters up to and above eye-level while the audience, though presumably not Curly, hears a high-pitched tweeting sound. While thus distracting Curly with one hand, Moe strikes him sharply in the abdomen with the other, at which the audience, though presumably not Curly, hears a strike upon a tympanum. The final “nyuk” of Curly is thus interrupted so that he may retrieve his forcibly ejected breath, and this new breath”1 more gradual expulsion is so operated upon by hi larynx as to form the sound commonly rendered “ooo”. . . .



When Curly meanwhile drops the hand formerly used to parry the assault upon his eyes in order to massage his insulted midriff, Moe avails himself of the opportunity to renew his digital attack upon the unprotected eyes, and succeeds in poking him, upon which success (he audience, though presumably not Curly, hears a sound commonly associated with the release of a bent-back spring and usually rendered either “doing or “ba-doing (which sound curiously, bears no relation to the sound the eyeballs actually give out upon being forcibly compressed). Moe will in some cases, if sufficiently angered either by Curly’s smugness or by some previous evasion of a punishment deemed appropriate by Moe, so far press his advantages as to quickly and repeatedly slap both of Curly’s cheeks, alternately forehand and backhand, while the audience and perhaps, in this instance Curly himself (the convention here being ambiguous) hears the slapping sound amplified to an unnatural degree.



The pulling of Larry’s hair will not be considered here. I will pause to note, however, the whimsy implicit in the very name given Curly either in wry acknowledgement or in absurd refusal to acknowledge what is striking about his physical appearance, videlicet his want of hair, et ergo a fortiori his want of curly hair. Analysis reveals no comparable whimsy at work in the assignment of names to Larry and Moe, and an historian might here note that Lawrence and Morris were the given names of the actors by whom they were respectively depicted.


Coen Motifs: Howling Fat Men: Walter Sobchak, of course.Blustery Titans: The other Jeff LebowskiVomiting: None, “though John Goodman does spit out part of a nihilist’s ear.”Violence: Severed toe, a car smashing, a near drowning in a toilet, a marmet in a bathtubDreams: Two major dreams, one very Busby BerkeleyishPeculiar Haircuts: The Dude’s, Walter’s flat-top, Jesus’ hairnet

The Coen BrothersThe Coen BrothersFrom Tricia Cooke and William Preston Robertson. The Big Lebowski: The Making of a Coen Brothers Film. New York: W. W. Norton, 1998: 16-23.

The Big Lebowski

April 1, 2010

Time: TBA

Bathrobes Required


the big lebowski (1998) the coen brothers. the big lebowski (1998) cast the coen brothers

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