No Country For Old Men - Coen Brothers

No Country for Old Men was written and directed by the Coen brothers, and based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. Its a crime/thriller drama, based in western america. The film involves alot of violence, death, drugs and money.

The narrative is quite simple and straight forward, a chase between a psychopath and a sheriff (who is holding $2,000,000 and a stash of heroin). The psychopath will stop at nothing to get to the sheriff and claim his money and drug prize, and doesn't hesitate to kill anyone who even remotely gets in his way.

The film is filled with manby different shot types, and thriller signifiers. E.g: the mise-en-scene for the larger part of the film is filled with open spaces, mainly desert land with intense scenery. The rule of thirds is put into action in one particular spectacular shot when the sheriff looks through binoculars at a dead man's shoe next to a tree, which casts long dark shadows (which is an intense thriler signifier).

The film has many grusome scenes, as we witness many wounded/dead men, and a fair few murders. The pace of the film overall is slow, not rushed, making it more intense to watch, because the action doesnt rush through, it takes you through each murder and scene slowly. I think this gives it more of a sinister feel, as we see everything in detail.

In many scenes, the fact that there is no non-digetic or digetic sounds, so its deathly quiet, creates more sinister feelings, and mystery and keeps the audience on the edges of their seats, as this mainly happens before main or shocking parts of the film.

The film won 4 Oscars, and 90 other wins, with only 36 unsuccessful nominations, so overall was a very sucessful film.