But on the surface, this "Serious Man" seems to be out of the style of the Coen brothers. There is no tight rhythm, no plot to turn back and forth, and no tense atmosphere to create. Only one man's humble and nervous emotions permeated the film.
According to the "habit" of the Coen brothers, following the comedy of "Burn After Reading", it should be a noir film, continuing the noir style that began with "Blood Labyrinth". You can look forward to the weird fantasy of "Barton Fink", or the ritual violence of "Miller's Crossroads", or the grim realistic style of "Ice and Blood Storm". Of course, the blurred light and shadow effects in "The Absent Man" are also very fascinating. What's interesting is that the Coen brothers seem to have abandoned all the classic styles they created, turning all expectations into the trivialities of real life in "Serious Man".
The slow pace in the first thirty minutes even made me suspect that this is not the Coen brothers. Although the Coen brothers like to use a slow rhythm (like "Blood Maze", "The Absent Man", "Ice Blood Storm"), they always know how to master the film. The emotions in the middle, tense emotions can drive slow movements, and always drive the enthusiasm of the audience, but in this movie, my feeling is that the audience’s thoughts may have gone too far, and the first third is about life The detailed description of is somewhat lengthy.
However, this does not mean that the Cohn brothers have really become "serious". Looking at it the second time, Cohn has escaped from the bloody violence. Sure enough, it is Cohn.
What do the two brothers want to say in this movie?
This has to start from the beginning.
The beginning of the movie is a short story that seems to be out of the main plot. When the gray-bearded old man staggers into the blood, the black scene, the subtitles appear, no one knows whether he is a ghost or just a serious wife. Made a mistake.
This unanswered beginning brings out the entire unanswered movie.
This is by no means a degenerate tragedy in which a small person is overwhelmed by the burden of life and is finally forced to accept bribes. The Coen brothers showed a state of confusion.
This is a world without answers. "Serious" may be interpreted as "rational." The protagonist is a physics professor. He patted the table and shouted "actions always have consequences". Mathematical formulas can give answers, and physics formulas can prove answers. But rationality cannot solve all problems.
There is a saying that goes like this: In the
face of the cruelty of the world, the power of our heart cannot bear, and the power of our wisdom cannot bear the complexity of the world.
When this pious and meticulous poor man was trapped by all kinds of problems, and finally realized from the simultaneous masturbation and his car accident that all kinds of things may really be arranged by some mysterious force, he also discovered at the same time that God happened to not at home.
God may actually engrave the words "I need salvation" on someone's teeth, but he forgot to leave a solution and answer before going out.
What the rabbi said is:
Hashem doesn't owe us the answer, Larry. It’s
like the opposite of "Old Nowhere", this is almost a movie about the country for old man, in the restaurant where Sy and Larry negotiated, next to The customers are all elderly, and the trusted rabbi is also gray-haired. This is a deadly community. Larry's daughter goes to the same place every day, and Larry's son says the same thing to him every day. Although in the end it seems that everyone's life seems to have been changed, but this is only the beginning of a new cycle.
I have always liked Cohen's narrative ability to create a world. The plots and characters in the Cohen brothers' movies are never realistic. They are all labeled "made by Cohen". This is no exception in this unusually realistic movie. The black comedy style belonging to Cohen is everywhere. ~
It’s just different from the “good-looking” Cohen movies in the past. Its overall style is a bit of the shadow of “Barton Fink”, and its mood is a bit biased towards “The Absent Man”, but it is more realistic than “Barton Fink” and more realistic than “The Absent” "Man" is more anxious. Because of the difference between the two, it lacks the imagination of "Barton Funk" and is not as quiet and moving as "The Absent Man". At first glance it looks a bit boring, but there are many details in the movie. This is indeed a film work worthy of careful consideration.
In short, the Coen brothers are still the Coen brothers. Perhaps what they want to say is that
this is a world that cannot be explained by science and cannot be solved by faith. Maybe what we can do is to endure the pain and become less "serious"...
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