So, ‘Franchise Friday’ is no more. As much as I did enjoy those reviews it was an idea I conceived of when I was unemployed and once, I was working again it became unsustainable for me and basically meant I was doing almost nothing other than working and watching films for reviews. With the decision to kill off ‘Franchise Friday’ I was looking for something to replace it and thank you to my mate Ewan for suggesting I focus on directors’ filmographies. And so that is what I am doing. Welcome to ‘Filmography Friday’ where each Friday I review one film from a director’s filmography until I have reviewed them all. That does mean that I will only get through 2 or directors a year, but it also means that I can keep this segment going as long as I would like. But that is enough admin, let's kick this off with the filmography of the Coen brothers and their first film, ‘Blood Simple’ (1984).
The Coens are a directing duo who, although I have seen a decent amount of their films. I still feel like I am lacking in real knowledge and appreciation of their work and style. This review segment will definitely enhance my knowledge of their work, and if I enjoy all their films as much as I enjoyed ‘Blood Simple’ then I will have more than an appreciation for the brothers. As debut feature films go you would struggle to find a better one than this. The film is a brilliant noir which is able to adopt the style and themes of the genre while also having a clear creative stamp on it. There are a handful of brilliant shots throughout the film that really grabbed my attention. The fluid motion of the camera to either add more emotion and tension to a scene or just to create a great looking shot is brilliant and really stand out when watching the film. It feels like a film made by two exciting and budding directors really making most of their talents and letting rip for their first film and it is exciting to see. The film also adopts the lighting and mood of a noir brilliantly. Although it is shot in colour rather than black and white (which is where my brain goes when I imagine film noirs) but they are still able to capture the shade and shadows that are ingrained in the look of the genre. They effectively swap the white out with a low blue and it gives the film a great watch on a visual sense. Add to this a great score that really adds to the atmosphere and tension of the film. It is quite an understated score, but it adds so much to the film.
Although I may not be an expert on the Coen’s work, I do know that they are skilled scriptwriters, and you can see that talent coming through right from the off. The film has great dialogue. A bit like the score, it is not a film relying on its dialogue. It is not a film filled with impressive monologues but instead keeps the dialogue simple but effective. It feels like real, if eccentric and deranged, people having real interactions with each other and it works really well. This is obviously helped hugely by the performances which are also all great. I have to mention Frances McDormand who would go on to be a long-time collaborator with the directing pair, but the real standout performance for me comes from Dan Hedaya. He is brilliantly sleazy and plays slightly unhinged well, but he also manages to portray a kind of uncertainty in what he is doing, and it is a completely engaged and engaging performance. The narrative as a whole is sometimes a little confusing when it comes to character motivation, but that is entirely the point. The only reason the plot moves forward as it does is because characters either do not have all the available information or misunderstand the situation and it basically becomes a sequence of errors leading to mayhem. And this confusion that the characters have for the situation was matched by my confusion for the motivation of the characters and it keeps the narrative completely engaging and had me guessing where it was going from scene to scene. Or maybe my confusion came from my own stupidity which wouldn’t surprise me.
What a start to my new Friday review slot. ‘Blood Simple’ was a brilliant watch. It holds its own in the noir genre, and over 30 years on remains exciting both in its narrative and its style. It is filled with great performances pulling off a great script and it is a film I will most certainly be coming back to in future. It is also a really exciting way to kick off the Coen’s filmography and I am looking forward to cracking on with the rest of them. Next week comes ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987), which is one of the Coen’s films I have already seen, and I already know I really like. But it has been a while since I last watched it so fingers crossed I enjoy it as much as I enjoyed ‘Blood Simple’.
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