Joel and Ethan Coen cut their teeth on relatively low budget, fringe films. The black-humored brothers' deviant reinterpretations of Hollywood formulas laugh in the face of the studio system. Influenced more by cartoons, B-movies, and exploitation flicks than by pretentious prestige...
[more]Joel and Ethan Coen cut their teeth on relatively low budget, fringe films. The black-humored brothers' deviant reinterpretations of Hollywood formulas laugh in the face of the studio system. Influenced more by cartoons, B-movies, and exploitation flicks than by pretentious prestige productions, the brothers' off-center takes on American culture helped propel the Independent filmmaking movement into the thriving artistic forefront it enjoys today.
Working as an inseparable team -- Joel directs, Ethan produces -- they co-write and co-edit their eccentric films. They make use of a growing stable of actors, including Steve Buscemi, Frances McDormand, John Turturro, and Jon Goodman, who play lunatic anti-heroes and heroines, funky misfits, and deranged criminals in deliberate mockery of cinema's stock characters. Thus far, the siblings have hatched a slyly farcical collection of screen gems -- variations on classic Hollywood genres loaded with visual flair and quirky dialogue. The Coens revel in their skewed brand of genre pastiche, literary homages, and wealth of twisted characters. They specialize in screwball mayhem with a bloody twist. Their greatest literary influences are the grim giants of hard-boiled detective fiction, Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain.
Running interference with industry-driven, big-budget recipes, the bizarro brothers' reworkings of genre staples have produced startlingly fresh takes on Noir film ("Blood Simple" (1983), "Miller's Crossing" (1990), and "Fargo" (1996)) and the screwball comedy ("Raising Arizona" (1987), "The Hudsucker Proxy" (1994)). "Fargo's" now-classic blend of murder and mayhem won the maverick filmmakers two Academy Awards: best screenplay, and best actress (for Coen-cohort and star Frances McDormand). When hitting their best grooves, the Coens' singular brew of irony, ingenuity, and intoxicating wit bubbles to vivid, satiric life with visual aplomb and top-notch, original writing.
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