Already recognized as one of the most personal works by Joel and Ethan Coen, it’s obvious to see why A Serious Man invites reading as autobiography. The story takes place in 60s Minneapolis, where the brothers would have been young men, and is populated almost exclusively with Jewish characters such as those they would have grown up around. The concerns are inevitably of some relevance to the writer-directors then, but it would be an oversight to consider this unusual. Almost by definition the themes and ideologies expressed in their previous works were of great interest to the Coens too.
Indeed, you might recognize some of the moves in the movie as being familiar plays. Even a rather esoteric reference to the uncertainty principle recalls a scene in The Man Who Wasn’t There rather vividly. This film is a work in the oeuvre of a very active pair of directors who we already know as being happy to try the same techniques over and over, albeit in films of various generic material. The central questions, which seek to probe the identity of a man, and the nature of being as, the title tell us, a “serious man”, are similar to the inquiries at the heart of The Big Lebowski. Whereas Lebowski put a cipher at the heart of a convoluted noirish mystery, A Serious Man puts an inactive yet passively complacent victim at the centre of a forever-deepening weave of nightmares – both literally and figuratively. They’re not so different, really.
After their collaboration with Emmanuelle Lubezki, this film sees the Bros. reunited with their most frequent cinematographer, Roger Deakins. It’s strong stuff, as ever, though some later work with tilt-shift lenses is too stylized to slip by unnoticed and derails the flow a little.
I don’t think this a major work by the Coens, but it’s definitely one of their more unsettling and atmospheric films if you can give over to it.
Indeed, you might recognize some of the moves in the movie as being familiar plays. Even a rather esoteric reference to the uncertainty principle recalls a scene in The Man Who Wasn’t There rather vividly. This film is a work in the oeuvre of a very active pair of directors who we already know as being happy to try the same techniques over and over, albeit in films of various generic material. The central questions, which seek to probe the identity of a man, and the nature of being as, the title tell us, a “serious man”, are similar to the inquiries at the heart of The Big Lebowski. Whereas Lebowski put a cipher at the heart of a convoluted noirish mystery, A Serious Man puts an inactive yet passively complacent victim at the centre of a forever-deepening weave of nightmares – both literally and figuratively. They’re not so different, really.
After their collaboration with Emmanuelle Lubezki, this film sees the Bros. reunited with their most frequent cinematographer, Roger Deakins. It’s strong stuff, as ever, though some later work with tilt-shift lenses is too stylized to slip by unnoticed and derails the flow a little.
I don’t think this a major work by the Coens, but it’s definitely one of their more unsettling and atmospheric films if you can give over to it.