This movie was brutal, particularly for those who scrutinize and analyze the meaning of life as if beneath a microscope, who not only ask "why? why? why?" but expect reason and science to answer those overwhelming questions. As the Asian student's father said, "accept the mystery."
"He goes..." I remember in the theater that this sequence just blew me away! Absolutely one of coen's masterpiece! A movie in the movie! And with hendrix!!! The editing with the music, the directing, the narrating voice... such a great piece of cinema!! Jesus christ! Just love coen brothers! A serious man is one of their greatest movie! Pure genius!
Best part of this scene is the way the Sussman clearly is satisfied with the rabbi's answer and smiles, but then it cuts back to Larry who is very not satisfied with the answer. The rabbi told him exactly what he needed to hear, just as all the other rabbi's did, but he just couldn't get it.
The cut between Sussman getting the “couldn’t hurt” answer where he looks satisfied and then it cuts right to Larry in the same chair looking completely confused is such a small detail but excellent editing haha
One of the most brilliant scenes in the history of American cinema. My God! A scene so perfectly done it blows my mind. The music was perfectly used. Fantastic acting. This is why I love the Coens! They just take care of business.
The Coen Brothers do not allow ad libs, they would have written that in the script. Like Brant in The Big Lebowski "The necessary means for the necessary means for a higher education"
I read an interview with the Coens. An actor didn't read the line as written, he said he thought it was a typo. "We're the Coen Brothers, we don't make typos"he was told.
I've loved the Coen Brothers since RAISING ARIZONA (26 years ago) and worshipped them, for a while, when MILLER'S CROSSING came out (1990) but this six minutes of film confirmed their brilliance. A century from now film students will be discovering things in Coen films that only the brothers knew existed. They're mythical, mystical prophets.
This is such a good piece of cinema, brilliant editing, brilliant use of sound, (brilliant song to begin with), brilliantly comic. Its brilliant on so many levels.
My favorite thing about Judaism is the fact that doubt is such an essential and defining part of the religion. What does it mean? No one knows. Accept the mystery
I just watched this out of the blue. I have no connection to their culture at all but this Rabbi reminds me so strongly of an old guy I used to work with 😂. It's like I was taken back 40 years. He used to have such a dry wit and loved everyone.
Thats the point. The whole film concerns Larry Gopnik's attempts to understand why his life is falling apart around him. This is just one of several scenes with various Rabbis where he becomes ever more bewildered and frustrated by the fact that they are unable to give him any logical answers or helpful advice. The Cohen brothers very cleverly draw the viewer into Larry's world of endless anticipation of resolution and inevitable confusion and disappointment. We experience his disappointment too
What a great scene (and what a great movie!!!). One of the Cohen's best of all times!!! Pretty much sums it all up, wouldn't you say? BWT, thanks for posting it, microours!!!
It's a retelling of the Book of Job, if retelling is really the right word. The Rabbi is analogous to one of Job's three "friends" who do not offer any response to Job but quasi-Satanic negation, Job calls them his "miserable comforters". The wonderful exchange "We can't know everything" "It sounds like you don't know anything!" is reminiscent of Job's exchanges with his "friends".
lol I love how when he say “sussman?” While he sips as tea after the story. Like he’s being inconvenienced or talking like why the eff are you asking lol
"Why does he makes us feel the questions if he's not gonna give us any answers?" people of any religion, not just Judaism must have asked this at one point. I love this scene for so many reasons. Not only does it comedically present how people often attribute strange or unusual circumstances to HaShem/a higher being but also ironically shows how useless it is to make sense of his plans for us, if he even has any. the Coen brothers respect their audience's intelligence, i love em!
@TheMaskedDonut LOL! I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm a HUGE "Lost" fanboy, and this scene completely puts that entire series in perspective! When it comes to "Lost", I'm basically the Rabbi in this scene. Who cares about all the answers, it's the message and the content of the story that counts. :)
@cinemaspaz . The scene tells us who the rabbi is. He does not say that he does not know what happened to the patient, that is is not important to the story. He calls the man "the goy" and uses the words "who cares". His words close the scene, accentuating their impacgt. This movie is about the people the Coen's grew up with. It is an honest and funny look at a very screwed up bunch of folks -- Jews and non Jews alike (although they view the non Jews from a distance).
@capella1234 In France and they say that the clip is ban in : Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo - Democratic Republic of, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, ... and shit
Notice Susanna stands under a sign that reads “PRODUCE”. Notice the 3rd rabbi is busy even tho “he doesn’t look busy”. The coens give away the answer to all
It’s easier for Sussman to walk away. His problem is all in his head. He saw something weird and he got obsessed with what it meant. Being told it was just an unknown thing that we can’t know the implications of? Great. Larry is having a series of life shattering events happen to him at the same time. To be told the same thing would understandably be a harder pill to swallow. I ultimately think what Larry was looking for was someone to tell him “yes that’s super hard Larry, I can understand why you are upset about this.”
@TheMaskedDonut They didn't have to try to answer the questions, because people are smart enough to give their own answers, and fill in the gaps. Great art is usually ambiguous, and great will usually imitate life. And all the questions that we have about life, faith, and whatever, won't be entirely answered. And the flash-sideways in Season 6 made their actions on the Island even more meaningful and emotionally impacting.
@Transformers217 I know what you mean, and it's not the fact that they don't answer some of those little questions. It's more sometimes the fact of either how many little and big questions went unanswered. I knew they couldn't answer all of them but they didn't even try. Not enough time to go into depth, but my biggest gripe is the flash-sideways universe. It was completely pointless, and makes all the actions on the island irrelevant since they all seem to be happy there anyway.
I had a similar condition with my teeth. Only, it was my mercury fillings and they were telling me RON PAUL 2012. So I got gold crowns (caps) put on. But my insurance wouldn't cover gold, so I was broke, and all I could afford to eat was Ramen noodles, which you don't have to chew, so I don't need the gold crowns. The price of gold, in the meantime, has gone way up, and now I can sell the gold and make a fortune. The moral of the story is as follows: always (YT 500 character limit reached.)
Somehow this story reminds me of Lost. A complex unusual mysterious story with no answer or point. Suffice it to say, my reaction to Lost is similar to Larry Gopnik's
I gotta love a religious guy with that kind of attitude. Who knows? We all want answers! Is it relevant? I love it. FAR more honest and humble than the self-aggrandizing that passes for spirituality in SOME circles.
![Movies I Love (and so can you): A Serious Man (2009) [*Spoilers*]](/img/n.gif)
rabbi nachtner is the biggest troll in the history of movies
This movie was brutal, particularly for those who scrutinize and analyze the meaning of life as if beneath a microscope, who not only ask "why? why? why?" but expect reason and science to answer those overwhelming questions.
As the Asian student's father said, "accept the mystery."
mere surmise, sir.
The answer of all of Larry’s questions are presented in the first quote before the movie being “accept with simplicity, everything that happens to u”
@@smartyjonez5470 ...which is just another way of saying..."Accept the mystery"
The Coens edited this Hendrix song so well into this scene. They are brilliant.
what is the hendrix song?
it's edited so well that it makes the rabbi look like the coolest dude alive
song is Machine Gun
The teeth? Don't know.
A sign from Hashem? Don't know.
Helping others? Couldn't hurt.
The Coen Brothers opperate on a different level. First time in a long time a movie scene blew me away like this. How is this film so underrated?
the entire sequence is a masterpiece that sums up perfectly the philosophy behind Coen brothers' movies.
With Hendrix' machine gun....
Because it's not mainstream entertainment and requires thinking and experience?
Lol nominated for a bunch of awards and widely consider a great film. Not sure it is underrated.
«Can Sussman eat? Sussman can't eat. Can Sussman sleep? Sussman can't sleep» Genial escena, simplemente perfecta.
Stuhlberg's performance of a desperate, confused, angry man is one of the best performances of the recent era.
Can Sussman eat? Sussman can't eat. Can Sussman sleep? Sussman can't sleep.
Such a great delivery
What an ingenious scene! Love the inspired use of Hendrix. Perfect.
Usually, UA-cam comments are the dregs of humanity. This clip drew a good crowd.
"Helping others - couldn't hurt"
I take this as the message of the entire film.
Whatever Hashem’s plan for us, we’ll never know it. Only thing we can do control is our own actions
It’s pretty much the entire message of Judaism, honestly.
"He goes..."
I remember in the theater that this sequence just blew me away! Absolutely one of coen's masterpiece! A movie in the movie! And with hendrix!!! The editing with the music, the directing, the narrating voice... such a great piece of cinema!! Jesus christ! Just love coen brothers! A serious man is one of their greatest movie! Pure genius!
That story had us all hook line and sinker at that moment
Best part of this scene is the way the Sussman clearly is satisfied with the rabbi's answer and smiles, but then it cuts back to Larry who is very not satisfied with the answer. The rabbi told him exactly what he needed to hear, just as all the other rabbi's did, but he just couldn't get it.
The best scene in all of cinema
The cut between Sussman getting the “couldn’t hurt” answer where he looks satisfied and then it cuts right to Larry in the same chair looking completely confused is such a small detail but excellent editing haha
One of the most brilliant scenes in the history of American cinema. My God! A scene so perfectly done it blows my mind. The music was perfectly used. Fantastic acting. This is why I love the Coens! They just take care of business.
"first I should tell you, then I shouldn't :3"
I love the detail of Nachtner saying "These questions that are, that are bothering you Larry" - that little repetition somehow adds so much
What does the pause mean?
Shows hes not that invested
The Coen Brothers do not allow ad libs, they would have written that in the script. Like Brant in The Big Lebowski "The necessary means for the necessary means for a higher education"
I read an interview with the Coens. An actor didn't read the line as written, he said he thought it was a typo. "We're the Coen Brothers, we don't make typos"he was told.
Fantastic scene. IMHO, the most important scene in the movie.
I've loved the Coen Brothers since RAISING ARIZONA (26 years ago) and worshipped them, for a while, when MILLER'S CROSSING came out (1990)
but this six minutes of film confirmed their brilliance.
A century from now film students will be discovering things in Coen films that only the brothers knew existed. They're mythical, mystical prophets.
This is one of my all time favorite Coen moments
This maybe one of the best scenes I have ever seen.
Life is short. Life is uncertain. Find somebody to love.
"Son of a gun" - that is so perfect the way he says it
I love this part so much
"Please, accept the mystery"
My favorite scene in the movie! Thanks for sharing!!
George Wyner has been in every American tv show ever made, and half the movies, but this scene will last forever
This is such a good piece of cinema, brilliant editing, brilliant use of sound, (brilliant song to begin with), brilliantly comic. Its brilliant on so many levels.
never heard of this movie, but its always nice to hear the greatest guitar solo of ALL time. :)
One of the greatest movies of all times and a fantastic scene!
Sussman looks like the red owl!! Gotta love the Coens' sense of humor!
I love the outside shot of him going into the Red Owl.. actually, I love every single camera shot. Virtuoso filmmaking.
absolutely right! 'brilliant' is best word to describe this whole movie to begin with!
My favorite thing about Judaism is the fact that doubt is such an essential and defining part of the religion. What does it mean? No one knows. Accept the mystery
I just watched this out of the blue.
I have no connection to their culture at all but this Rabbi reminds me so strongly of an old guy I used to work with 😂.
It's like I was taken back 40 years.
He used to have such a dry wit and loved everyone.
Thats the point. The whole film concerns Larry Gopnik's attempts to understand why his life is falling apart around him. This is just one of several scenes with various Rabbis where he becomes ever more bewildered and frustrated by the fact that they are unable to give him any logical answers or helpful advice. The Cohen brothers very cleverly draw the viewer into Larry's world of endless anticipation of resolution and inevitable confusion and disappointment. We experience his disappointment too
It has many parallels to the book of Job. "Hashem doesn't owe us anything" is really liberating when you understand & accept it.
What a great scene (and what a great movie!!!). One of the Cohen's best of all times!!! Pretty much sums it all up, wouldn't you say?
BWT, thanks for posting it, microours!!!
Rabbi: The Teeth? We don't know. Sign from Hashem? Don't know. Helping others? Couldn't hurt.
Sussman: :)
Gopnik: o_O
Bro this was so anticlimactic 😂😂😂
Everything is just perfect in this scene.
Thanks for uploading scene. Hilarity.
It's a retelling of the Book of Job, if retelling is really the right word. The Rabbi is analogous to one of Job's three "friends" who do not offer any response to Job but quasi-Satanic negation, Job calls them his "miserable comforters". The wonderful exchange "We can't know everything" "It sounds like you don't know anything!" is reminiscent of Job's exchanges with his "friends".
possibly the best scene ever!
You all probably know this, but Rabbi Nachtner is the same actor as Col. Sanders from Spaceballs. I thought that was hilarious
OH WOW I had no idea until running across this comment. It seems so obvious now!
Love that after all that Sussman just concludes "well, whatever..."
Best Coen movie.
No Country
Their greatest film since Fargo!
Sy Ableman. What a viril and potent name ;)
He should have just looked at the parking lot
Martin Scorcese said this is his favorite Coen Brothers movie.
Great example of the genius of the Coens.
For those who still don't know, this version of machine gun is from "Band of gypsys - live at the fillmore east".
It's the only version, there was never a studio recording
This scene is a comic masterpiece lol
"..we can't know everything"
lol I love how when he say “sussman?” While he sips as tea after the story. Like he’s being inconvenienced or talking like why the eff are you asking lol
Can Sussman eat? Sussman can't eat. Can Sussman sleep? Sussman can't sleep. Haha the Coen's are fucking brilliant.
"Why does he makes us feel the questions if he's not gonna give us any answers?" people of any religion, not just Judaism must have asked this at one point.
I love this scene for so many reasons. Not only does it comedically present how people often attribute strange or unusual circumstances to HaShem/a higher being but also ironically shows how useless it is to make sense of his plans for us, if he even has any. the Coen brothers respect their audience's intelligence, i love em!
@TheMaskedDonut LOL! I was thinking exactly the same thing. I'm a HUGE "Lost" fanboy, and this scene completely puts that entire series in perspective! When it comes to "Lost", I'm basically the Rabbi in this scene. Who cares about all the answers, it's the message and the content of the story that counts. :)
This movie is brilliant.
@cinemaspaz . The scene tells us who the rabbi is. He does not say that he does not know what happened to the patient, that is is not important to the story. He calls the man "the goy" and uses the words "who cares". His words close the scene, accentuating their impacgt. This movie is about the people the Coen's grew up with. It is an honest and funny look at a very screwed up bunch of folks -- Jews and non Jews alike (although they view the non Jews from a distance).
@capella1234 In France and they say that the clip is ban in :
Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo - Democratic Republic of, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, French Southern Territories, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, ... and shit
Notice Susanna stands under a sign that reads “PRODUCE”. Notice the 3rd rabbi is busy even tho “he doesn’t look busy”. The coens give away the answer to all
@JoshuaMLB it's called Machine Gun by Jimi Hendrix
It’s easier for Sussman to walk away. His problem is all in his head. He saw something weird and he got obsessed with what it meant.
Being told it was just an unknown thing that we can’t know the implications of? Great.
Larry is having a series of life shattering events happen to him at the same time. To be told the same thing would understandably be a harder pill to swallow.
I ultimately think what Larry was looking for was someone to tell him “yes that’s super hard Larry, I can understand why you are upset about this.”
@CreedBalboa sorry what was that? i just turned the heat up so they're really screaming now.
Judging from this, did you also drop kick your dvd player after you watched this movie?
@TheMaskedDonut They didn't have to try to answer the questions, because people are smart enough to give their own answers, and fill in the gaps. Great art is usually ambiguous, and great will usually imitate life. And all the questions that we have about life, faith, and whatever, won't be entirely answered.
And the flash-sideways in Season 6 made their actions on the Island even more meaningful and emotionally impacting.
@sagn "it sounds like you don't know anything" lol great movie
@Transformers217 I know what you mean, and it's not the fact that they don't answer some of those little questions. It's more sometimes the fact of either how many little and big questions went unanswered. I knew they couldn't answer all of them but they didn't even try. Not enough time to go into depth, but my biggest gripe is the flash-sideways universe. It was completely pointless, and makes all the actions on the island irrelevant since they all seem to be happy there anyway.
I had a similar condition with my teeth. Only, it was my mercury fillings and they were telling me RON PAUL 2012. So I got gold crowns (caps) put on.
But my insurance wouldn't cover gold, so I was broke, and all I could afford to eat was Ramen noodles, which you don't have to chew, so I don't need the gold crowns.
The price of gold, in the meantime, has gone way up, and now I can sell the gold and make a fortune.
The moral of the story is as follows: always (YT 500 character limit reached.)
Somehow this story reminds me of Lost. A complex unusual mysterious story with no answer or point. Suffice it to say, my reaction to Lost is similar to Larry Gopnik's
Please, can someone tell me whay version of machine gun is playing?? Thank u!
This is just a wonderful scene. I lmao whenever I see it
@t1mTV yeah. . . there's no actual exchange of sound here
anyone know what album the version of "machine gun" by Hendrix is from here??
@FORD5000solo2001 exactly! brilliant scene, fantastic movie (and great ost) :)))
@t1mTV what are you doing watching this video anyways?
I gotta love a religious guy with that kind of attitude. Who knows? We all want answers! Is it relevant? I love it. FAR more honest and humble than the self-aggrandizing that passes for spirituality in SOME circles.
@tulliadm hahahahahaha that's like the best part.''Helping Others? Couldn't hurt.' and then the face :)
@t1mTV there's actually an archive of what I was saying
I think I get it now:
Sometimes God speaks, and says nothing; but he reminds us that he is there.
Haha I just love how random this scene is.
@microours Can to give us a link to your claims?
brilliant scene. anyone know what the song is?
Just after 0:07
Listen to the emphasis in Larry's voice
Ponder the statement.
“H-shem doesn’t own us anything , is the other way around”.
This is precisely what Larry was unable to understand.
Job 36 : 22-26
Genius.
The best!
@t1mTV joke's on you, I really like this scene.
If all Rabbis were like Nachtner, I think I'd still be a practicing Jew.
@FORD5000solo2001 This video was ban in many country because the movie is recent
@CreedBalboa ok they're all dead now, what were you saying?
this scene did it for me...it was when i was like shit the coen brothers have outdone themselves
@CreedBalboa would you like a cookie?
@microours Where do you get this info from?
@microours What country do you live in, exactly?
@DarthClam Ha, nice. I didn't know.
@ginarosed THANKS!! :)
Obviously, you haven't seen the movie.
Whats the song called thats being played in the background? Isn´t it from Hendrix?
machine gun by band of gypsys, a group hendrix was in