No Country for Old Men Explained
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- Опубліковано 27 вер 2024
- No Country for Old Men is a compelling story with a rather ambiguous end. What's the film trying to say?
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I've watched several of these "Explained" videos for this movie, and this is the best one by far. Great job!
You sir, just earned a new subscriber
Awesome sequence thank you!
M Tooth have done both for more recent videos. This video is four years old and one of my first.
1no
I can't believe I watched the entire movie without realizing it had NO music at all. Just... wow
Me too!!
I ran a fever for the whole movie the first time I saw it, and I think that's part of the reason why. I get fevers on occasion when I'm very anxious, and the lack of any kind of music really dials up the intensity.
@@haileybalmer9722 music is always better than pure information when it comes to making it easier on an audience
This is why horror movies should have the music cut out for uncomfortably long intervals
The only music in the movie that I noticed was with the mariachi band waking up Josh Brolin's character on the Mexican side of the boarder. I wonder if there is any significance of that.
@@zollamark it most certainly has significance. The song lyrics translated:
You wanted to fly without wings
You wanted to touch the sky
You wanted many riches
You wanted to play with fire
I think the scariest part of the film is that fact that it has no music. It makes it so much more immersive and real. Real life has no soundtrack.
yes it does " turns up my iron maiden"
Kelly S Speak for yourself buster. Danger Zone is my life soundtrack.
An I tell u what I want what I really really want I wanna uh I wanna uh I really really wanna zigga zig ahhhh
Kelly S: I'm a musician, yet I do agree. There really isn't a soundtrack. And it is scary.
degree7: speaking of singing bowls. I picked up the heart chakra bowl at a Goodwill store for 99 cents! They didn't know what it was and thought it was some cheap eating bowl that wouldn't stand up right. The heart chakra alone is around 100 dollars.
This movie taught me that if I find a case of cash, always empty it out into a new bag.
Hahaha....but you'd piss your pants first.
And NEVER comeback to the place where you found it.
I requimend a common paper sack from a local grocery store.
That sudden urge of absurd conscience to bring water to that guy made the whole plot 😂
Yes, that is definitely the true moral of the film.
My favorite little detail in this movie is when Bell goes into the hotel room finding the vent open with the coin that Anton used to unscrew the screws off. The coin was heads up just like with the coin toss in the gas station.
A nod to that 50/50 chance he had and Bell got to live.
Anton left it for bell bc it was now his lucky quarter
Another good thing about this movie is that they keep u wondering
It's 'blow your mind' time! Maybe Bell goes into the hotel room but Chigurrh is actually there and he kills the sheriff.. but because of quantum immortality, the sheriff's soul leaves his body and immediately reattaches itself to that version of him that is still alive elsewhere in the multiverse and that other version of him is the one who arrives, say, five minutes later and enters the motel room after Chigurrh has left (and this is what we see). This new part of the multiverse is perfectly identical to the other part of the multiverse except for this one detail. This is theoretically possible, apparently 😯
Edit: grammar
@@PatrickRyan147 fictionally? yes
@@PatrickRyan147 weed really got stronger
The gas station owner's role is way underrated in my opinion - even if it's just one scene. 100% believable character.
I was just thinking about that too. Fantastic actor.
Agreed. What an actor.
Yeah you can really see all his desires and past in how he acts, at first curious, then indignant and prideful, then fearful, and finally... acquiesces that this is a wolf right here in front of me, and while I'd like to think I'm a tough guy, I know I have a better chance to hide than to fight.
1000000% agree! you just got me think about the scene and how good it was.
my first thought as well man made it feel real as hell
I love how Anton, Bell and Moss never really cross paths, even the gun battle, Moss never really sees who he is shooting at or who is shooting at him
but he said he saw the guy to woody harrelson.
@@sourabhtripathi0986 he got a quick glimpse of him
@@sourabhtripathi0986 "saw" or came across paths i believe.
@@manniefresh7354 The point is that he knows what he looks like, contrary to the original comment.
@@sourabhtripathi0986 i was wondering where did he saw him cuz there wasn't s scene in the movie where they met and get to see each other
I like how you let the car crash jarringly interrupt you mid sentence. Nicely done.
Yeah that was a surprise as good as the movie one... Very well done..
(Not ending that with "mid sente-...")
No matter how many times you watch this movie and tell yourself this scene no is coming. It gets you. Every time.
aaaahhh OP lost the chance to say "well done"
Better than the obnoxiously loud hotel telephone ring, because wait for it...wait for it...
*PPHHZZNNT*
My dumbass didn't understand that the dead guy the camera was focusing on for 10 seconds was our protagonist, so I was just left confused till the film ended lmao.
Same I was like there no way he’s dead
same here, I thought it was another "mexican" shootout with more casualties
Ya I had to rewind and watch it again. I was so hyped for the showdown that I didn’t even consider the possibility of the protagonist dying offscreen before anything even happened
Lol bc the film is just stupid
@@imanmghn I just finished it for the first time that shit pissed me off so bad
Chigurh isn't some embodied cosmic principle of death. He just thinks he is. He's really just a person who kills other people.
Carla Jean points this out to him... and he kills her. She didn't lose the game. She got killed for not playing it. That doesn't mean she should have played it.
I think that her refusing to acknowledge Chigurh as some sort of divine agent of death was the most courageous act depicted in the movie, and I think it shook him badly, which is why he got in the car accident.
But her courage didn't SAVE her. Nor did God intercede on her behalf.
Goodness and moral courage do not equate to victory.
And that's why it's no country for old men.
Of course, Chigurh is just a man in the movie. But he also isn't a man because this is a story created in the mind of several authors. So on one level, Chigurh is just a man who thinks he's playing by the cosmic principle of death and on another he's actually the story's symbolic embodiment of death.
"Goodness and moral courage do not equate to victory." How can we know that "Death" ( which actually is not a verb, rather the absence of one; Life ) is not the victory? Tomorrow always brings the possibility of immense suffering, so to transcend this may be the victory. Life itself is No Country for Old Men, perhaps...
There's no sense at all that Chigurh was rattled. He doesn't get in the accident because he wasn't paying attention; he gets hit because the other driver ran the light. There's no reward for following the rules.
Carla Jean might have been brave, but she was also stupid. Chigurh came there to kill her; he didn't come there to flip the coin. He decided to flip the coin; it was the most mercy he could show. If she wanted to live, she should have flipped the coin.
In a way Chigurh did get hit by the car because of Carla Jean though. But to accept that interpretation, you have to also accept that Chigurh was the embodiment of random chance and death. By refusing to play and forcing Chigurh to choose to kill someone he wasn't required to kill, he is stripped of his power and falls victim to random chance himself.
John Harmon god damn John.
very well put, John Harmon. but like Michael Booth said, I also believe Carla Jean unintentionally made Chigurh get inside the loop to which he was seemingly an acting force.
The message of the movie is "The moment you know you are old is the moment you no longer recognize the world around you, and the world has no place for you in it."
underappreciated comment. I feel this very keenly - started when I turned 45. I think it will happen to people at a progressively early point as the world keeps speeding up.
@@cathleenrocco4804 you're not wrong, I'm only 19 and already so out of touch with everything of my generation lol. I feel like a 50 year old man
I think that is why God insists that the people that choose to love Him not become too ingrained in the world.
"In this world you will have trouble but I have overcome the world"
Also to know this about death
" Man must die or he will live in his sin forever."
Also that there are no guarantees in life because of the brokeness of the world through sin
"God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust."
However life might be easier if you avoid unnecessary trouble
" Suffer not as the thief suffers"
Finally God is in control and ultimately working things out
"God causes all thing to work to good for those that love Him"
The only thing good God can offer is Himself not health or wealth
"All is vanity under the sun"
@@jessicageerligs339i think you meant to say the Hebrews that made up the god that you happen to worship because of the geographic location in which you were born and reared...
@@ObsoleteFox literally same
"All men's miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone."
Blaise Pascal
Well said. You got to love Pacal's perspective and writing.
Damn
SailfishSoundSystem THANK YOU... Finally somebody is speaking TRUTH.....
This is immediately refuted by sitting in a room alone lol.
We can until we get hungry/horny
The matter of fact death of the protagonist Moss has to be one of the most jolting events in movie history. It demolishes all your preconceptions and the unwritten laws of movies. it leaves you completely hanging in the wind. Pure chaos.
Yes. same as the sudden and grossly unexpected death of Leo De Caprio's character in The Departed
@@thanktink4328Seriously?? What a way to spoil that movie for me
@@susurrus5047 Are you saying that I
spoiled it for you??
@@thanktink4328yes that’s what they were saying
@@MauriAllure who?
Theorists: "Never kill the protagonist off-screen."
Coen brothers: "Challenge accepted."
Sheriff Bell is the true protagonist of the movie.
@@andersonolb1793 so few people know he is
@@burnthetrolls5971 true, it's literally in the title
@@fp8575 amazing story telling, amazing book, AMAZING MOVIE
Didn't even like the protagonist to begin with.
For me the most intense scene was when Carson was going up the stairs thinking he had a productive day and achieved something just to realize that Chigur was behind him. Who then said “Hello Carson, Let’s Go To Your Room”. Carson didn't even had to look behind to know that the angel of death was there for him. he knew it out of pure intuition.
And how Carson is visibly sweating and scared when talking to Anton.
Or he just recognized his voice
How did Anton track Carson down?
I thought nearly everything involving Carson was pretty weak and not very well explained
Bro said “oh fuck GG”
“We are the inheritors of the forgotten dead and will soon be dead ourselves”
Damn that’s deep
So heres an interesting take-that sounds like a morbid statement. However it could just as easily be liberating in its implications. “We all will feed the worms and trees. So don’t be shy..” is another way of saying -explore what you’re willing to possibly die for and you’ll likely find yourself more fully alive.
cf. the last page of joyce's "the dead".
Sounds like a great epitath for a tombstone (or in my case urn).
Thats life.
It's how I live
what I personally learned from this movie is that if you ever discover a bag full of money you must always check for a tracking device.
and to not feel so much guilt that you have to return to a crime scene to help a man marked with death
I half expected you to conclude on leaving the bag of money where you found it.
@@thanktink4328 now what fun would that be
@@FunClockwork story moral: does it look like moss had fun... freaking out, on the run, getting shot at, costing other people's lives... that money caused a bloodbath
@@thanktink4328 I had fun watching the movie so I'm sure Llewellyn had one heck of a rodeo playing cowboy 🤠
Sure. But the coolest part of the film is till Chigurs silenced shotgun.
I wanna see more silenced shotguns in movies
It's not a shotgun though.
Haywood Giles what is it then?
ua-cam.com/video/QDvmd0nenW0/v-deo.html
This is the shotgun from the movie
Ah, I was thinking of his captive bolt gun. That was the memorable weapon for me.
I don't know how you couldn't mention the author of the book, the movie was almost word for word from the book. I understand the Cohen brothers did a good job making it a movie but Cormac Mccarthy wrote it.
I've read it several times and am ready to do so again. That, and Blood Meridian, are American masterpieces.
Good call. Cormac doesn't get enough recognition. Guy is one of the best American authors of all time.
@Barry Foster I can't agree with "terrible" as his style. I think Cormac was influenced by Faulkner, who for me, is/was America's greatest novelist, so maybe my opinion here doesn't count. I especially liked the "voice" Cormac gave to Ed Tom Bell, and had to restrain myself from using that. I also write (nonfiction), and I like a good yarn, which I think "No Country" is. But I've read all of Cormac (and Faulkner) so I do not represent the disinterested third party. Anyway, happy reading whatever you like.
@Barry Foster no country is a masterpiece, perhaps you should read it again. everything about it is intentional
@Barry Foster Just because academicians deem it "terrible", doesn't mean it is, and just because others say it, doesn't mean you should think the same. His writing is true to how people talk, act and think; just because it's "terrible" by whatever academic standards, or because some university professors deem it that way, doesn't mean it is. It's different, that's all. Of course since it breaks their rules, but they can't say that it's bad - because it's just that good - so the academicians who likely never wrote anything significant will say that the writing is "terrible".
The unraveling of the snack wrapper is one of the most brilliant sources of building tension I’ve ever seen in a movie.
I was quite surprised to find that scene was taken verbatim from Cormac McCarthy’s book, even down to the unraveling wrapper.
Can you please explain it, I didn't understand the meaning behind that scene
@@Mr47CRO aluminum unraveling is an unnerving sound and it’s meant to add to the tension already established in the scene. It’s simple, yet thoughtful and effective.
💯💯
@@Mr47CROI always viewed that scene as Anton Chigur coming across a man of his complete opposite and being disgusted by it.
Anton has principle, standards, determination and most of all he's competent. The old man is purposeless, thoughtless, lacks principle and standards.
It's the reason he spontaneously chokes on the candy. He is disgusted with the fact that the old man takes no control of his life and only has the place because he married into it. Anton doesn't respect that he doesn't make his own path-As a symbol of "fate" Anton makes the old man do the coin toss as to let chance decide whether he'll die or have opportunity to live and perhaps change. (I would compare it to the scene in Fight Club with the convience store guy.)
Anton is first abrupt with him because the old mentions he saw he "was from Dallas". Anton's stolen car had Dallas plates so he couldn't over look the guy was a "witness" as he asked small talk questions. Anton couldn't risk being identified by authorities so he simultaneously risk given the guy a chance to live or killing him for being a witness.
The fact that No Country for Old Men gave the feeling of dread and impending doom in every scene without a score or soundtrack says a lot about the creative ingenuity and masterminds of the Cohen brothers. I love how the villain was portrayed as having the same 50/50 chance of life or death doing mundane, everyday things like driving a car through an intersection just like the rest of us. It gave me a feeling of much needed relief actually.
or that the main character who was so competent died to some basic thugs and not even the "main" antagonist, so anti-climatically might i add.
@@FunClockwork But the MC wasn't competent at all. He was greedy, senseless, and gambled with his life. He clumsily ran from consequences, kept secrets, told lies. His view of paradise was riches (vanity, a sin). He ran to a senseless death. His choices led to self-destruction and more death, like he stumbled upon in the intro. The antagonist is Death, a creature without vanity or reason, a black hand of consequences who all must respect, which is why he kills the girl who refuses to partake, a way of saying that no one can play by their own rules. There are many videos to explain this film because it's too ambiguous and cheesy (a coin? a traffic light? really?) in how it explores concepts.
However if it is an attempt to explore the question of faith in God and life itself as a gamble, then it's a rather gross exploration at that, and a oversimplified, demoralizing way to look at the modern world. It seems senseless, thinking of all the killing in modern times, but it's ignorant to suggest there were ever peaceful times. It's more like bubbles floating through the air. Bubbles burst and weak people have to come to grips with reality. Humans are sinful, corrupt, chaotic people who need to get together and struggle every day to make it, and to do that you need to believe in something. But don't place your bets, especially with God. Hopefully that's not the takeaway from this film.
@@FunClockwork*It didn’t go like the million of times their movies or shows.. refreshing isn’t it? Regardless of yours thoughts on it*
I’ve seen the movie a dozen times and never noticed it had no music!
Because a movie like this doesn’t need music to intensify what’s going on, you’re too caught with the storyline
I didn't either, that is crazy.
Then why was carter burwell credited for the music? Was there music in the end credits?
ive seen it over a 100 times and never noticed either!!!
Really?
This movie is so profoundly good it
almost hurts to comprehend it.
I literally cry almost any time I think of this movie, lol.
Disagree, When I first watched this film I thought it was too in between the lines and shit. After watching this video it confirms my original thoughts. Too much, way too overdone, total shite.
TheBatmobeale look out we got a smooth brain over here.
@@TheKep I haven't read the book which seems pretty integral to enjoying the film
It's an amazing film, imo. If you don't feel the same, there's nothing wrong with that.
I think his dream was meant to say that good men like Bell and Moss have always existed in spite of the world, and his memory of his father carried the torch like the old timers before him and his own memory will one day for who comes next.
“Waking up” is left ambiguous and can also be read as waking up from the dream to reality of his own existence. The fire isn’t just a dream it’s his father calling to him and it’s the fire which his father has built for him in life which wakes ED Tom from his slumber
@@youthnation1 great explanation, what happened to you? You stopped posting for a while now
@@skxlter5747 he passed away
@@TheMasterofComment I saw a few comments below saying that as well. Sad to hear.
"Where'd you get them guns?" "The gettin place".
As a southerner those words struck me as the most genuine and legitimate bit of dialogue in any movie I've ever watched. *THE REALISM*
@@ersatzmachine5732 what do those words mean where you're from
That's where I got mine...
LIVERZ "don't worry about it" where I'm from.
@@treebeard7140 Alriight, i get you. Nice 1 for getting back to me 🙂
About Anton's psyche and motivations, its interesting to consider that Anton at the end stated the coin traveled with him, all the way to this moment. So it's almost like, whenever he feels like he doesn't have the absolute right to kill; be that if he respects another person like the booky in the office who only said what was needed, or the desk lady who stuck with her rules; he let's fate decide.
Letting fate decide confirms, in his own mind, that he indeed doesn't kill of his own accord (people keep telling him he's crazy, and at all those moments you can see the question marks in his eyes like "How am I the crazy one?") but rather because they were destined to die. Simple as that. Like cattle to be slaughtered. This is also indicated by the use of a cattle gun by Anton to kill his victims: wether he sees himself as better than his victims or not is not the point. What IS the point, is that he thinks he serves a purpose by killing those who either don't fit his convictions - or, are destined to die by his hand as embodied by the coin toss.
Anton and the coin that traveled with him, are, in both Antons mind and in the more theoretical window of the whole movie, the bringers of fate. The conclusion to the coin toss then, will always be what fate had in store for the victim. And as such, both indicating and confirming Anton's belief of being a bringer and helper of fait, and not a psycho killer.
However, the Mary Jane at the end shook his convictions upside down. No longer does he kill because the people didn't fit his morals; no longer does he kill because people were destined as indicated by the conclusion of the coin toss; but this time, the lady died simply because she rocked his world and didn't play along to his game. She didn't do the coin toss and stated what we as the viewer knew all along: the coin toss is a mere excuse for either not or actually killing someone. The fact that he did kill her regardless, proves her point. We shouldn't forget, he is a man of wicked morals, of conviction, and as such, he must follow the coin. But that, precisely that, is what he convinced himself off. Indicating its indeed all a lie which he thaught himself. And just for a moment, he must have realised that when Mary Jane challenged him.
His view of the world shaken, him no longer being the bringer of fate, but exposed for what he is... he quite poeticly finds himself to almost die of mere chance at the end in the car crash. I mean think about it: crossing an intersection irl is a gamble every time. The green light in no way ensures your safety. Much like the coin itself, there's a flipside for Anton's crash: the fact Anton survided, might just as well reinforce his belief of fate. If he was destined to die, he would have during that crash. Seems the universe did a sneaky coin toss on him and he won.
Finally, as for the title: I think it's quite simple. The whole movie is about death and chance. Most dead people in the movie took a chance and paid the price. People who generally don't tend to take chances? Old people. They walked the path of life and have a desire for calm waters. For a fire at the end of a long cold hike, or ride on a horse, if you will. Taking chances is for young bucks who still understand the ever changing world. In particular drug traffic violence is outgrowing the sherrif. His sherrif collegues also state they don't know what the world is coming to. The time of the old, the time of unarmed sherrifs is gone. This ain't no country for old men no more.
Very well written
nice
one of the best descriptions of this movie I've seen
This is brilliant. But can I add to your bit about old men being those who sought the fire at the end of the long cold hike? Doesn’t this suggest they sought comfort rather than exploration (deliberate and purposeful navigation of the unknown)? And might not that be the fundamental separation between sheriff Bell and his father in the dream (which serves as a metaphor), in that while his father “carried the torch” to navigate the dark ahead, all he could think about was the refuge of the warm fire-side and the comforting patriarchal presence of his father. Perhaps there’s a subtle suggestion that sheriff Bell is a coward of sorts (who fails to arbitrate a path steadfastly through darkness, as his father does in his dream, and as the young buck does when they enter the cabin). Is there perhaps a suggestion of a failure to accept one’s role and responsibility within a chaotic world, as harbingers of light? Does it speak maybe of a waning masculine force and light, perhaps personified by Bell and his fear and trepidation? And so this is no country for these Bells, these ‘old men’, but for younger, braver, brighter souls, whom dare to step forth and cast fire into the darkness of the world.
It's also not for middle aged guys since his car crash is a way of saying one day he will become sloppy and screw up and anther guy replaces him as assassin. (like the "rule of 2" amoung the sith in star wars lol)
Oh, Moss' death is the result of a character flaw. He had the "moral failure" of grabbing the money. Greed leads him to his death. Greed is what fuels this whole bloody showdown. But this movie has an aspect I've not seen anyone discuss; It's about the agent of Order (Bell) and the agent of Chaos (Chigurh) squaring off. In the end, Chigurh accepts that he can't overcome an underlying Order ("I got here the same way the coin did.") and Bell can't overcome an underlying Chaos ("I always thought when I got older, God would come into my life. But he didn't."). And when Bell's uncle says, "What you got ain't nothing new," it's always been this way. A timeless struggle between Order and Chaos, wherein neither wins.
Interesting analysis and definitely true in the context of life. But it doesn't seem like that's what the Coen brothers were trying to say in this film. It seems you analyse the film from the classic good guy vs bad guy perspective, white hat vs black hat western, order vs chaos. While it is true that each aspect holds a part of the other, I would disagree in defining the sheriff as the classic good guy fighting the bad guy here. Llewellyn Moss is set up as the good guy fighting Chigurh, not the Sheriff, and in the peak moment, where this classical showdown is supposed to happen between the two, Llewelyn dies off screen. And Chigurh and the sheriff never confront each other. So this classical dichotomy is built up just to be torn down by the Coen brothers, leaving us with a sense of confusion. Here is where the sheriff is revealed to be the true protagonist, after Llewelyn's death: our sense of confusion in trying to grasp at some structure we are used to but doesn't explain the world around us mirrors his. Culture has changed and there is no country for old men.
I just saw 3 different analyses on the film (including this one) and I'm mixing them up, so sorry if I inadvertently just repeated what Logos already said. I hope this is a fit response to your comment :)
Interesting interpretation Jordan Peterson lol
He jinxed himself when he motioned his dead mother to his wife.
Ahura Mazda I disagree, I believe his compassion killed him. If he hadn’t gone back to the shootout site to give the last cartel member water, he would’ve gotten away with the money Scott free. Yes the tracker was still there but he probably would’ve found it well before the cartel, Americans, or Chigurh got on his tail.
Marka Biti you just copied what the narrator said in the vid
Napoleon once said ""don't bring me great generals bring me lucky ones"" I think this kinda sums this film up in a nutshell..
@@Steven19886 no what??
@@Steven19886 explain
@@Steven19886 Ah yes, it all makes sense now.
@@Steven19886 What I wanted you to explain was WHY you don't agree.
@@Steven19886 no?
I dream of my father, though I’m now 20 years older than he ever was... he’s the younger man.
Woah.
That hit me too, I never paid attention to that part before.
The part about building a fire in the cold and dark, and his father
waiting for him there. That's good writing, anything that evokes
thought is good writing.
Only a decade of years before and you would be the father and your father is the son...
@Chakra Zero I think you're reading into this comment too much
@@nowthisis2stupid Cormac McCarthy should be considered one of the great American writers, and quintessentially so. His novels barely have to be reworked to make great films. I'm waiting to see if they'll ever be able to make Blood Meridian.
@M. Jacobson true
One thing you pick up on when you watch the end of this movie is the exchange between Anton and the 2 kids after the accident. His tone of voice noticeably changes. He sounds panicked and shaken. Things you never hear at any other point in the film. He asks the teenager for his shirt to make a sling. He needs his help. Anton’s entire belief system has been turned upside down, just like Sheriff Bell. The fact that he is a pitiful older man in the eyes of two teenagers accentuates this. It really is no country for old me, even for an agent of death.
Great perspective
He even hands the teen the blood money, kind of passing the torch to the new generation by making a deal with the Teen
Though the video states Moss had no moral failure, his inability to resist the temptation of the drug money resulted in his own death as well as the deaths of many characters including his wife and several others. He was aware of the danger yet carried on. Is that a "moral' failure? Humans are flawed and often led astray by desire. Notice even the two kids at the end as they begin arguing over money.
Did his wife die i mean we didn't see it
@@amirhb7531 His wife was killed by drug dealers because Moss took the money.
Coens did not show us Llewelyn's body in the morgue and Ed Tom observes a dead mustache man on the crime scene from far away(he does not visit crime scenes anymore and does not understand criminals as he tells us). At the cemetery - Carla Jean watches her _mother's_ burial. She died from cancer.
Moss rushes to his wife - but he is too late. Drug dealers killed her because money was not found.
Just rewatch the movie with the following in mind:
Anton Chigurh did not kill anyone. He never existed
Here are a few hints for you: boots and socks, weapons, Carson Wells's behavior, storyteller perspective, ending. There are more - find them yourself.
@@amirhb7531 she refused to play his game. How else could it have ended?
you could also say all of of this was brought on by him deciding to do the good deed of bringing a dying man water...
@@amirhb7531 yes she did. After talking to her the killer walked out of the house and checked the underside of his boots for blood.
"Hell's Bell's, they even shot the dog."
*Bells
Out of this 9 minute review I read this as the narrator recites it aloud.
IS - BE “AGUA, AGUA, POR FAVOR”
“What am I supposed to do, put out an APB on someone who has recently drunk milk?”
One word: Beautiful. Very well done friendo.
And, indeed beautiful.
atanu patwary beautiful movie, beautiful video
He did a good call.
Dick Trickle Tow... Tow words... 😂 would have been easier if you used "2"... don't you think!?
Starcade 85 talk radio ya got me! 😂😂😂
Although Anton had no way of knowing it, while he was sealing Carla Jean's fate, she was sealing his. Had she done anything differently than she did, whether it was saying more words, saying less words, begging for her life, running, etc., Anton wouldn't have been dead center in that intersection at the precise moment to be t-boned.
That’s stretch
Imagine Anton fumbled his keys trying to start his car!?!? Ya lil bit of a stretch
Yes. haha t-boned... more like tomahawked lol
I know I'm a bit late but man, this was beautifully interpreted. ''Given the inevitability of loss, the only reasonable action is to bet on something we can win.'' ''Given the certainty of death, the only sensible option is to risk for the possibility of reward. To fight the good fight, to call for life, and to live for the hope we have something in store''. 4 years later, these are still beautiful words uttered by a man who has willfully decoded this film. Whether this may be right or wrong, there can be no lie that these words that Logs shared is an inevitable truth.
The going to church just in case idea only works if there is no other religion with which to reckon. The choice is not 50-50, but hundreds to one. Descartes was dead wrong & his notion is silly.
@@jerryeberts youre the silly one for being pedantic about a quote that was never taken literally
that's your truth
Faith in something just in case isn’t faith. It’s actually lack thereof.
@@jebediahlongtree2958 What do you mean take the quote literally? Could you explain? How is the quote supposed to be taken?
Till you pointed it out at 5:23 i never noticed the coin was heads, telling us he won the toss. Damn, good catch!
holy shit that's amazing
So he won the toss but he still got killed anyway?
@@JennAnn.x been a while since i watched the film but from what i remember the toss was to determine whether if the sheriff gets to survive. since it was heads, anton didn't kill him.
i think he just used it to unscrew the vent
Moral of the film, always call heads.
I spent 20 years as a Texas peace officer. The first of the movie when Tommy Lee Jones character is talking about the old timey here in Texas those men in law enforcement are giants. The sheriff of the county that I live in McLennan County name is Jack Harwell. Sheriff Harwell never carried a gun he didn't have to. He is the one that brokered the ceasefire at the Branch Davidian compound over the telephone. Think about that he was so respected that the Branch Davidians quit shooting the federal agents with automatic weapons over the telephone! Sheriff Harwell was fond of saying I don't need to carry a gun I have an entire department they will come kill you if that needs to be done. He was such a good man that he himself came and did the notification to my father when my brother was killed in a plane crash in 1985.
Basically he conned them into getting slaughtered by Feds. Great guy. Typical cop.
kristy ann 3 dipshit know it alls who just watched Waco on Netflix. Thank you for y’alls input
old timey there...
@@kristyann9912 Not a typical cop, just a bad one.
too much info..who cares about that shit ?...right ,noone !!!
One thing that I loved about this film is that every character was pure. Whether they were supposed to be "pure" or "evil". The lack of a soundtrack was definitely notable as well. A modern cinematic masterpiece.
still don't understand this movie
For me, the one silver lining of the ending is when Chigurh has his car accident. He is established as a man who believes himself to be 'protected' and thus all his actions are the will of some force of fate, but his accident at the end shows him that he is not protected. He is just as vulnerable as the people he has mercilessly mowed to get where he is and just another pawn of fate instead of its servant.
Mark Matthew Pace all your words do not make it so.
I don’t know where you came up with all this and since you mentioned no source, you have zero credibility.
I said a prayer for you just now.
Mark Matthew Pace By implication, your religion is evil and perverted. God had no qualms about killing innocent Egyptians or killing people in general for following another religion. No religion is the right religion.
Mark Matthew Pace
Religions are advertising agencies for a product that doesn’t exist.
Although he didn't die, which could enforce his assurance of fate even more. People tend to find meaning in those kinds of things and built a narrative around it for themselves.
@Mark Matthew Pace So since you're so big on following the Ten Commandments then, when was the last time you killed a disobedient son? The last time you stoned an adulterer? Hel, since I'm an idolater are you gonna come kill me?
You cut off TLJ after "God would come into my life, and he didn't." He says "I don't blame him" after that, that's REALLY important.
Yes, but then his friend (cousin?) says (with a fitting dismissing wave of his hand), "You don't know what he thinks," which helps Bell come back down to Earth and stop feeling sorry for himself; a minute or two later, it also provides the cousin with the opening to his short speech that begins with, "What you got ain't nothin' new," and ends with, "You cain't stop what's coming. It ain't all waitin' on you. That's vanity." In a way, it allows Bell to shed his self-pity over failing to protect Moss, and his vanity over having believed he could protect him, and his guilt over having failed." (Remember, he tells Moss's wife to give Moss the message, "Tell him I can make him safe.")
IMO, the scene in the trailer with the crippled friend/cousin wraps up the story in ways that nothing else could have, especially the line "You cain't stop what't coming." The dialogue, the setting and the two characters are perfect, as are the two great actors. I can't imagine any two other actors(Jones and Barry Corbin) in that trailer.
Johan Sigg
It doesn't suit his narrative. He wants to sneak Pascal's Wager (lamest apologetic argument ever) in and preach to the viewers, instead of acknowledging the absence of God theme.
Dmitry Terek
So, in the end, you want to be a preacher too. To blame people for the world's evils is like blaming lions for eating meat, or fishes for living in water.
Dmitry Terek i found your last comment to be incredibly interesting
Dmitry Terek
Interesting comment. I agree that Pascal’s Wager is ultimately a coping existential tool. But it still sucks as an apologetic argument, which is how it’s often used, and likely not how Pascal meant it.
Its main flaw (as an existential tool) is that doubters simply can’t conjure up faith on demand, even if they might want to.
As an apologetic argument, it’s much worse that the Ontological Argument, which still sucks.
I agree that people need tools to make sense of their (seemingly) meaningless lives, and existentially speaking, that is more valuable than objective truth.
I didn’t even realize the movie had no music. That’s how good it is.
8:33
“Bell could be right, his father may not be waiting, heaven may not exist, this world may never be put right but given the certainty of Death, the only sensible option is to Risk the possibility of Reward, to fight the good fight, to call for Life and to Live in the Hope that we have something in store.”
Man, I can relate to this on such a heavy level. Very Well said, Sir. Great content and Thank you for the “food for thought”.
why falsely hope for something greater and everlasting to come when all there is to enjoy, value, and strive for is right before us? You are looking at the greatest, worst, and only thing there is.
@@oldboy9267 everyone has their own opinion and that itself is a belief. No one knows what happens after. That’s a fact, unless you’ve came back from a no pulse.
Yeah, I agree because that's exactly how I feel about, life after death. Why take a chance we do not know what happens when we die.
@@oldboy9267 you are incorrect. Your opinion is invalid.
The problem with the coin of divine existence and the "win all or lose all" mentality, is it only takes into account Pascal's Abrahamic diety, when in fact you could be losing by betting on that god existing, and not say Anubis, or an infinite number of other gods. Meaning its more like rolling an infinite sided die rather than a coin toss. But we can never actually expect unbiased, logical arguments for religion, now can we?
2:49
"In the end even though **deafening unmastered gunshots** will prevail"
LMAO
Omg lmao
I didn’t watch No Country for Old Men until last year, I was so angry no one told me just how damn good it was.
I would have told you back then that this movie isn't just Good , It's Damn Good
If you liked this another Coen Bros movie Hell or High Water is of equal quality
Most good movies never really get attention sadly
How come you didn't tell me how good the cheese was?!
@@phasechange9789 What are some good ones you know of?
Just realized the lady that played Bell’s wife played Jesse Pinkman’s mom on Breaking Bad.
"stepattadecarpleezsir"
"what?"
"juststepattadecar."
will you hold still please
@@tuglife5322 poor old dude was clearly suspicious at that point, but couldn't really do anything about it. I always feel bad for folks like that
@@isaacster5027 why? he earned some good money to play a little silly role
@@tuglife5322 i mean the character bro
@@tuglife5322 silly role? What a dumb opinion you have, the role was perfect acting and scenary, you better stick to the shitty marvel movies
Refuse to risk and you ensure your end. Given the inevitably of loss, the only reasonable action is to bet on something we can win.
So true.
David Matuszak the takeaway
Reminds me of the stock market.
While I agree with its use in the movie I definitely disagree when it comes to the subject of god. Pascal’s wager is very far from something that you should follow
Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for my sake will find it
Pascal's wager brought me from atheism to belief. Spiritual pragmatism is way winnable than existential nihilism. And makes sense.
A very good study of the film. Using the car crash to interrupt/punctuate your “nothing we do…” line was superb!
This perspective is very interesting. I read the book. My wife and I were both extras in the movie. I still have only watched it once. I'll have to see it again to see how this analysis holds up. Thank you.
What scene were you in?
@@RoachAndRizla I was in the bus depot while Brolin was on the phone. In the background to the left, sitting, reading a newspaper.
@@harrybendtsen5147 that's crazy, hope you're well
@@harrybendtsen5147 you get paid?
I can't find you in the credits
You could say his shotgun is also similar to a scythe, with its main black form as the staff/grip and the silver suppressor end as the blade.
Nah you're pushing it with this
@@noobmaster-mn6rr perhaps, but you must admit what suppressor looks like that?
He can't be death cuz uncertainty applies to him as well
I've seen so many good analysis of this movie and it's very good. What a deep movie
Thanks Andrew!
+Mr., Fanstastic The main bad guy isn't white and every other bad guy is Mexican, and most of them end up dead. No white people in this movie committed any crimes.
Jefferson Steelflex Did you... actually watch the movie? If so, I suggest rewatching it. Then delete your comment.
Normally I wouldn't respond to a comment this old, but what you wrote is so ridiculous, one wonders if you watched the film.
Golden Garrett Llewellyn Moss is white. I distinctly remember him car jacking a guy and taken him hostage. At gun point. Those CRIMES led to the victim's death. Also, I'm pretty sure he stole from a corpse. I don't think that drug money was his. Furthermore, the guy (who is unnamed in the movie) who hires Carson Wells, a bounty hunter, to kill Anton, is a drug dealer. But no crimes were committed by white people.
Mr., Fanstastic
There's nothing deep about a mind that would make either of those two statements. Stating them both pegs you as a bonified idiot.
Anton puts on a Nick Cage face when strangling that deputy.
A Face-Off face?
He probably got turned on. The sicko
Castor Troy face! LOL!!!
Thats the only real time you see real emotion on him aside from the occasional smirk or smile.
Ubermenshe
"I always assumed that when I got older..God would come into my life-- And he didn't"
Damn that one hit.
Matthew 7:7-8. Can't expect God to do all the work
@@TW-fs3fj Why the hell NOT? God puts people here who didn't want to be here so he should be expected to carry the water. Would you say as a parent I can't all the work as your kid is being raped by a pscho? The two choice thing is bullshit. I have already given up on the false two choice narrative that governs politics. I have begun to give on both God and the Devil. Let them sort out their own shit.
@@TW-fs3fj God can't work in the physical, so what's the point of prayer/hoping? It's like me telling you: "Hey! I have millions of dollars here in this closet, but you can't open it until you pass away". Same thing with God. It's pointless to have the belief, you're just deluding yourself.
"I thank God for helping me find a better job"
- So God helped you find a job but couldn't have the ability to stop the Holocaust? Suuureee..
@@TW-fs3fj ...typical malignant narcissist gaslighting...
...easily the worst character in all of fiction...
@@DericAnslum Smells like atheist teenage angst lol, set reminders of these cringe things you say for when you get older. It will make you laugh, trust me.
The final scene pulls the whole thing together. As a man who lost his father in the last few years I cannot watch that without a tear in my eye believing good is waiting for us will triumph over evil and darkness will return to its vile place, wounded and bloodied with a bone sticking out.
james roe exactly. Unfortunately that's the issue here. While the sentiment is lovely and it's hard to break to people at times, just banking on "faith" or whatever you wanna call it is just extremely irrational.
All evidence points towards there not being any sort of higher power but yet you bet on Pascal's Wager?... It's a flawed scenario from the start because you *dont* have nothing to lose and it's *not* just a 50/50 chance. Not to mention, in all areas of your life you *depend* on evidence and reason. Even down to trusting the chair you're about to sit in will hold your weight. But yet suddenly that has to go out the window because you want to be able to lie to yourself to make yourself feel better? Why not come to terms with reality and move forward on that? Find. The solution instead of a bandage. "I'm gonna hope my granny is running in open fields with a perfectly healthy body and nothing but happiness and one day I'll see her again and we'll get to go show our mansions to each other" is just covering up for you not wanting to come to terms with that fact that she's gone.
It may sound really nihilistic to y'all but really, I'd just rather live a life where I'm *not* lying to myself and others and then leading them upon a life of lies as well
Troy Roebuck good point but if you're living a life where you're not lying to yourself, then what are you doing? Evidence of this or that is not much more than gathering stones in my opinion. A smarter man than I once said that to live with hope you must accept dispair to accompany it. Whether it be the hope of some almighty power or the hope of humankind's infantile notions of intelligence and evidence, only death will reveal the truth. Only the dead have any kind of chance to know what happens to the dead. Even then, they still may have no idea.
Chadwick Painter To buy into a lie or rely on infantile , wishful thinking isn't hope. It's the false hope of a child. We can face our mortality as adults or we can pretend. I have no respect for adults that pretend, especially when it carries with it the poisonous dogmas of organized religion. Religion bleeds into politics and education. If it didn't , I'd have no problems with peoples' imaginary friends.
What evidence is there that points to a 'no god' conclusion? The brightest atheist scholars in the world declare,"you can't prove a negative", meaning you can't prove something doesn't exist. Which is true. You seem to be under the impression that believers make their choice with no evidence or reasoned thought, I wonder how closed off from people you have been and if you have ever visited a house of worship or talked to a believer with position within their faith. It is only on faith that you declare there is no god, just as it's on faith I say there IS a god. I've had personal experiences that have provided me with concrete evidence of God's existence, and no, it can't be repeated and tested so it does you no good, but it gave me the evidence I needed; combined with my studies in psychology, science, and theology to reach the conclusion that there must be a god.
Now, I realize we all have our own paths to walk and to each his own, but if there is no god then there is no absolute right and wrong. Right and wrong become subjective. Drowning your mother wouldn't be 'considered "evil", in fact, killing her would be the right thing to do. Periodic culling of the herd staves off starvation and disease. This is an extreme example, but it shows that 'right' and 'wrong' being subjective and tied to the whims of man is disastrous.
--- I'm just gonna throw this bit out there. Maybe raising a generation to believe there is no god is why our nation is in such bad shape.
Daniel Wells To foist off the human questions of "What is the purpose of life?", "What is good, and what is evil?", and "Why do we exist?" to an imagined creator is the height of spiritual and philosophical laziness. Those are questions that WE humans are supposed to answer for ourselves, rather than trusting in con-artists of antiquity who sought to control and dominate others by offering them pretty lies. When one asks the fundamental questions, the "prophet" answers: "The purpose of life is to serve God, and I am God's chosen", "Good is what pleases God, and pleases me; Evil is what angers God, and angers me", "We exist to serve God's will, and to worship him - and me, as well". To say that religion can be the only source of absolute, unmovable morality is supremely ignorant, because religious morality shifts as much as any secular morality. When the prophet's will shifts, the morality shifts with it: if Christ came down from heaven tomorrow, and said "It is good and righteous to slaughter your neighbor, and claim his wife as your own" then the so-called "moral compass" would reverse polarity in an instant. But we have no need of the prophet himself for this argument; his hypocritical lackeys throughout the ages, his many hangers-on, prove the same point. The religion has been sculpted and molded for millennia to serve the purposes of those who lay claim to the prophet's authority. It is nothing more than a tool used by clergy to seize such power as they can. When the pursuit of power demands that the religion changes, the "moral compass" finds a new North. From the gilded halls of The Holy See, to the fear-filled compounds of Christian cults, we can see how the faith bends and contorts to the will of those who would seek to enrich themselves and dominate others.
To be clear, I take no umbrage with those who ask themselves the fundamental existential questions, and find in themselves the answer: "There must be some higher purpose, and some higher power, that guides our path". I take umbrage when one bases that answer on ancient dogma, forced upon the young and propagated via war and conquest. It is far better to let each person to come to their own faith, or lack thereof, rather than spreading the hypocritical, contradictory, and easily co-opted missives of long-dead charlatans.
Nice edit with the car crash
(Golf Clap) 👏👏👏
(guy who tries to raise the golf clap to a crescendo but everyone else isn't very interested so he just kind of dwindles away and goes home and rethinks everything)
Was gonna say the same thing.
@The Tribal Funkster It wasn't a heckle. It was a cheerful build on that guy's funny comment. P.S. interpret intentions more accurately.
@@locrianphyrigian3779 Less words would make it funnier.
I just watched this movie for the first time and I can see why so many held this in such high regards, I couldn’t stop watching and it made me wonder and think about all that I didn’t see. Makes the mind work and most movies can’t do that today.
Can you recommend me a movie similar to this movie?
"I don't want people to fear a gun, I want them to respect, me" 😢.
Respect Your Enemies.
No cop lives by this today lol. I wish though.
@@oldboy9267 nothing would get accomplished then, some people there’s no reasoning with, completely irrational people
@@oldboy9267 They'd be dead in the streets if they did
"Most people respect the badge. Everybody respects the gun." - Robert De Niro
Carla Jean uses the choice not to play to expose the fact that Chigurh is not the hand of fate. Placing the choice directly into Sugure’s hand and Chigurh then chooses to kill her. This invalidates the toss, which is the only real pleasure Chigurh is allowed and dissolves any super natural aura surrounding Chigurh. In doing so Carla Jean shows sugure that he is only a person, and is in control of his actions which humanizes him. This is displayed in the next scene when fate issues him a blow and exposes his own mortality.
Carla Jean is the only true hero in the movie she looks death in the face and welcomes her fate with open arms through righteousness I feel Chigurh is weakened and his power illusion or true up to that point as death is destroyed.
Showing that righteousness destroyed evil but not death as no man can ever truest conquer death only postpone the inevitable.
👍
If you chose not to decide, you still have made a choice.
@@mightysprocket Yes
In the film yes, in the book she loses the coin toss.
Two years late, but yeah
The first thing that came to mind when his bone was sticking out was that he was exposed and now vulnerable in some way
they literally killed the "main character" like it was nothing, I didnt even realized that he was the one laying on the ground in the motel that was crazyy.
He was in the motel room. When he enters the room you can see the police tape behind him casting a shadow in the room. When he leaves the bathroom the caution tape and shadow is also missing. He was in the room but let him live.
And he couldn't play his "coin toss" game with an armed man! Although, Chgur would have tried to kill the Sheriff if he had looked behind the door.
Lol, no.
There is no way he unscrewed that vent in the time it took the sheriff to open the door. He definitely was not in there
@@krekn7785
He wasn't behind the door, the sheriff walked into the motel room and closed the door back at 5:26
@@Vincinate Just like Moss rented two rooms, I always thought Chigur was in the other room, not the one the Sheriff entered.
No country for old men" he didn't let him live. He didn't want to waste his time with an old man, which is more insulting than killing him.
I love the way the movie ends how you just hear the clock ticking in the background while the sheriff is talking about his dream of meeting his father in that dark valley which is the symbolism of the end of the road. The clock ticking is our timeline we live in ever getting closer and closer to the end. It doesn't matter how you live your life one thing is inevitable and that's death.
So enjoy every day, and take nothing for granted. Don't wait for death. Give it a run for it's money!
One of the lines that has haunted me since the first time I saw it was when Tommy.Lee Jones character says "I thought some day God would come into my life. He never did."
Kohontsi Karakhwa hey, maybe you’re just making a point but I know a lot of people who truly feel that quote, if you do I just want you to know God is doesn’t want to stay out of your life, it’s just so often we don’t let Him in, He’s got conditions; love Him and follow Him, but He’s also got love that’s basically unconditional, in a way, I know how much I’ve pushed him away, but I hate being away from Him, He’s too awesome to stay away from, and He wants us to come to Him, He’s really got open arms and an open heart.
Sorry if you were just noting the weights of the quote, I’m not trying to annoy you, I just wanted to tell you what came to my mind when I read your comment 💯
@@aleahmarie3979 yeah .... no
Angel Rosas
Religions are advertising agencies for a product that doesn’t exist.
@Angel Rosas I honestly don't mean to criticize your faith but the bible was written by people, people who sought to make the world more understandable and less scary by coming up with the idea that some greater conscious force had shaped it all and is directing their lives.
And especially to answer that biggest of mysteries and greatest of man's fears; death.
The bible itself takes various references and concepts from other religions preceding it such as the virgin birth and child of a deity.
If it inspires you to live a good life and be kind to others then take that from it, but it doesn't contain answers so many of us seek in life.
God is in every mans life, but if you don't move towards God, you will miss Him.
So technically No Country For Old Men is a modernist remake of the classic American film Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey?
Basically yeah
Lol
*excellent adventure
Every movie is a remake of Bill and Ted's Bogus journey.
I've loved this movie since it was new but struggled to say exactly why. Now I have a frame of reference. Thank you. In all sincerity, thank you.
I was today years old when I realized this movie had no music. I mean that’s wild I’ve gone this this long without noticing that.
I love how, when Bell takes the risk to enter the room, the coin on the floor used to open the vent clearly reflects heads.
I might be reading too much into this, but notice in the scene where he finds the money and makes the decision to take it, there is a shot of two trees in a field in isolation, and the dead guy with the money is propped up against one of them. This is also probably a reference to the Garden of Eden and the fall from grace. In the garden, of course, there was a tree of life and a tree of knowledge. His taking the money is like Adam being tempted by Eve to eat the apple from the tree of knowledge. It's the coin toss or risk that he takes which is the beginning of the whole story. It's the point where we "become part of the world" to quote Tommy Lee Jones's opening monologue.
I don't know, it seems like you have this manichean thing happening between the villain and the hero, which is actually Chigurh and Tommy Lee Jones, and this is a bit like the biblical Satan and God wrestling over the soul of man, symbolized by Llewellyn.. As somebody pointed out elsewhere in the comments, Chigurh in old spanish means "to follow," and of course he follows the coin, or the "rule" he references before he kills Carson. Jones also follows, which he describes in his dream where he's following his father, just as he followed him in life by becoming a cop like he did, like his father before him. One follows the rule of chaos, the other of the law, which is supposed to put put order to chaos. They're both following two opposite paths, good and evil, and they nearly collide when Jones enters the hotel room where Llewellyn was killed and Chigurh is hiding behind the door but slips out without Jones seeing him.
In a metaphorical or philosophical sense, both collide in every ordinary person's soul. Llewellyn, if you think about it, is more like the rest of us. He's caught in between the villain and the hero. He's a complicated figure, partially heroic, but partially flawed. He's not the good law man or the psychotic killer, he's the ordinary man who wants to do good but is often tempted to do evil, which is one way to read the garden of eden story which is referenced in the beginning when he takes the money. Throughout, Chigurh is attempting to kill him while Jones is attempting to save him. They are, in a sense, wrestling over his soul the way God and Satan wrestle over the soul of any man. The thing with the guy asking for water and his decision to do the right thing and it leading to his being identified by the drug cartel only underscores this ambivalence as well as the element of chance, just like his being tempted to cheat on his wife before his death. His decision to do the right thing leads to his being hunted by the cartel, his decision not to cheat on his wife at the end, possibly, led to his death because he wouldn't have been in the hotel room where they shot him (maybe). Our good deeds don't save us from death, our evil deeds are often rewarded, as random as a coin toss.
Julius Ebola Excellent!!!
Julius Ebola very well written! Especially the part about good deeds leading to bad outcomes sometimes. There’s an old saying: “no good deed goes unpunished.”
the struggles are relatable yes. I figure you're right about the 2nd part too. Chigurh kind of felt flabbergasted when he recognized that the man at the gas station married into his situation and he offers the coin-toss shortly after. But I myself also see what you mention there in another light:
This story is about morals, codes, believes. Those 'rules' are what causes old men to age badly: they cling to their past, to some belief, to God. And they don't feel at home in our ever changing society. Ellis opens Ed's eyes to this when he let's him know he has no vengeance in his heart. For following such a strong emotion, based in the past, will swallow you whole if you let it. So afterwards, Ed can let go of Chiguhr and quiting the force/retiring. But in the end, we still see that there's no place for him, not anymore. His wife doesn't want him to help out, she can't go with him because she's not retired and he's skittish to tell her his dreams about his father. It's still about him being in the past (underlined by his mentioning his dad being 20 years younger in his mind than he is now). Dreaming to follow his father in his footsteps, to 'find him' - forever bound by the 'rules' implemented in his youth, when the old dudes you wanted to resemble weren't even carrying a gun. Ed even wondered how'd they'd do in this time - yet he's already like them in a sense - romantically nostalgic about the past, while he doesn't get the present. And God hadn't reached out to him, as Ed expected (though he could see why God wouldn't want to reach out to him). I also see Ellis mentioning their uncle being killed 70 years ago as a stab at that romantic image of the past. Humans are always rotten and victim of circumstance, no matter what age. It's what causes so many people to cling to self applied morals... and rules.
Moss got killed because he lost sight of what he was doing, sort of in between indeed. Tempted by greed and lust, but a good man at heart. Like the Vietnam veteran basically was. Sent out to do and see absolute horror only to come back to a society that had become averse against the Vietnam war. But still revered by the old lads (like you see when Moss wants to get back into the US - his Vietnam record persuades the guard instantly). When he was greedy, he should've also been heartless... But he's been raised with morals... Well, some. The water screwed him over, yes. He could kind of handle Chiguhr, but fatally lowered his guard when he (as a married man) got persuaded to drink beers with some woman - even when he resisted at first. At least that's how I read into it. And otherwise it would still support the 'full on' part considering morals you mentioned. Being a little honest doesn't work... And Ed was unable to protect him. Both Ed and Moss are basically victims of their past in new circumstances. Chigurh pretends to be above this all, but Carla refusing to take the coin-toss shook his steady belief and made him overlook a car that rammed him. Conviction... Belief. Illusions that can wreck you if you let them.
There's so much more, but I guess most of it is interpretation, so I'll leave it at this ;)
I didn't look at the trees like that, but you could be on to something there. Definitely forbidden fruit... Though not quite a garden of eden ;)
If he didn’t take the water to the dying man, he would have been totally unawares when they showed up at his trailer via the transponder...
Eve takes the apple though; so I think this is a stretch.
6:45 is the best. Probably by accident, but it makes you feel like even the narrator was cut off, as if Anton was listening to a book on tape.
Andy Wolf wasn't by accident..
hola
I know That was brilliant! That exact moment when even the narrator gets randomly cut off!👏🏼
Editing is an accident of course
A book that I can relate to this film and actually made me watch again and again is The Way Of The Superior Man from David Deida, in this book David explains what whole film is about, read and judge by yourself
“Most men make the error of thinking that one day it will be done. They think, ‘If I can work enough, then one day I could rest.’ Or, ‘One day my woman will understand something and then she will stop complaining.’ Or, ‘I’m only doing this now so that one day I can do what I really want with my life.’ The masculine error is to think that eventually things will be different in some fundamental way. They won’t. It never ends. As long as life continues, the creative challenge is to tussle, play, and make love with the present moment while giving your unique gift.”
Very insightful. Thanks for sharing, Abel!
Cool
Well said!
Excellent paralell. Helps bring Deida alive for me- thanks.
David Deida is a bullshit peddler as far as I could tell. Not a fan of him at all.
At 7:05 it always fascinated me that chigurh was smiling while asking the first half of his question
This is by far the most satisfying analysis of this film I've seen. you've earned a sub :)
Brilliant acting. This film was a masterpiece.
This movie is incredible. “Do you see me?..”
Tommy Lee as the Sheriff, reminds me of my Dad. They have the similar way of talking and telling a story. ❤️ Thank you to this movie for bringing my Dad’s voice back to me.
I've watched the movie dozens of times and I must say that all those comments pointed out several interpretations that I've missed. Now I feel obliged to watch it again after all I've read here. Such a great community, thank you!
he dies
I wish my spouse would watch movies like this.
All she wants to watch is the nonsense on the LMN channel.
I went to see this with my father the weekend that it opened in 2007. After the ending we both looked at each other.
I appreciate this interpretation of this movie more than the other ones I've watched/listened to on UA-cam thus far. A constant symbol in the movie and reference is money. I don't hear interpreters talking about this but it seems very obvious and important. In the opening monologue Sheriff Bell says, 'I don't want to push my chips farther.' And in the last scene Shagur bribes the kids with cash. The symbol of the coin is constantly used and while I agree with it as a symbol of risk and fate and things like this I also think this movie is talking about money. The reason I mentioned this is that in this video it is stated that Moss's wife fails the game of risk by not choosing the heads or tails and thus ensures her victimization and death. I don't agree with this interpretation of that scene. To me, her refusal is refusing to simply say life is just a coin toss. She is refusing to let money, which the coin symbolizes, and the trivialness of the coin toss to signify more than it should. She protests in the name of free will, and especially the free will to refrain from violence even in a violent crazy world. To refrain from greed even in a greedy desperate world. Shagur says to her, as a justification of sorts, again using a money reference, that she has to die because she is 'accountable.' She is human and asserting her capacity for feeling and restraint whereas Shagur is mechanical saying that he has no choice but to kill her due to some rule or contract. For me, this is the big theme of the movie: whether we let circumstance decide how we live and what we do or whether we hold to some principle or morality that is detached or transcendent even in the midst of mortal danger. Money is a great symbol for what turns a person from a caring compassionate thinking and versatile one into a myopic, ruthless, greedy robot.
Another point- I think that Shagur is both human and not human. As Death itself, he finds people wherever they go. Bell says he feels like he is chasing a ghost. Shagur is also shown to be a flesh and blood being with human speech, et cetera. In the scene where Bell enters the hotel room to find him we are shown Shagur hiding in the room. When the door opens he is not there. This is the image the Cohen Brothers create: He is there and not there. He is there as a reality but, like Death, we can only find him in his effects. 'Tell them I was already gone,' Shagur tells the kids at the end. By playing both sides, the Cohen Brothers make Shagur unresolvable- memorable in a haunting, confounding way.
One other note: in Greek mythology the Lord of death and Lord o wealth are the same god- Hades. The Roman name is Pluto. We use the name Pluto in the word plutocracy which means rule by the wealthy. I see this as relevant to this movie. As soon as Moss takes the money he is tied in with the god of Wealth/Death. Shagur is shown as having a homing device for the case with the money and now that Moss has stolen the money from a crime scene he has attracted Death. In a parallel tradition, money is seen as the root of evil. As soon as Moss takes the money he betrays any pure allegiance to the eternal life of God for the worldly treasure of Hades, Lord of death and wealth. Sheriff Bell, in the opening monologue of the movie says, 'a man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say: 'O.K., I'll be part of this world.' Indeed, Moss can be seen as having said okay I'll be a part of this world when he scavenges money from a crime scene littered with bodies. He puts his soul at hazard, to use Bell's phrase, by doing so. Putting one's soul at hazard sounds very similar to the idea of selling one's soul.
Another point about Shagur being a ghost is that except for the gas station man, everyone who he came into contact with ended up dead or promised to say they hadn't seen him
the love of money is the root of all evil. a rolling stone gathers no MOSeS.
@Nosferatu Zodd a quick search will show you that Pluto is the Greek god of wealth AND death. Everyone, in the myth, passes into the realm of Pluto (Hades in Latin) when they die and at a certain point in the journey has to pay a fee in order to reach Pluto/Hades. So, a Plutocracy is the rule of folks who, like the God Pluto, have a lot of wealth.
As for the post being silly or embarrassing, you have a right to your opinion, of course, but your comment does not add much substance or detail to the conversation. I have expressed an interpretation about a movie in a very obscure comment thread. I have done it in earnest but not with any sense that it matters much. I have tried to give examples to back up my interpretation. In debate or arguments or conversation saying something is 'silly' is vague at best. If you feel the need to explain some substantial reasons why you do not find my interpretation relevant to the movie, go for it. Maybe it will add to the larger discussion of this finely made movie based on a finely made novel. Please reference parts of the movie and explain your ideas in enough detail that I and others can know what your talking about. Please refrain, at least when commenting on my post, from laying on negative judgments like 'silly' or 'embarrassing.' We're talking about the movie here, not each other, ideally.
It’s Chigurh btw
She didn't call it not because she was unwilling to take the risk (of course 50% is better odds than 0%), but because she would have lost her dignity by agreeing to this. Dignity is part of the movie's message. When Wells hears that Moss is a fellow veteran, he takes his hat off. In this case he voluntarily concedes some of his dignity to show respect (it's the same with bowing, which is a form of symbolically belittling yourself in front of someone).
The other time he takes his hat off is after Chigurh captures him and Wells tries to desperately plead for his life. "You should admit your situation. There would be more dignity in it". Chigurh has clearly no respect for the lucky shopkeeper who survives.
Holy shit. You are opening my eyes to themes in films I never realized or knew existed.
Thanks!
I always interpreted the story as saying that mindlessly chasing after wealth causes suffering not just of you but of those around you.
The thing is Llewelyn did fail to keep his morals with the lady by the pool, it's implied she was successful in tempting him to drink with her as the scene cuts with him smirking at her as she says beer leads to more beer. In a way, Llewelyn's death could be seen as an effect of that sin.
in the book, its a 15 year old hitch hiker that he picks up and she tries to tempt him to sleep with her, he declines and she is taken hostage by the cartel when they find Moss. He puts down his gun in order to save her and both end up getting shot
This film could reasonably be called "Ecclesiastes".
Exactly, I took it upon myself to read Ecclesiastes from beginning to end and found it to be a very valuable part of the bible (as an atheist no less).
@@CeroAshura It's basically an exploration of atheism.
@@gracefool interesting
A time to be born, a time to die.
gracefool if you think so you’re missing the point
Chigurh is in the hotel room, hiding behind the door, when Bell enters. This scene is important because it is one of the keys for understanding the movie thematically. Bell walks in, his over-dramatized steps of the classic TV western lawman, and stands in silhouetted in the doorway. He casts a double shadow on the far wall. There is also the shadow of crime scene tape. He heads to the bathroom and casts a double image in the room's mirror. After a quick examination of the bathroom window he is visibly relieved and sits on the bed. The crime scene tape is no longer shadowed on the back wall and Bell has a single shadow. Chigurh has left without confrontation, taring the tape down as he went.
This doppelganger reflection also seen in the TV set at Moss' trailer-home when Bell copies the movements of Chigurh.
Chigurh's first on-camera murder is a law officer. Chigurh and Bell are the same person. This is side of himself Bell doesn't understand. His root, his soul. Bell doesn't fear death- his fear is something deeper. The primitive urge to struggle and overcome doesn't lead one to any deep understanding. There is no satori, no epiphany, no great wisdom waiting for the worthy. Bell's need for a transcendence to wisdom (hinted at by the title) is never fulfilled. And it never could be. He is who he is. The sum isn't greater than the parts.
@cacable7 That's right. Chigurh and Bell are the same thematically speaking. That is the reason that the scene is important in understanding the theme of perdation vs a higher meaning.
@Patrick Bateman I've seen both of those movies.
Matthew Harper Interesting Analysis.
@@matthewharper7333 I don't agree. I've seen this a dozen times and have read a lot of McCarthy's early books. You're interpreting this too deeply. They are not the same character - thematically - at all. Chigurh is relentless in his task, almost animal-like and driven by a predatory instinct, devoid of emotion or empathy. Bell, on the other hand, is a pessimistic, defeated man, almost nihilistic. Puzzled by the world he operates in and powerless to change it. Chigurh is the perfect personification of what he[Bell] fears most. If you read the book you'd know that there is a LOT of backstory to Bell and his actions in WW2 that have haunted him since.
Also, I'm not sure why you'd think he's hiding behind the door when he's clearly not?
@@musashidanmcgrath I have the book. (First Vintage International Edition 2006). There is not a lot of background on Bell in World War Two. He says briefly in the monologue to chapter VI that he was enlisted and went from school to shooting people in France for four years and how it all seemed natural to him. In the monologue to Chapter VII, he says he won't talk about the war. Got his squad killed and was given a medal for the action. Said he thinks about it everyday and muses on the the ones who did come back and what life was like after the war. This goes into politics in general. This fits in with his other ramblings about the violence he has seen.
That said, if you'd read the book you would know that it was Wells and not Bell who checked out the room. (Pg. 143 in my edition). The scene with Chigurh behind the door and Bell is Cohen Brothers..
I've read most of McCarthy's novels. I've skipped some of his TN novels because they are too overwritten and rambling. His westerns I enjoy and have read a few times.
Did any body else notice that when Bell decides to “call it” and walk in, there’s a dime lying on heads in the floor
@2121skip but he doesn't call his victims flips
@@SirScallywagger its metaphoric
This film has stayed with me over the years. Every character in it - not just the leads - has depth and believability. Lots of meanings throughout the scenes.
This movie is basically an onion it has so many more layers then i though possible.
I'm guessing this isn't the future you had planned for yourself when you first clapped eyes on this onion. Don't worry, I'm not the man who's trying to belittle you.
After this film I, on a rare occasion, felt I might run into a Shigur and would be asked "heads or tails" forcing that life or death challenge. However, isn't that the risk of living ? If I choose to speed and drive like a maniac on the highway; aren't I just playing chess or coin toss with death? Thank you so much for this wonderful explanation regarding meaning and symbolism of one of my favorite films.
the harvey dent CT challenge... Anton for the next 2 Face?
This has got to be one of the greatest video essays on the platform
Lessons learned:
1) never return to the scene
2) check the cash / bag for trackers
Probably my favourite Cohen Brothers movie, and an adaptation, no less. They did a perfect job streamlining the source material into something truly ethereal.
Definetly one of their darkest films
"The future's uncertain and the end is always near" - The Doors, "Roadhouse Blues"
I run parallel to my fate. As long as I do not slow, it cannot reach me.
@Tim Hallas all men will slow
@@aguy7848 My body fails me, but my mind gets stronger with each passing day.
@Doogie Carpit Burger I understand what you mean.
@Doogie Carpit Burger not alone there bud.
I always get so wrapped up in this film that when it ends I get pissed..... It gets me every time.... It is one of my favorite films, and I enjoyed your insight..... It helps.
I think Ed Toms conversation with his uncle and his dreams at the end paint a clear picture reflecting the plot of the movie. The world is chaos and it always has been. It isn't suddenly some inhospitable frying pan, it always has been, illustrated by Ellis explaining this region has always been violent and unpredictable. Bells first dream of losing the money coupled with the plot paints a picture that attachment to money is dangerous and can lead to chaos. The second dream has a clear message to me especially considering the point Bell has reached in the story. The fire his father holds is the ideals and hopes Ed Tom carries of his idea of justice his father carried them to the end and Ed Tom will meet him with them having carried those same ideals and the only real victory is making it to the end with those intact. Ed Toms pain in the final scene comes from his realization that those ideals are just that. A dream and the only true victory is making it to the end and keeping those morals intact. Chigurh is chaos incarnate, but so is Lewellyn. each make small decisions no one could've predicted that vastly effect so many lives. Such as Lewellyn going back to give the Mexican water. The point is life is wild and unpredictable and always will be, and all you can do is do your best to get through it and make it to the other side as unscathed as possible and the older you get the harder it gets to endure and make sense of all the chaos.. hence No Country For Old Men and Bell believing things used to be better when they never actually were. "creating a fire in all that cold and dark" thats is what we all strive to do in this unpredictable and often times unforgiving world
Don't think betting on religion is the only reasonable way of coping with death. That's called cognitive dissonance, and it won't bring you peace. I had a longer, more inspirational comment but UA-cam just ate it, so here's a quote I like to live by instead:
“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”
― Apparently not Marcus Aurelius
As a historian I feel obligated to point out that's not a direct quote. At best it's an extremely poor paraphrase of Meditations Book 2.11 that's been floating around on the internet since at least 2009 and purposely designed to make Marcus Aurelius seem like he was supportive of Agnostic or Atheist beliefs. In reality he was an devout Polytheist and his writings repeatedly reflect that.
The real quote is, “Let thine every deed and word and thought be those of a man who can depart from life this moment, But to go away from among men, if there are Gods, is nothing dreadful; for they would not involve thee in evil. But if indeed there are no Gods, or if they do not concern themselves with the affairs of men, what boots it for me to live in a Universe empty of Gods or empty of Providence? Nay, but there are Gods, and they do concern themselves with human things; and they have put it wholly in man’s power not to fall into evils that are truly such. And had there been any evil in what lies beyond, for this too would they have made provision, that it should be in every man’s power not to fall into it.”
@@CaptainLuckyLuke That makes sense...
I remember doing a paper on the stoics in relation to cancel culture and wasn't able to find it then either 😂
Nevertheless, I think it still stands as a solid piece of advice. Thanks for the catch, my dude.
@@zombeaver69 You, good sir, are one of the very few people that has ever accepted my correction graciously. Thank you for that. If you haven't already I implore you to read Meditations in its entirety. It's one of the finest books ever and gave me a good deal of comfort on my deployments.
A holy man stays steady on the right side, knowing full well there’s no reward after death.
Good analysis but I disagree on your ending argument involving Pascal's wager. I saw Carla Jean's refusal of playing the coin toss game and Chigurh's accident as a way of showing how the universe defies one's expectations. That the only sure "fate" (or determinism) that is certain is that there is no certainty.
So "Pascal's wager" aka the coin toss is ultimately meaningless. There is no one in control and we will all eventually die. You could say Carla Jean "won" because she broke the illusion of control Chigurh had as well as his rules.
Thanks! Would you clarify? What exactly do you disagree with about the argument? I agree the meaning of the coin toss is that there is no certainty. But "Pascal's wager" isn't a certain argument for God's existence. It actually assumes we cannot know that God exists. But given our uncertainty, it argues that betting on God's existence is the better bet (even if God, it turns out, doesn't exist). There's no certainty in it. Just a bet. That's why its called "Pascal's wager."
Simply put, is it better to bet or not to bet on Chigur's coin toss. The reality is we have already bet. There's backing out now. That's what Chigurh tells the store owner. "You've been putting it up your whole life and you just didn't know it."
Can you really say that Carla Jean "won" because she broke the illusion of Chigurh's control? He killed her. She died. She didn't break Chigurh's control. He excreted full control. All she did was reject his one offer of hope.
The point I'm making is that I interpret that as a false hope. The reality is everything is random and no matter what, we all will eventually die (albeit some later rather than sooner). And within the narrative of the film the Coens suggest that this theory very well could be true.
Chigurh (being God-like or a force of nature) is completely offset by the fact he did not predict the car crash, which is the universe essentially flipping the coin not in his favor.
More than that, it's the universe taking everything he believes and throwing it in his face. In Chigurh's mind, everything plays by a specific set of rules, and that whole sequence is a complete refutation of that - Carla Jean refuses to call the coin toss, and on his way out he is hit by a car running a red light. After we, the audience, start to believe that Chigurh is the one making the rules we're reminded that no, nobody makes the rules.
In fact the whole film is about how the universe defies one's expectations. Chigurh expects to play by preordained rules yet they are soundly broken. Sheriff Bell expects to bring him to justice in one last ride yet he slowly realizes he's just too old. The audience expects Llewellyn to have a climactic gunfight with Chigurh and ride off into the sunset victorious, yet he's killed off-screen at the end of the second act.
In the end No Country examines a variety of philosophies through the medium of art. So each person's interpretation is entirely subjective. Even though I disagree with your interpretation of the coin scene I can see the reasons why you come to that conclusion. So we both can be right. Or we both can be wrong. In the end, just like the movie, it doesn't really matter I guess
I disagree. I see two laws compared and contrasted in this film: humanities moral law (good things should happen to good people and bad things should happen to bad people) represented in the Sheriff and nature's law (death, chaos and chance) represented in Chigurh. Chigurh is playing by a specific set of rules. Though he's the black hat villian, he suprisingly comes across as the cleanest and most morally righetous charachter in the film. Because he does not bend when it comes to enforcing nature's rule.
No free will in that?
Not exactly. Its saying if you've already lost you're not losing anything by throwing a Hail Mary.
The good - Sheriff, The bad - Anton and The ugly - Llewelyn
How to make God laugh... Tell him your plans.
Lol true
I heard that phrase in Amores Perros (2000).
djdjd dmn god isn’t gay. He hates them
nutflixx story? How dare you? It all in the Bible In fact I just reread it and turns out he hates us all.
@@Atoms76 hates or is angry with?
"to fight the good fight, to call for life, and to hope that we have something in store"....well done, very well done. Thanks and keep these coming.
Anton is in room 112 as the Sheriff goes in to 114. Anton figured out Moss trick of getting 2 rooms to hide the money.
But the screws of vent were seen by bell and anton opened the vent