View image Sheriff Ed Tom Bell's padre is the "younger man" now, but he can't help compare himself to the old-timers like his father, grandfather, Uncle Mac...
Yeah, I'm sick of those "No Country for..." headlines (and the "There Will Be..." variations, too, but this one fits so perfectly.... In the February issue of Sight & Sound, Ben Walters and J.M. Tyree write that, at heart, the Coens' film is "an interrogation of American manhood." This is a wonderful paragraph:
There are no edifying models of manhood here. Sheriff Bell is well intentioned but troubled and halting; Moss is courageously but disastrously foolhardy. (Both Moss and Chigurh make repeated attempts at the sort of improvisatory survivalism that was a staple of 1980s television shows like "MacGyver" and "The A-Team," though Chigurh is notably more accomplished.) In Bell's and Moss' marriages, though -- with Bell's strongly reminiscent of the loving, supportive relationship between Marge and Norm in "Fargo" (1996) -- the Coens once again suggest that human connection trumps Hollywood-style man-alone heroism. Just compare the relaxed, warm atmosphere of the Moss trailer or the Bell homestead with the dump motels to whose garish signage, flimsy walls and soulless decorations the film pays such keen and damning attention. Here as elsewhere, hotels are the setting for a series of big and little deaths, most of them pointless and dumb. Sheriff Bell recognises the absurdity at work in this world. "I laugh myself sometimes," he says. "Ain't a whole lot else you can do."
Walters and Tyree offer a provocative take on the "Chugurh-as-serial-killer" angle, too. I've written about how he doesn't (literally the "serial killer," profile but I dig this a lot:
Bardem's character, however, fits satisfyingly into the Coens' ongoing interrogation of American manhood, which they present as always problematic and often absurd, gleefully suggesting here that its most successful incarnation might be a serial killer. Patient, implacable and ultra-capable, Chigurh is also alien, even supernatural in his presumptive superiority. The model of consummate self-sufficiency, he seems to lampoon the frontier ethos of the Reaganite Cowboy Man: to Chigurh humans are a form of livestock, occasionally diverting but ultimately disposable; his favoured method of execution is a hydraulic cattle-gun. Plainly though non-specifically foreign, he takes a Martian's-eye view of American life.Sometimes a foreigner can offer an illuminating perspective that's harder for the locals to see....
An interesting take on the three central characters and how they represent different incarnations of manhood. I would, however, like to take issue with a description of Chigurh that I must have read at least twenty times and seems to be patently false (or at least misleading): "His favourite method of execution is a hydraulic cattle-gun". Most critics seem to insist on this point, but as far as I can remember, Chigurh only kills one person with the cattle gun, and that is when he has just escaped from the county jail and kills the (unfortunate) driver of the car Chigurh steals. Chigurh does use the cattle gun to blow locks open, but I would hardly say that his "favoured" method of killing involves the cattle gun.
***Possible Spoiler***
Keen point, Mr. Murillo. I've read this, too, but hadn't given it much thought until your post. I do wonder, though, how Chigurh killed the chicken truck driver and Mrs. Moss?
On another note, I'd read so much praise of the film that, upon first viewing, I had a tendency to think a bit too much during the film about what I was seeing and just how "great" it was supposed to be, and wasn't satisfied entirely, but knew I would re-watch shortly. I just did some 2 weeks later, and absolutely loved it. Since "There Will Be Blood" has received nearly as universal praise, I'm preparing a similiar viewing schedule when I get a copy of it.
Hard to turn off my inner critic sometimes.
H
**spoiler**
According to the book, the hotel clerk is killed by the cattle-gun, and the film seems to reflect this by showing a dry wall behind his chair.
There are two interesting scenes that should be noted. The first is when Moss is contemplating his options at the Mexican border. He is clearly injured and needs assistance. He crosses paths with a trio of college dudes: Moss asks for help and one of the dudes insists that Moss give him money for his jacket. Another dude subsequently asks for money, too, when it comes to giving up his beer. The second scene is at the end, when Chigurh is injured in the car accident. He is at his most vulnerable point in the film and asks for help from the two young boys riding bicycles (we saw them ride by the house Chigurh exits after killing Carla Jean). These boys are probably in their pre-teens. After the boy offers his shirt, Chigurh tries to pay him but the boy initially refuses. The boy's concern is to help an injured man, not to profit from his injury. However, upon receiving the money, the two boys begin a petty argument over how it should be shared between themselves.
The concept of "manhood" changes with age and is also defined by dictates of Western Capitalism. I think the film suggests that the pursuit of money is a morally corrupting enterprise, although one that has its obvious benefits and is something that can define male identity. Think of traditional gender roles - which sex is expected to support others financially? Moss assures Carla Jean that she will be able to retire if his pursuit ends successfully. The progression of morality from the two young boys, to the college students, to Moss and Chigurh and finally to Ed Tom Bell suggests that the effect of captialist ideology is either:
A) cyclical and is a function of age; or
B) progressive and additive over the course of generations.
What is the effect of money on the altruistic behaviour of the young boys? The scene with the college dudes implies that the expectation of compensation for any deed (whether good or bad) becomes a learned script. The young boys start arguing over the money when it is pushed upon them; the college dudes expect a ridiculous amount of money for something as frivolous as a bottle of beer; Moss risks his life for money, when his orginial intent was to provide water to a dying man; and Chigurh benefits entirely from the injury of others. What makes the trend of "manhood as defined by money" difficult to predict is the mortal contemplation of Ed Tom Bell. He is not concerned with retrieving the stolen money, but helping Moss out of his predicament. The nature of Chigurh's business is blatantly absurd and difficult to comprehend. Either Bell is a dying breed of man, born from a time when social values were very diffierent from today's, or he represents the dissolution of financial prospects in the face of death.
I was hoping that someone would do a Marxist interpretation of this movie.
Dan, you did not disappoint.
Hilarious.
Jim, I need assistance. I can't find the captive bolt gun used in No C F O M, on the internet. My interest is to propel a dog train ball into the air. With your contacts, could you assist.
thx mike
JE: Sorry, Mike. I believe I read that they made Chigurh's portable death machine specifically for the movie.