Joel and Ethan Coen
Ages:
53 and 50
Film:
No Country For Old Men
Synopsis:
Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) finds a pickup truck surrounded by dead me and a load of heroin and two million dollars in cash still in the back. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even the law in the person of aging, disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Jones) can contain. As Moss tries to evade his pursuers in particular a mysterious mastermind who flips coins for human lives (Bardem) the film simultaneously strips down the American crime drama and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as ancient as the Bible and as bloodily contemporary as this morning’s headlines.
Previous Oscar Wins:
One - 1997 Best original Screenplay for Fargo.
Previous Oscar Nominations:
Three - 1997 Best Picture and Best Director for Fargo, 2000 Best Adapted Screenplay for O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Awards/Nominations for Film:
The brother won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Golden Globes as well as being nominated for best Picture Drama and Best Director.
They also picked up the Best Director award at the Baftas and the Directors Guild of America Awards.
Critics:
'The Coens understand the stark immediacy of this tale, and they visualise it with brilliantly judged details.' (Boston Globe)
'A masterly tale of the good, the deranged and the doomed that inflects the raw violence of the west with a wry acknowledgement of the demise of codes of honour, this is frighteningly intelligent and imaginative.' Time Out
'With No Country For Old Men, the Coen brothers have once again placed themselves at the very forefront of American cinema.'
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Other Best Director Nominees