The Brothers Coen: Unique Characters of Violence

(Hardback)

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This examination of the distinctive cinema of Joel and Ethan Coen explores the theme of violence in their wide-ranging body of work. The Brothers Coen: Unique Characters of Violence spans the career of the two-time Oscar-winning producer/director team, exploring the theme of violence that runs through a genre-spanning body of work, from the neo-noir of Blood Simple to the brutal comedy Burn After Reading (2008). In chapters focusing on major characters, Ryan Doom looks at the chaotic cinematic universe of the Coens, where violent acts inevitably have devastating, unintended consequences. The remarkable gallery of Coen characters are all here: hardboiled gangster Tom Regan from Miller's Crossing (1990), overmatched amateur kidnapper Jerry Lundergaard from Fargo (1996), accidental private eye "The Dude" from The Big Lebowski (1998), psychopathic assassin-for-hire Anton Chigurh from the 2007 Academy Award winner No Country for Old Men, and more.

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This study of the cinema of Joel and Ethan Coen examines the theme of violence that runs through the brothers' work via chapters that scrutinize the motives, thoughts, and actions of the principal characters in each of the Coens' films. In the world depicted in the films, suggests the author, violence always has devastating, unintended consequences on the characters, both for those who live by violence and those who are just bystanders to the violent acts of others. Covering all of the Coens' films except the most recent (2009's A Serious Man), this engagingly written book will interest both film scholars and cinema fans. * Reference & Research Book News *

Author Bio

Ryan P. Doom is a freelance writer and teacher.