as cormac mccarthy the author of no country for old men would put it
when we look back at the past we tend to view it through pink lenses
he recalled regular conversations with his grandmother where she lamented that
in her youth young men wouldn't spend nights playing
poker while their girlfriends were left alone
of course such proclamations as mccarthy knew were unfounded
as men have been known to partake in poker pool
and other activities without their better half since the beginning of time
however his grandmother believed her statement
and that in her lifetime the world has shifted
perhaps for the worse written during the apprehensive period after 9 11
no country for old men is a story about corruption and greed
chance and justice but it's also a story about the foreboding future that we're
hurtling towards and the ineptitude of our leaders our
law enforcements and ourselves as we brace for violence
and destructive forces that are beyond our comprehension
over a decade since this initial publication and adaptation by the coen
brothers the story's nihilistic themes are still relevant
as we're now confronted with obstacles that the old men
in charge seem unprepared to handle this is a story of cormac mccarthy's
inspiration and joel and ethan cohen's process
towards adapting the novel that pulls off the shades and reveals a
world worthy of pessimism
born in 1933 in providence rhode island cormac mccarthy knew from an early age
that he would fail to be a respectable citizen
hating school from the early days and vowing never to waste his life working
taking orders from others he pursued a life as a writer educating
himself with books during his time in the air force
while dispatched in alaska when he was 23 years old
with the curriculum designed by himself he read novels feverishly from literary
grades including herman melville fedor dostoevsky and william faulkner
who was perhaps the one he drew his style
from the most a lot of faulknerian themes could be
found in mccarthy's first novel the orchard keeper published in 1965
which makes sense because it earned him the william faulkner foundation award
for notable debut novel mccarthy with the literary grant would
end up building momentum from his first novel
traveling europe writing three more novels before receiving a macarthur
genius grant that enabled him in 1985 to publish his fifth and perhaps
most critically revered work blood meridian pushing him to the level
as one of the great american writers of his generation
in the 90s mccarthy finally got mainstream recognition for the border
trilogy that included all the pretty horses
published in 1992 the crossing published in 1994
and cities of the plain published in 1998.
while blood meridian was a violent horrific story full of blood
and carnage the border trilogy was restrained
however with this next novel no country for
old men published in 2005 mccarthy turned the dial back as the
depiction of senseless evil required a trail of blood for the
readers and the old sheriff in the story to follow
as the years passed mccarthy stayed true to his personal
ideology and avoided succumbing to greed or
distractions he made his writing the prime focus of
his life foregoing lucrative opportunities
and public adulations he grew up not wanting to work and
in a way he succeeded in a rare interview with oprah in 2007
after winning a pulitzer prize for his 2006 novel the road
the writer dispelled the illusion that his achievements although were not work
weren't effortless he had no advice for other aspiring writers seeking a work
free life except this if you are really dedicated
you can probably do it one has to work not to work
prior to 2000 the relationship between mccarthy and hollywood had not been
great for example blood meridian was deemed a
cursed adaptation project the list of esteemed filmmakers that had
been linked to the project and then forced to surrender due to the
complexity included ridley scott tommy lee jones
martin scorsese john hilcoat and james franco the
problem wasn't that these filmmakers weren't imaginative or talented enough
the problem was that the studios weren't willing to take a risk on it
go figure that the first adaptation that hollywood would commit to
was all the pretty horses in 2000 directed by billy bob thornton and
starring matt damon and penelope cruz all the pretty horses
received an overwhelmingly negative reception to no fault of the source
material what hurt mccarthy's first movie
adaptation was the politics behind the production
the first cut of the movie was over three hours long
as thorne had wanted but miramax insisted that he cut 35 percent from it
it was this that ripped the heart and soul from the movie making it feel
rushed uninvolved and flat some believe that
the edits were forced upon thornton because of his previous directorial
foray slingblade in 1996 where he refused to
make edits mccarthy always had an interest in stage
and cinema during his career he experimented with
writing scripts including a play the sunset limited in 2006 and a
screenplay the counselor in 2013 directed by ridley scott
no country for old men was originally written as a script
however when it didn't gain any traction from hollywood he rewrote it as a novel
luckily by the time he was ready to publish the manuscript found its way
into the hands of producer scott rubin rubin purchased the film rights and
handed the script to joel and ethan cohen
who were starring their next project which was an adaptation of a novel
the novel they had in mind initially was to the white sea by james dickey
published in 1993 a story of an american gunner surviving the final months of
world war ii in war-torn tokyo in the summer of
2005 the coen brothers decided to put to the
white sea on the shelf and focus on no country for old men
what motivated them to pursue no country for old men was how unconventional the
story was told and the subverting genres they loved the
idea of the good guy and the bad guy never meeting face to
face they were drawn by the unforgiving landscape
and the sentimentality of the story while no country failed men would be the
first official coen brothers adaptation they were no strangers to drawing
inspiration from literature the 1990 neo-noir miller's crossing was
inspired by american novelist daschle hammett
and the 2000 comedy oh brother where art thou
was a modern interpretation of homer's odyssey
when asked about their selection process by charlie rose in a 2007 interview
they simply stated why not start with cormac
why not start with the best while one brother typed on the computer the other
held a copy of no country for old men open flat
they were praised for the faithfulness to the novel where they didn't so much
as alter but rather compressed scenes to fit with
the medium of film shot by the emir cinematographer roger
deakins no country for old men was a sharp left turn from the coen brother's
two disappointing attempts at comedy intolerable cruelty starring george
clooney and catherine jones in 2003 and the lady killer starring tom hanks
in 2004 pulling from the starkness of fargo the
violence of miller's crossing and the stylization of the man who
wasn't there no country for old men required the coen brothers and deacons
to be absolutely precise technically in order to capture the
realism that the story required meticulous storyboarding kept the movie
on track even through all the debates regarding the stage violence on screen
without the violence the emotional payoff would be lost and the merciless
evil will lack the gravitas the story required the movie doesn't
glamorize the violence but instead shows the brutality of it
the violence happens quickly savage and painful
and in a way without purpose the famous coin flip scene
in the convenience store simply wouldn't have the same tension if we
the audience didn't recognize what could be possible
if chance went the other way no country for old men is a movie almost devoid of
music the choice to go with a minimalistic
soundtrack was seen as a removal of a filmmaking safety net
music helps the audience reach an emotional peak faster
it guides the story and builds tension allowing the viewer to anticipate what
will happen next think back to any thriller or suspense
movie and you may recall the soundtrack leading up to a climactic moment
but without music the storytelling is exposed
giving the audience an out of the comfort zone experience
making the movie arguably more gripping and suspenseful
it puts you with the characters you hear the breathing you hear the footsteps
you hear your heart pumping the coen brothers had a clear vision
of who they wanted to cast in the role of the aging sheriff and tom bell
there was a short list of actors who had the qualities to portray a character who
could really inhabit the landscape and provide
a profound performance of an elderly man coming to terms tommy lee jones grew up
in san saba texas not far from where the story was set
initially the role of luella moss was offered to heath ledger who
in 2006 was coming off one of the biggest years
with starring roles in the lord of dog town the brothers grim
and brokeback mountain which earned him his first oscar nomination
however ledger had to turn down the opportunity because he wanted to spend
time with his daughter then came josh brolin with help from
quentin tarantino and robert rodriguez to film an audition reel during a lunch
break while on set for 2007's grindhouse brolin entered
the conversation for the vacant roll while the audition tape shot on a
million dollar camera didn't have the desired effect for the coen brothers
the director and writer duo would eventually meet with brolin
through much persistence from his agent and decided that the child star from the
goonies was the right choice however before shooting started brolin
got into a motorcycle accident while heading back from a wardrobe fitting
breaking his collarbone fortunately for brolin
and the production his character would have a bullet wound in his shoulder for
the majority of the movie the most memorable performance in no
country for old men came from javier berdam's portrayal of
the psychotic hitman anton sugur the role brought a lot of
challenges to bardem including a feminine haircut that was
not a wig but his real hair which made going out in public during
the three months of filming a unique experience for the spanish
actor another challenge was finding humanity in a character that has no
qualms towards human life bardem pointed this scene where shigeru
was alone stitching up his wound as an important one for the character as
it showed the audience that he was not immune to pain
he was not a robot and it's there that we understand that this monster was like
us and that made him so much scarier
with a budget of 25 million dollars no country for old man was shot in the
early summer of 2006 in las vegas and new mexico where it
first crossed path with a rival movie that it'll forever be connected to
paul thomas anderson's there will be blood
the daniel day-lewis epic about a ruthless oil tycoon
based on the 1927 novel by upton sinclair
oil shared location with the coen brothers in marfa new mexico
the biggest problem with the shared location was that there will be blood's
production sent heavy smoke into the air one day
causing no country for old men to pause their shoot to allow the smoke to
dissipate both movies set in the desert with
similar themes of greed and corruption will be deemed by many to be the top
movies of that year what made many love no country for old
men were perhaps the same reasons some disliked it
it was a movie that defied conventions it straddled genres
suspense crime western and american gothic
and it was to many infuriatingly mysterious
the off-screen death of the hero the villain's pathetic escape
and the abrupt ending left many confused but it was in those cinematic choices
that made the movie so memorable because it mirrored
the lives we were living we brought our own interpretation to the story
are we governed by destiny or self-determination
are we the hunters or the hunted how have
our immoral acts led to where we are now and how many more can we get away with
before our luck runs out these are of course
questions without clear answers but no country for old men suggests that our
luck is already up and here are the
consequences what did we make of that on may 19
2007 no country 40 men premiered at the cannons film festival where it became a
front runner for the palm door but would end up losing to the romanian
film 4 months 3 weeks 2 days on november 9 2007 the
movie was released in the united states grossing over 1.2 million dollars
through the opening weekend becoming the highest grossing coen
brothers movie of the time the movie would be nominated for eight
academy awards for best sound mixing best sound editing best film editing
best cinematography and winning best adapted screenplay best
actor in a supporting role for javier bardem
best directors and most incredibly best picture
beating out atonement juno michael clayton
and their western rival there will be blood no country for old man is a movie
i think about often it was released in my final years as an
inspiration seeking teenager and i watched it in a theater that no
longer exists like the character of sheriff bell who
reminisces about a simpler time i do think back
fondly of that experience and i remember sitting on the edge of my
seat in the empty theater on a saturday
afternoon i have failed to recreate the experience
ever since that's a great lesson in life and perhaps the most pertinent theme of
the story regardless of chance or free will we can
only have this moment and whether we choose or not this life
will happen so if nothing more we should brace for
it if the coen brothers were to adapt
another novel what would you like to see let me know in the comments below if
you've enjoyed this video please subscribe and check out the other ones
in this adaptation series thank you for
watching