Jump to content

Coen brothers: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→1980s: fixed citation of Christopher Orr (my bad!)
→1990s: replaced 'In it, the board of a large corporation in 1958 New York City appoints a naive schmo as president (Tim Robbins) for underhanded reasons.' with '''The Hudsucker Proxy'' (1994) is an homage to screwball comedies of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Co-written with Raimi, the film follows a mailroom clerk (Tim Robbins) who is promoted to president of the Hudsucker corporation by a cynical director (Paul Newman) in a scheme to devalue the company's s
Line 80: Line 80:
They followed it with ''[[Barton Fink]]'' (1991); set in 1941, it follows a New York playwright, the eponymous Fink (Turturro), who moves to [[Los Angeles]] to write a [[B-picture]] for a venal movie mogul ([[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]]). Fink is modeled on playwright [[Clifford Odets]], and the character W.P. Mayhew ([[John Mahoney]]) is based on [[William Faulkner]]. ''Barton Fink'' was a critical success, earning Oscar nominations and winning Best Director, Best Actor and {{Lang|fr|[[Palme d'Or]]|italic=no}} at the [[1991 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com Barton Fink">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/79/year/1991.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Barton Fink |access-date=August 9, 2009|publisher=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> It was their first film with cinematographer [[Roger Deakins]], a key collaborator for the next 25 years.<ref>{{cite news| author=Christopher Orr| date=September 11, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Barton Fink''| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-barton-fink/379990/}}</ref>
They followed it with ''[[Barton Fink]]'' (1991); set in 1941, it follows a New York playwright, the eponymous Fink (Turturro), who moves to [[Los Angeles]] to write a [[B-picture]] for a venal movie mogul ([[Michael Lerner (actor)|Michael Lerner]]). Fink is modeled on playwright [[Clifford Odets]], and the character W.P. Mayhew ([[John Mahoney]]) is based on [[William Faulkner]]. ''Barton Fink'' was a critical success, earning Oscar nominations and winning Best Director, Best Actor and {{Lang|fr|[[Palme d'Or]]|italic=no}} at the [[1991 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com Barton Fink">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/79/year/1991.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Barton Fink |access-date=August 9, 2009|publisher=festival-cannes.com}}</ref> It was their first film with cinematographer [[Roger Deakins]], a key collaborator for the next 25 years.<ref>{{cite news| author=Christopher Orr| date=September 11, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Barton Fink''| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-barton-fink/379990/}}</ref>


''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (1994) is an homage to [[screwball comedies]] of [[Frank Capra]] and [[Howard Hawks]]. Co-written with Raimi, the film follows a mailroom clerk ([[Tim Robbins]]) who is promoted to president of the Hudsucker corporation by a cynical director ([[Paul Newman]]) in a scheme to devalue the company's stock; a fast-talking newspaperwoman ([[Jennifer Jason Leigh]]) tries to scoop the story. Critics praised the production design but criticized the tone. It was a [[box office bomb]] ($30 million budget, $3 million gross in the US).<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)| Christopher Orr]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''The Hudsucker Proxy| date=September 12, 2014| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-the-hudsucker-proxy/380068/}}</ref>
''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' (co-written with Raimi) was released in 1994. In it, the board of a large corporation in 1958 New York City appoints a naive [[schmo]] as president ([[Tim Robbins]]) for underhanded reasons. The film [[box office bomb|bombed at the box office]] ($30 million budget, $3 million gross in the US), even though it featured [[Paul Newman]] and [[Jennifer Jason Leigh]]. [[Frances McDormand]] appears in a brief uncredited role.


The Coens wrote and directed the crime thriller ''[[Fargo (1996 film)|Fargo]]'' (1996), set in their home state of [[Minnesota]]. In the film, Jerry Lundegaard ([[William H. Macy]]), who has serious financial problems, has his wife kidnapped so that his wealthy father-in-law will pay the ransom. His plan goes wrong when the kidnappers deviate from the plan and local cop [[Marge Gunderson (Fargo character)|Marge Gunderson]] (McDormand) starts to investigate. Produced on a small budget of $7 million, ''Fargo'' was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise for its dialogue and McDormand's performance. The film received several awards, including a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award and [[Prix de la mise en scène|Cannes]] award for direction, and two [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]: a [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and a [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress Oscar]] for McDormand.<ref name="festival-cannes.com Fargo">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4685/year/1996.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Fargo |access-date=January 14, 2016| publisher= festival-cannes.com}}</ref><ref name="fargo-oscars">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/14/specials/ondaatje-oscar.html |title='English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture |access-date=January 14, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
The Coens wrote and directed the crime thriller ''[[Fargo (1996 film)|Fargo]]'' (1996), set in their home state of [[Minnesota]]. In the film, Jerry Lundegaard ([[William H. Macy]]), who has serious financial problems, has his wife kidnapped so that his wealthy father-in-law will pay the ransom. His plan goes wrong when the kidnappers deviate from the plan and local cop [[Marge Gunderson (Fargo character)|Marge Gunderson]] (McDormand) starts to investigate. Produced on a small budget of $7 million, ''Fargo'' was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise for its dialogue and McDormand's performance. The film received several awards, including a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] award and [[Prix de la mise en scène|Cannes]] award for direction, and two [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]: a [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Original Screenplay]] and a [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress Oscar]] for McDormand.<ref name="festival-cannes.com Fargo">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4685/year/1996.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Fargo |access-date=January 14, 2016| publisher= festival-cannes.com}}</ref><ref name="fargo-oscars">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/00/05/14/specials/ondaatje-oscar.html |title='English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture |access-date=January 14, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Revision as of 03:52, 1 October 2024

"Ethan Coen" redirects here. Not to be confused with Ethan Cohen or Etan Cohen.
"Joel Coen" redirects here. Not to be confused with Joel Cohen.

Coen brothers
Ethan (left) and Joel Coen, at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Born
Joel Daniel Coen
(1954-11-29) November 29, 1954 (age 69)
Ethan Jesse Coen
(1957-09-21) September 21, 1957 (age 67)

St. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S. (both)
Other names
  • Coen brothers
  • Roderick Jaynes
  • Reginald Jaynes
  • Mike Zoss
EducationSt. Louis Park High School
Alma materJoel: New York University (BFA)
Bard College at Simon's Rock (AA)
Ethan: Princeton University (BA)
Bard College at Simon's Rock (AA)
Occupations
  • Film directors
  • producers
  • screenwriters
  • editors
Years active1984–present
Spouse(s)Joel: Frances McDormand (m. 1984)
Ethan: Tricia Cooke (m. 1990)
ChildrenJoel: 1
Ethan: 2

Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954)[1] and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),[2] together known as the Coen brothers (/ˈkoʊən/), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody.[3] Their most acclaimed works include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

The brothers generally write, direct and produce their films jointly, although due to DGA regulations, Joel received sole directing credit while Ethan received sole production credit until The Ladykillers (2004), from which point on they would be credited together as directors and producers; they also shared editing credits under the alias Roderick Jaynes. The duo started directing separately in the 2020s, resulting in Joel's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) and Ethan's Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (2022) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). They have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards together, plus one individual nomination for each; both won Best Original Screenplay for Fargo, and Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men. The duo also won the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.

The Coens have written a number of films they did not direct, including Angelina Jolie's biographical war drama Unbroken (2014), Steven Spielberg's Cold War film Bridge of Spies (2015), and lesser-known, commercially unsuccessful comedies such as Crimewave (1985), The Naked Man (1998) and Gambit (2012). Ethan is also a writer of short stories, theater, and poetry.

They are known for their distinctive stylistic trademarks including genre hybridity.[4] No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis were included on the BBC's 2016 poll of the greatest motion pictures since 2000.[5] In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Fargo among the 100 greatest American movies.[6] Richard Corliss wrote of the Coens: "Dexterously flipping and reheating old movie genres like so many pancakes, they serve them up fresh, not with syrup but with a coating of comic arsenic."[7]

Background

Early life

Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957) were born and raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.[8] Their mother, Rena (née Neumann; 1925–2001), was an art historian at St. Cloud State University,[9] and their father, Edward Coen (1919–2012), was a Professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota.[10] The brothers have an older sister, Deborah, who is a psychiatrist in Israel.[11][12]

In regards to whether our background influences our film making ... who knows? We don't think about it ... There's no doubt that our Jewish heritage affects how we see things.

—Joel Coen, on the Coens' Jewish heritage.[13]

Both sides of the Coen family were Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews.[11] Their paternal grandfather, Victor Coen, was a barrister in the Inns of Court in London before retiring to Hove with their grandmother.[14] Edward Coen was an American citizen born in the United States,[14] but grew up in Croydon, London and studied at the London School of Economics.[11] Afterwards he moved to the United States, where he met the Coens' mother, and served in the United States Army during World War II.[11][14]

The Coens developed an early interest in cinema through television. They grew up watching Italian films (ranging from the works of Federico Fellini to the Sons of Hercules films) aired on a Minneapolis station, the Tarzan films, and comedies (Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Doris Day).[15]

In the mid-1960s, Joel saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Vivitar Super 8 camera.[16] Together, the brothers remade movies they saw on television, with their neighborhood friend Mark Zimering ("Zeimers") as the star.[17] Cornel Wilde's 1965 film The Naked Prey became their Zeimers in Zambezi, which featured Ethan as a native with a spear. The 1943 film Lassie Come Home was reinterpreted as their Ed... A Dog, with Ethan playing the mother role in his sister's tutu. They also made original films like Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go, Lumberjacks of the North and The Banana Film.[18]

Education

Joel and Ethan graduated from St. Louis Park High School[19] in 1973 and 1976, respectively, and from Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.[20]

After Simon's Rock, Joel spent four years in the undergraduate film program at New York University, where he made a 30-minute thesis film called Soundings.[21] In 1979, he briefly enrolled in the graduate film program at the University of Texas at Austin, following a woman he had married who was in the graduate linguistics program. The marriage soon ended in divorce and Joel left UT Austin after nine months.[22]

Ethan went on to Princeton University and earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1979.[20] His senior thesis was a 41-page essay, "Two Views of Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy", which was supervised by Raymond Geuss.[23]

Personal lives

Joel has been married to actress Frances McDormand since 1984. In 1995, they adopted a son, Pedro McDormand Coen, from Paraguay when he was six months old.[24][25] McDormand has acted in a number of Coen Brothers films: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo, The Man Who Wasn't There, Burn After Reading, and Hail, Caesar! For her performance in Fargo, she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Ethan married film editor Tricia Cooke in 1993.[26] They have two children: daughter Dusty and son Buster Jacob.[27] The two describe their relationship as “nontraditional”; Cooke identifies as both queer and a lesbian[26] and Ethan as straight, and the two have separate partners.[28][29] They co-wrote the film Drive-Away Dolls, which Ethan directed and Tricia edited.

Ethan Coen and family live in New York, while Joel Coen and Frances McDormand live in Marin County, California.[30][31]

Career

1980s

After graduating from New York University, Joel worked as a production assistant on a variety of industrial films and music videos. He developed a talent for film editing and met Sam Raimi while assisting Edna Ruth Paul in editing Raimi's first feature film, The Evil Dead (1981).[32]

The duo made their debut with Blood Simple (1984). Set in Texas, it tells the tale of a bar owner (Dan Hedaya) who hires a detective (M. Emmet Walsh) to kill his wife and her lover (Frances McDormand and John Getz, respectively). It contains elements that point to their future direction: distinctive homages to genre movies (in this case noir and horror), plot twists layered over a simple story, dark humor and mise-en-scène. Janet Maslin wrote: "The camera work by Barry Sonnenfeld is especially dazzling. So is the fact that Mr. Coen, unlike many people who have directed great-looking film noir efforts, knows better than to let handsomeness become the film's entire raison d'être. In addition to its stylishness, Blood Simple has the kind of purposefulness and coherence that show Mr. Coen to be headed for bigger, even better, things."[33] Joel's direction was recognized at both the Sundance and Independent Spirit awards.[34] It was the first film shot by Sonnenfeld, who collaborated with the Coens on their two subsequent films and went on to be a director. It marked the first of many collaborations between the Coens and composer Carter Burwell. It was also the screen debut of McDormand, who went on to feature in many of the Coens' films (and marry Joel).[35]

Their next project was Crimewave (Raimi,1985), written by the Coens and Raimi. Joel and Raimi also made cameos in Spies Like Us (1985).

The brothers wanted to follow their debut with something fast paced and funny. Raising Arizona (1987) follows an unlikely married couple: ex-convict H.I. (Nicolas Cage) and police officer Ed (Holly Hunter), who long for a baby but are unable to conceive. When a local furniture tycoon (Trey Wilson) appears on television with his newly born quintuplets and jokes that they "are more than we can handle", H.I. steals one of the quintuplets to bring up as their own. The film featured McDormand, William Forsythe, Sam McMurray, and Randall "Tex" Cobb. It marked the first of many collaborations between the Coens and John Goodman.[36]

1990s

Miller's Crossing (1990) is a gangster film inspired by Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest (1929) and The Glass Key (1931). It stars Gabriel Byrne as Irish mobster Tom Reagan and features Albert Finney, Marcia Gay Harden, Steve Buscemi, Jon Polito and John Turturro. The film was released almost simultaneously with Goodfellas and was not a commercial success, but received positive reviews. Christopher Orr calls it "distillation of all the tropes and themes and moods of the classic gangster film." It was the Coens' first collaboration with production designer Dennis Gassner.[37]

They followed it with Barton Fink (1991); set in 1941, it follows a New York playwright, the eponymous Fink (Turturro), who moves to Los Angeles to write a B-picture for a venal movie mogul (Michael Lerner). Fink is modeled on playwright Clifford Odets, and the character W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney) is based on William Faulkner. Barton Fink was a critical success, earning Oscar nominations and winning Best Director, Best Actor and Palme d'Or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.[38] It was their first film with cinematographer Roger Deakins, a key collaborator for the next 25 years.[39]

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is an homage to screwball comedies of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks. Co-written with Raimi, the film follows a mailroom clerk (Tim Robbins) who is promoted to president of the Hudsucker corporation by a cynical director (Paul Newman) in a scheme to devalue the company's stock; a fast-talking newspaperwoman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) tries to scoop the story. Critics praised the production design but criticized the tone. It was a box office bomb ($30 million budget, $3 million gross in the US).[40]

The Coens wrote and directed the crime thriller Fargo (1996), set in their home state of Minnesota. In the film, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), who has serious financial problems, has his wife kidnapped so that his wealthy father-in-law will pay the ransom. His plan goes wrong when the kidnappers deviate from the plan and local cop Marge Gunderson (McDormand) starts to investigate. Produced on a small budget of $7 million, Fargo was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise for its dialogue and McDormand's performance. The film received several awards, including a BAFTA award and Cannes award for direction, and two Oscars: a Best Original Screenplay and a Best Actress Oscar for McDormand.[41][42]

In the Coens' next film, the black comedy The Big Lebowski (1998), "The Dude" (Jeff Bridges), a Los Angeles slacker,[43] is used as an unwitting pawn in a kidnapping plot with his bowling buddies (Steve Buscemi and John Goodman). Despite initially receiving mixed reviews and underperforming at the box office, it is now well received by critics,[44] and is regarded as a classic cult film.[45] An annual festival, Lebowski Fest, began in 2002, and many adhere to the philosophy of "Dudeism".[46] Entertainment Weekly ranked it 8th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list in 2008.[47]

Gates of Eden, a collection of short stories written by Ethan Coen, was published in 1998.[48][49] The same year, Ethan co-wrote the comedy The Naked Man, directed by their storyboard artist J. Todd Anderson.[50]

2000s

Ethan and Joel at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival

The Coen brothers' next film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), was another critical and commercial success. The title was borrowed from the Preston Sturges film Sullivan's Travels (1941), whose lead character, movie director John Sullivan, had planned to make a film with that title.[51] Based loosely on Homer's Odyssey (complete with a Cyclops, sirens, et al.), the story is set in Mississippi in the 1930s and follows a trio of escaped convicts who, after absconding from a chain gang, journey home to recover bank-heist loot the leader has buried—but they have no clear perception of where they are going. The film highlighted the comic abilities of George Clooney as the oddball lead character Ulysses Everett McGill, and of Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro, his sidekicks. The film's bluegrass and old-time soundtrack, offbeat humor and digitally desaturated cinematography made it a critical and commercial hit.[52][53] It was the first feature film to use all-digital color grading.[54] The film's soundtrack CD was also successful, spawning a concert and concert/documentary DVD, Down from the Mountain.

The Coens next produced another noirish thriller, The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).

The Coens directed the 2003 film Intolerable Cruelty, starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones, a throwback to the romantic comedies of the 1940s. It focuses on hotshot divorce lawyer Miles Massey and a beautiful divorcée whom Massey managed to prevent from receiving any money in her divorce. She vows to get even with him while, at the same time, he becomes smitten with her. Intolerable Cruelty received generally positive reviews, although it is considered one of the duo's weaker films.[55] Also that year, they executive produced and did an uncredited rewrite of the Christmas black comedy Bad Santa, which garnered positive reviews.[56]

In 2004, the Coens made The Ladykillers, a remake of the British classic by Ealing Studios.[57] A professor, played by Tom Hanks, assembles a team to rob a casino. They rent a room in an elderly woman's home to plan the heist. When the woman discovers the plot, the gang decides to murder her to ensure her silence. The Coens received some of the most lukewarm reviews of their careers in response to this film.[58][59]

They directed two short films for two separate anthology films—Paris, je t'aime (Tuileries, 2006) starring Steve Buscemi,[60] and To Each His Own Cinema (World Cinema, 2007) starring Josh Brolin.[61] Both films received highly positive reviews.[62][63]

With Javier Bardem at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival

No Country for Old Men, released in November 2007, closely follows the 2005 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy. Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), living near the Texas/Mexico border, stumbles upon, and decides to take, two million dollars in drug money. He must then go on the run to avoid those trying to recover the money, including sociopathic killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), who confounds both Llewelyn and local sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). The plotline is a return to noir themes, but in some respects it was a departure for the Coens; with the exception of Stephen Root, none of the stable of regular actors appears in the film. No Country received nearly universal critical praise, garnering a 94% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.[64] It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, all of which were received by the Coens, as well as Best Supporting Actor received by Bardem. The Coens, as "Roderick Jaynes", were also nominated for Best Editing, but lost. It was the first time since 1961 (when Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise won for West Side Story) that two directors received the Academy Award for Best Director at the same time.[65]

In January 2008, Ethan Coen's play Almost an Evening premiered off-broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2, opening to mostly enthusiastic reviews. The initial run closed on February 10, 2008, but the same production was moved to a new theatre for a commercial off-Broadway run at the Bleecker Street Theater in New York City. Produced by The Atlantic Theater Company, it ran there from March 2008 through June 1, 2008.[66] and Art Meets Commerce.[67] In May 2009, the Atlantic Theater Company produced Coen's Offices, as part of their mainstage season at the Linda Gross Theater.[68]

Burn After Reading, a comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, was released September 12, 2008, and portrays a collision course between two gym instructors, spies and Internet dating.[69] Released to positive reviews, it debuted at No. 1 in North America.[70]

In 2009, the Coens directed a television commercial titled "Air Freshener" for the Reality Coalition.[71][72]

They next directed A Serious Man, released October 2, 2009, a "gentle but dark" period comedy (set in 1967) with a low budget.[73] The film is based loosely on the Coens' childhoods in an academic family in the largely Jewish suburb of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota;[73] it also drew comparisons to the Book of Job.[74][75] Filming took place late in the summer of 2008, in the neighborhoods of Roseville and Bloomington, Minnesota, at Normandale Community College, and at St. Olaf College.[76][77] The film was nominated for the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.[78]

2010s

True Grit (2010) is based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Charles Portis.[79] Filming was done in Texas and New Mexico. Hailee Steinfeld stars as Mattie Ross along with Jeff Bridges as Marshal Rooster Cogburn. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin also appear in the movie.[80] True Grit was nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture.[81][82]

The Coens, presidents of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival jury

Ethan Coen wrote the one-act comedy Talking Cure, which was produced on Broadway in 2011 as part of Relatively Speaking, an anthology of three one-act plays by Coen, Elaine May, and Woody Allen.[83]

In 2011, the Coen brothers won the $1 million Dan David Prize for their contribution to cinema and society.[84][85]

Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) is a treatise on the 1960s folk music scene in New York City's Greenwich Village, and very loosely based on the life of Dave Van Ronk.[86] The film stars Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, and Carey Mulligan.[87] It won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it was highly praised by critics.[88] They received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Please Mr. Kennedy", which is heard in the film.[89]

Fargo, a television series inspired by their film of the same name, premiered in April 2014 on the FX network. It is created by Noah Hawley and executive produced by the brothers.[90]

The Coens also contributed to the screenplay for Unbroken, along with Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson. The film is directed by Angelina Jolie and based on Laura Hillenbrand's non-fiction book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010) which itself was based on the life of Louis Zamperini. It was released on December 25, 2014, to average reviews.[91]

The Coens co-wrote, with playwright Matt Charman, the screenplay for the dramatic historical thriller Bridge of Spies, about the 1960 U-2 Incident. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and released on October 4, 2015, to critical acclaim.[92] They were nominated for the Best Original Screenplay at the 88th Academy Awards.[93]

The Coens directed the film Hail, Caesar!, about a "fixer" in 1950s Hollywood trying to discover what happened to a cast member who vanishes during filming. It stars Coen regulars George Clooney, Josh Brolin, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton, as well as Channing Tatum, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, and Alden Ehrenreich.[94] The film was released on February 5, 2016.

In 2016, the Coens gave to their longtime friend and collaborator John Turturro the right to use his character of Jesus Quintana from The Big Lebowski in his own spin-off, The Jesus Rolls, which he would also write and direct. The Coens have no involvement in the production. In August 2016, the film began principal photography.[95][96]

The Coens first wrote the script for Suburbicon in 1986. The film was eventually directed by George Clooney and began filming in October 2016. It was released by Paramount Pictures in the fall of 2017.[97]

The Coens directed The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a Western anthology starring Tim Blake Nelson, Liam Neeson, and James Franco. It began streaming on Netflix on November 16, 2018, after a brief theatrical run.[98][99][100]

2020s

It was announced in March 2019 that Joel Coen would be directing an adaptation of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand.[101] The film, titled The Tragedy of Macbeth, was Joel's first directorial effort without his brother, who was taking a break from films to focus on theater.[102] The film premiered at the 2021 New York Film Festival.[103] The 2022 Cannes Film Festival had a special screening of Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind, an archival documentary film directed solely by Ethan Coen and edited by his wife Tricia Cooke.[104] In 2022, it was announced that Ethan Coen would be directing Drive-Away Dolls for Focus Features and Working Title from a script he co-wrote with Cooke. It would be Ethan's first narrative film without his brother. The film was released in February 2024.[105]

Planned and uncompleted projects

Main article: Coen brothers' unrealized projects

Production company

The Coen brothers' own film production company, Mike Zoss Productions located in New York City, has been credited on their films from O Brother, Where Art Thou? onwards.[106] It was named after Mike Zoss Drug, an independent pharmacy in St. Louis Park since 1950 that was the brothers' beloved hangout when they were growing up in the Twin Cities. The name was also used for the pharmacy in No Country for Old Men.[107] The Mike Zoss logo consists of a crayon drawing of a horse, standing in a field of grass with its head turned around as it looks back over its hindquarters.

Directing distinctions

Up to 2003, Joel received sole credit for directing and Ethan for producing, due to guild rules that disallowed multiple director credits to prevent dilution of the position's significance. The only exception to this rule is if the co-directors are an "established duo". Since 2004 they have been able to share the director credit and the Coen brothers have become only the third duo to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director.

With four Academy Award nominations for No Country for Old Men for the duo (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing as Roderick Jaynes), the Coen brothers have tied the record for the most nominations by a single nominee (counting an "established duo" as one nominee) for the same film. Orson Welles set the record in 1941 with Citizen Kane being nominated for Best Picture (though at the time, individual producers were not named as nominees), Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Warren Beatty received the same nominations, first for Heaven Can Wait in 1978 and again in 1981 with Reds. Alan Menken also then achieved the same feat when he was nominated for Best Score and triple-nominated for Best Song for Beauty and the Beast in 1991. Most recently Chloé Zhao matched this record in 2021 when she was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing for Nomadland (which also starred McDormand in her third Oscar-winning role).

Filmography

Main article: Coen brothers filmography
Directed features
Year Title Distribution
1984 Blood Simple Circle Films
1987 Raising Arizona 20th Century Fox
1990 Miller's Crossing
1991 Barton Fink
1994 The Hudsucker Proxy Warner Bros. Pictures / PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
1996 Fargo Gramercy Pictures / PolyGram Filmed Entertainment
1998 The Big Lebowski
2000 O Brother, Where Art Thou? Buena Vista Pictures Distribution / Universal Pictures
2001 The Man Who Wasn't There USA Films
2003 Intolerable Cruelty Universal Pictures
2004 The Ladykillers Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
2007 No Country for Old Men Miramax / Paramount Vantage
2008 Burn After Reading Focus Features
2009 A Serious Man
2010 True Grit Paramount Pictures
2013 Inside Llewyn Davis CBS Films
2016 Hail, Caesar! Universal Pictures
2018 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Netflix
Joel only
Year Title Distribution
2021 The Tragedy of Macbeth A24 / Apple TV+
Ethan only
Year Title Distribution
2022 Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind A24
2024 Drive-Away Dolls Focus Features
TBA Honey Don't!

Collaborators

See also: List of frequent Coen Brothers collaborators

Accolades

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by the Coen brothers
Year Title Academy Awards BAFTA Awards Golden Globe Awards
Nominations Wins Nominations Wins Nominations Wins
1991 Barton Fink 3 1
1996 Fargo 7 2 6 1 4
2000 O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2 4 2 1
2001 The Man Who Wasn't There 1 1 1 3
2007 No Country for Old Men 8 4 9 3 4 2
2008 Burn After Reading 3 2
2009 A Serious Man 2 1 1
2010 True Grit 10 8 1
2013 Inside Llewyn Davis 2 3 3
2016 Hail, Caesar! 1 1
2018 The Ballad of Buster Scruggs 3 1
2021 The Tragedy of Macbeth[a] 3 1 1
Total 42 6 38 6 21 3
Year Performer Film Result
Academy Award for Best Actor
2010 Jeff Bridges True Grit Nominated
2021 Denzel Washington The Tragedy of Macbeth[a] Nominated
Academy Award for Best Actress
1996 Frances McDormand Fargo Won
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1991 Michael Lerner Barton Fink Nominated
1996 William H. Macy Fargo Nominated
2007 Javier Bardem No Country for Old Men Won
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2010 Hailee Steinfeld True Grit Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ a b Written and directed by Joel only

References

  1. ^ "UPI Almanac for Friday, Nov. 29, 2019". United Press International. November 29, 2019. Archived from the original on December 24, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020. …filmmaker Joel Coen in 1954 (age 65)
  2. ^ State of Minnesota. Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002. Minnesota Department of Health.
  3. ^ Austerlitz, Saul (December 19, 2010). "Joel and Ethan Coen: A study in subversion". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 3, 2016.
  4. ^ Jaffe, Ira. "Hollywood Hybrids: Mixing Genres in Contemporary Films". Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2007.
  5. ^ "The 21st Century's 100 greatest films". BBC. August 23, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  6. ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies". American Film Institute. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2021.
  7. ^ Richard Corliss. "ALL-TIME 100 Movies: Miller's Crossing". Time.
  8. ^ King 2014, p. 41.
  9. ^ "Rena Neumann Coen, 76, Was Art Historian, Filmmakers' Mother". St. Paul Pioneer Press. October 23, 2001. p. B6 local. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018.
  10. ^ Lehmberg, Stanford E. (2001). The University of Minnesota, 1945–2000. University of Minnesota Press. p. 27. ISBN 9780816632558.
  11. ^ a b c d Collin, Robbie (February 26, 2016). "The Coen Brothers: 'We get you invested, then shake the floor'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  12. ^ Handelman, David (May 21, 1987). "Joel & Ethan Coen: The Brothers From Another Planet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  13. ^ "Coen Brothers: Boycotting Israel Is a Mistake". Haaretz. May 15, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
  14. ^ a b c Bradshaw, Peter (June 15, 2004). "My father lived in Croydon". The Guardian. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Levine & Fagan 2000, p. 5.
  16. ^ King 2014, p. 42.
  17. ^ Brodesser-Akner, Claude (February 23, 2011). "From Their Childhood Friend, How to Better Know a Coen Brother". New York. Retrieved September 4, 2019.
  18. ^ Levine & Fagan 2000, p. 6.
  19. ^ "The Coen Brothers: 11 Things You Never Knew About The Filmmaking Duo – Screen Rant". Screen Rant. October 8, 2020.
  20. ^ a b "Coen brothers prove two heads are better than one". Agence France-Presse. February 24, 2008. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  21. ^ Levine & Fagan 2000, p. 7-8.
  22. ^ Levine & Fagan 2000, p. 8.
  23. ^ Coen, Ethan Jesse (1979). "Page for Ethan Coen's senior thesis". Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2015.
  24. ^ Durbin, Karen (March 2, 2003). "The Prime Of Frances McDormand". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  25. ^ Nesa, Kamrun (March 11, 2018). "Everything We Know About Frances McDormand and Joel Coen's Son, Pedro". POPSUGAR Celebrity. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  26. ^ a b Encinias, Joshua. "Drive-Away Dolls: How Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke's Long Marriage Shaped Their Lesbian Road-Trip Movie". MovieMaker. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  27. ^ Verini, James (March 28, 2004). "The United States of Coen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 15, 2012.
  28. ^ Coyle, Jake (February 20, 2024). "Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke give sexploitation cinema a queer spin in 'Drive-Away Dolls'". The Associated Press. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  29. ^ Fry, Naomi (March 1, 2024). "Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke's Queer Caper". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  30. ^ Nathan, Ian (January 2008). "The Complete Coens". Empire. p. 173.
  31. ^ "Joel Coen, Frances McDormand sue Marin neighbors". November 10, 2019.
  32. ^ Campbell, Bruce (2002). If Chins Could Kill (First ed.). New York, NY: LA Weekly Books. p. 129. ISBN 0312291450.
  33. ^ Janet Maslin (October 12, 1984). "Blood Simple: A Black-Comic Romp". The New York Times.
  34. ^ "Blood Simple – Cast, Crew, Directors and Awards". The New York Times. 2015. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  35. ^ Christopher Orr (September 8, 2014). "30 Years of Coens: Blood Simple". The Atlantic.
  36. ^ Christopher Orr (September 9, 2014). "30 Years of Coens: Raising Arizona". The Atlantic.
  37. ^ Christopher Orr (September 10, 2014). "30 Years of Coens: Miller's Crossing". The Atlantic.
  38. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Barton Fink". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  39. ^ Christopher Orr (September 11, 2014). "30 Years of Coens: Barton Fink". The Atlantic.
  40. ^ Christopher Orr (September 12, 2014). "30 Years of Coens: The Hudsucker Proxy". The Atlantic.
  41. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Fargo". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  42. ^ "'English Patient' Dominates Oscars With Nine, Including Best Picture". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  43. ^ "The Big Lebowski|The New Yorker". The New Yorker.
  44. ^ "The Big Lebowski (1998)". Rotten Tomatoes. March 6, 1998.
  45. ^ Kung, Michelle (January 8, 2010). ""The Big Lebowski" + Shakespeare = "Two Gentlemen of Lebowski" – WSJ". Wall Street Journal.
  46. ^ Ehrlich, Richard. "The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski'". CNN. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  47. ^ "The Comedy 25: The Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  48. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (December 17, 1998). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Shadowy Snapshots of a Nightmare Dreamscape". The New York Times.
  49. ^ Lindquist, Mark (December 20, 1998). "Gates of Eden". The New York Times.
  50. ^ Phipps, Keith (March 29, 2002). "The Naked Man". The A.V. Club. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  51. ^ Brody, Richard (June 17, 2014). "Movie of the Week: "Sullivan's Travels"". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  52. ^ "O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)". Rotten Tomatoes. December 22, 2000. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  53. ^ "O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  54. ^ "O Brother, This Was the First Movie to Use All-Digital Color Grading". Gizmodo. June 25, 2014.
  55. ^ "Intolerable Cruelty". Rotten Tomatoes. October 10, 2003.
  56. ^ "Terry Zwigoff Talks Battling Over 'Bad Santa,' His Preferred Director's Cut & Much More In Candid Interview". Indiewire. Archived from the original on December 29, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  57. ^ "Disney remakes The Lady Killers". The Daily Telegraph. May 19, 2004. Archived from the original on January 10, 2022.
  58. ^ "The Ladykillers Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. March 26, 2004. Retrieved September 27, 2010.
  59. ^ "15 Movies That Had The Biggest Influences On The Films of The Coen Brothers – Page 2 – Taste of Cinema". July 7, 2021.
  60. ^ Springer, Mike. "Tuileries: A Short, Slightly Twisted Film by Joel and Ethan Coen". Open Culture. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  61. ^ Fischer, Russ (August 11, 2009). "Big Directors Small Films: The Coen Brothers Short Film 'World Cinema'". /Film. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  62. ^ "To Each His Own Cinema (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  63. ^ "Paris, I Love You (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. May 4, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  64. ^ "No Country for Old Men (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. November 21, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  65. ^ "The 80th Academy Awards (2008)". The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). February 24, 2008.
  66. ^ "Atlantic Theater Company". Atlantic Theater Company. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  67. ^ "Art Meets Commerce". artmeetscommerce.net.
  68. ^ Brantley, Ben (May 7, 2009). "Coen's-Eye View of 9 to 5". The New York Times. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  69. ^ "15 Movies That Had The Biggest Influences On The Films of The Coen Brothers – Taste of Cinema". July 7, 2021.
  70. ^ "Burn After Reading (2008) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 26, 2008.
  71. ^ Burdick, Dave (February 26, 2009). "Coen Brothers Direct New 'Clean Coal' Ad". HuffPost. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
  72. ^ "Coen Brothers". thisisreality. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009.
  73. ^ a b Covert, Colin (September 6, 2008). "In Twin Cities, Coen brothers shoot from heart". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2008.
  74. ^ Evans, K.L. (2012). "How Job Begat Larry: The Present Situation in A Serious Man". In Conard, Mark T. (ed.). The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 289–303. ISBN 978-0813134451.
  75. ^ Tollerton, David (2012). "Job of Suburbia? A Serious Man and Viewer Perceptions of the Biblical". Journal of Religion & Film. 15 (2). Omaha, Nebraska: University of Nebraska: 10.
  76. ^ Henke, David (August 19, 2008). "Coen brothers will use St. Olaf for movie". Northfield News. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  77. ^ Gonnerman, David (October 9, 2008). "St. Olaf gets 'Serious'". St. Olaf College. Archived from the original on August 8, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  78. ^ "The 82nd Academy Awards (2010) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). December 4, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  79. ^ Fleming, Michael (March 22, 2009). "Coen brothers to adapt 'True Grit' – Entertainment News, Film News, Media". Variety. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  80. ^ "Coen Brothers to film 'True Grit' remake in NM". Boston Herald. February 12, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
  81. ^ "Oscar nominations 2011 in full". BBC News Online. January 25, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  82. ^ "Oscar nominees 2011". MSN Movies UK. January 25, 2011. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  83. ^ Isherwood, Charles (October 21, 2011). "Each Family, Tortured in Its Own Way". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  84. ^ "Coen brothers win $1m Dan David Prize". BBC News. May 16, 2011. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  85. ^ Shtull-Trauring, Asaf; Anderman, Nirit (February 23, 2011). "A serious prize / Coen brothers win Dan David award". Haaretz. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  86. ^ Fischer, Russ (June 25, 2011). "The Coen Bros. New Script is Based on the 60's NYC Folk Scene". /Film. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  87. ^ Labrecque, Gabe (October 31, 2011). "Coen brothers target Justin Timberlake for 'Inside Llewyn Davis'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  88. ^ "2013 Official Selection". Cannes. April 18, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
  89. ^ "Golden Globes Nominations: The Full List". Variety. January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  90. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (September 21, 2012). "FX Teams With Joel & Ethan Coen And Noah Hawley For Series Adaptation Of 'Fargo'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  91. ^ Kit, Borys. "Coen Brothers to Rewrite Angelina Jolie's 'Unbroken'". The Hollywood Reporter.
  92. ^ "Bridge of Spies". Rotten Tomatoes. October 16, 2015. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  93. ^ Rothman, Michael; McKenzie, Joi-Marie. "Oscars 2016: Complete List of Nominees". ABC News. Retrieved January 14, 2016.
  94. ^ Kit, Borys (July 10, 2014). "Jonah Hill Joining Channing Tatum, George Clooney in Coen Brothers' 'Hail, Caesar!'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 10, 2014.
  95. ^ "'Big Lebowski' Spinoff 'Going Places': First Photo of John Turturro as Jesus Revealed". IndieWire. August 22, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  96. ^ "WILL FERRELL AND JOHN C. REILLY REUNITE TO PLAY HOLMES AND WATSON, PLUS MORE MOVIE NEWS". Rotten Tomatoes. August 19, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  97. ^ "George Clooney Back With Coen Brothers". Empire. November 22, 2005. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  98. ^ "Coen brothers turn to TV with western series The Ballad of Buster Scruggs". The Guardian. January 10, 2017. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  99. ^ Otterson, Joe (August 9, 2017). "Coen Brothers' TV Series 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs' Lands at Netflix". Variety. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
  100. ^ Tapley, Kristopher (July 25, 2018). "Surprise! The Coens' 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs' Is a Film and It's Headed for Oscar Season". Variety. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  101. ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 28, 2019). "Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Joel Coen Teaming For 'Macbeth' Movie".
  102. ^ "Ethan Coen is 'giving movies a rest.' His focus for now: 'A Play Is a Poem' in L.A." Los Angeles Times. September 20, 2019.
  103. ^ Lang, Brent (July 22, 2021). "Joel Coen's 'Tragedy of Macbeth' With Frances McDormand, Denzel Washington Will Open New York Film Festival". Variety. Archived from the original on July 22, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  104. ^ "'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind': Cannes Review". Screendaily.com.
  105. ^ Kroll, Justin (April 1, 2022). "Ethan Coen Sets Next Feature With Focus And Working Title". Deadline. Retrieved April 2, 2022.
  106. ^ "Mike Zoss Production Inc – New York City (NY) | Company Profile". Manta.com. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
  107. ^ Ross, Jenna (November 9, 2007). "Drugstore has role in lives, film of Coen brothers". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015.

Bibliography

  • Cheshire, Ellen; Ashbrook, John (2005). Joel and Ethan Coen (3rd revised ed.). The Pocket Essential. ISBN 9781904048398. (Includes all films up to The Ladykillers and some subsidiary works [Crimewave, Down from the Mountain, Bad Santa].)
  • King, Lynnea Chapman (2014). The Coen Brothers Encyclopedia. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810885769.
  • Levine, Josh; Fagan, Cary (2000). The Coen Brothers: The Story of Two American Filmmakers. ECW Press. ISBN 9781550224245.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coen brothers.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Coen brothers.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Coen_brothers&oldid=1248725844"