Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, more commonly referred as The Coen Brothers, are American filmmakers that have been in the film industry for over twenty–five years. They are widely known for their unconventional, dark comedies; ranging plots of great diversity. Together, the brothers have been nominated for thirteen Academy Awards, not including the awards each brother won individually. They have received the up-most respect from the film industry and have become iconic filmmakers that most others in the business want to collaborate with.
Joel and Ethan were raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota in a Jewish family. Joel Coen, the oldest brother, was born on November 29, 1954. He graduated from New York University’s Institute of Film and TV; eventually becoming a successful screenwriter and director. According to Coenesque, an unofficial fansite,”Joel Coen has built a reputation as one of the most visionary and idiosyncratic filmmakers of the late 20th century.” Ethan Coen was born on September 21, 1957, also in Minnesota. Ethan studied at Princeton University; majoring in philosophy before teaming up with his older brother, Joel, as a producer and collaborative screenwriter.
Joel and his younger brother Ethan began working on screenplays together and their success of the 1984 film, Blood Simple, recognized them as an up-and-coming talent with an innovative vision for film. “Combining thoughtful eccentricity, wry humor, arch irony, and often brutal violence, the films of the Coen brothers have become synonymous with a style of filmmaking that pays tribute to classic American movie genres, especially film noir, while sustaining a firmly postmodern feel.” (Coenesque).
The brothers went on to create several other films including; Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Hudsucker Proxy (1994), and one of their most successful films Fargo that was released in 1996. Joel Coen won a Best Director Award at the premier at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival and the film went on to receive seven nominations at the Academy Awards. The brother’s effective screenplay resulted in a Best Original Screenplay Oscar. Joel’s wife, Frances McDormand, also won an Oscar for Best Actress for staring in the film. In 1998, the American Film Institute even named the film one of the 100 greatest American movies of all time. A television series was also inspired by the film; the Coen Brothers being executive producers of the show.
There next several years after the release of Fargo spawned numerous other successful films that were often starred by well-known, established actors. In 1998, The Big Lebowski, starring Jeff Bridges, was released; which is one of my favorite movies of all time! Following the Fargo’s extreme success, The Big Lebowski was widely criticized for its mindless and silly plot. Although the film still achieved success over time due to its widely entertaining visuals, humorous quips, pleasing music soundtrack, and the likability of Bridge’s character. The Dude.
Joel Coen also won a Golden Bear nomination for The Big Lebowski at the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2000, The Coen Brothers then released O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was based on Homer’s The Odyssey. Sidenote: The brothers actually never read the book. The film starred George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson. The title of the film also was inspired by Sullivan’s Travels (1941), which we watched in the beginning of the semester. An interesting fact that I discovered while researching the film was that the whole film was shot using digital color correction. The brothers wanted to accomplish an old-fashioned appearance, so they had to filter the entire film. O Brother, Where Art Thou? was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture as well as receiving two Academy Award nominations including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. George Clooney also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in the film.
Continuing to the early 2000s, The Coen Brothers produced The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), Intolerable Cruelty (2003) again starring George Clooney, and The Ladykillers (2004). The Ladykillers was the first film that both brothers are credited for the producing and directing of the film. Although Ladykillers starred the famed Tom Hanks, the film received very mixed reviews and seemed to lack the high standards expected from The Coen Brothers at this point in their career. The film still ended up receiving the Jury Prize during the Cannes Film Festival in 2004.
In 2007, the brothers received three Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Adapted Screenplay for their film, No Country for Old Men. Later in 2010 Jeff Bridges stars in another Cohen Brothers film, True Grit. The film was based on a novel written in 1968, “Of the Same Name”, by Charles Portis. True Grit received positive responses and was nominated for ten Academy Awards. The brothers later released the films, Gambit (2012), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Unbroken (2014), Bridge of Spies (2015), and Hail Caesar which was released earlier this year in February.
According to BBC’s Documentary on The Coen Brothers by Ethan Anderton, it only takes the brothers a few weeks to write a script and they have several just lying around waiting to be made into films. Joel and Ethan Coen are revolutionary screenwriters and have had numerous successful films along with many not-so-successful films. I’m excited to see what they have to offer us in the future and am certain they will have more iconic films to come.
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