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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) over 3 years ago

23 ; looking to pursue a masters in media studies next spring.

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There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men, which is the better film? over 3 years ago

no country for old men is consistent through and through. there will be blood, though starting off iron strong, faded in impact for me towards the second half.

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There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men, which is the better film? over 3 years ago

MATTHIAS GALVIN —

i’m not sure i see the similarity between fargo and no country for old men aside from the prominent use of landscape and intense violence. fargo, though richly layered in both psychology and humor, is a quintessential “catch the bad guy” story… and, eventually, fulfills that set-up. no country proposes the idea of cyclical, uncontrollable, progressive violence. anton lives, thus leaving the impression that human violence, as a whole, is some sort of unstoppable force that can’t be contained.

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There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men, which is the better film? over 3 years ago

hmm, i do see what you’re saying and largely agree. the three main characters in no country are some sort of a holy trinity for me. one represents The Law, another represents The Lawless, and there’s another character (llewelyn) who seems to represent the gray area between both as he is not fully either archetype.

shinichi has a better explanation as to what i was trying to get at with regards to “new violence.” i think of no country as a kind of cyclical film in the sense that sheriff bell, though coming exceptionally close, never catches anton as marge caught grimsrud. the long opening landscape shots of no country largely recall “the western” genre (specifically, ford’s style) as there is no evidence of any kind of human civilization until you see the jeeps pull up and therefore, a blend between “old” and “new” is immediately formed. though drug violence wasn’t an issue 100+ years before, it is now as a “new breed” of violence.

in terms of fargo, i see the otherwise tranquil/desolate environment of the midwest in place of no country’s use of time and progressive era; so, in a way, i can see similarities between the two now that i give it a harder glimpse. i also completely agree with you with regards to elements of nihilism (perhaps even existentialism?) and sinister tones.

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