The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers are the collective name for the film makers Joel and Ethan Coen. They have written and directed a number of critically acclaimed movies since their debut Blood Simple in 1984. Their film No Country For Old Men won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 2007.

Their movies are noted for their black humor and frequently bloody violence. The Coens are Jewish, and their movies exhibit a typical Hollywood liberal bias of celebrating deviancy and disrespect for the military; e.g., The Dude in The Big Lebowski is a sympathetically drawn 1960s dropout, while his friend Walter, a Jewish Vietnam veteran, is portrayed as belligerent and stupid. Christians are often portrayed as hypocritical and self-serving, although this is true of many of their characters in general. Their 2009 film A Serious Man dealt with a Jewish physics professor struggling to understand God, the universe, and causality, and can be variously interpreted through Jewish theology, quantum physics, and relativity.

Noted collaborators include liberals George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Tim Robbins. Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, John Goodman, and Frances McDormand also make frequent appearances in their films.

Filmography[edit]