How I Wrote No Country for Old Men | Coen Brothers' Writing Advice
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Listen to the Coen Brothers break down how they adapted the crime thriller novel, No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, for the big screen. In this video, they talk about how the write as a writing duo, how they translated the novel into the cinematic world, and what No Country for Old Men is really about.
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No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name. A cat-and-mouse thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin, it follows a Texas welder and Vietnam War veteran in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas. The film revisits the themes of fate, conscience, and circumstance that the Coen brothers had explored in the films Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987) and Fargo (1996).
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Find the full-length youtube resources here: • How I Wrote No Country...
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How I Wrote No Country for Old Men | Coen Brothers' Writing Advice
• How I Wrote No Country...
#coenbrothers #screenwriting #filmmaking
this is the most information i've ever gained in a coin toss
Haha
@@BehindtheCurtain At least they didn't Chigur-coat it.
The lack of physical description when it comes to Anton is so amazing. Makes him more phantom than man.
Another thing for me that sold his otherworldly presence is his bizarre last name "Chigurh" which doesn't seem to have a specific cultural origin. He reminds me of another of McCarthy's characters, the mysterious and unnamed judge from Blood Meridian...
The Chigurh character is based on the character of Death from the 1957 Ingmar Bergman movie "The Seventh Seal." The pale face, black clothes, hood (Chigurh's funny haircut is his hood), and his plodding, inexorable forward movement combine with cold unemotion. The unique looking shotgun and the captive bolt stunner that Chiguhr used is the "scythe" used to cut down the living whose time has run out.
The film in a lot of ways feels to me as though the Coen brothers wanted to make their version of Halloween
@@joseph-fernando-piano the sparseness of detail is an asset, but not a rule. For instance, Judge Holden is given much more physical detail and his horrors dwarf Chighur's.
Definitely. In the books, he’s said to ‘look like anybody’ with the exception that he has bright blue eyes. “Blue as lapis. At once glistening and totally opaque. Like wet stones…”
Nice editing “bang there he is” 5:00
;)
Things Anton Chigurh did in the novel, but not in the movie: -He rolls down his car window to shoot a loud bird in the distance -He kills 3 clerks on 3 separate occasions, all in the same hotel that was attacked by the cartel (the same ones that Chigurh singlehandedly wiped out mercilessly) -He makes Carson cry before he blows his right hand and half of his head off -During the hotel shootout with the Cartel and Moss, he manages to shoot the head of a random old lady in her room, and Carson’s death date on the calendar beside her corpse -He speaks fluent Spanish -Anton kills a Drunk guy at a Bar parking lot with his bare hands, and flees to Texas, where the movie starts with his arrest after being stopped with the car he stole from same dead person -Anton hates changing the channel on the tv, but will stare at it without reacting to anything shown on the screen. -Anton delivers the money to the employer (who didn’t know of his presence until then) while being in a business suit, and compliments his place, and referencing the painting in his office. That’s probably implying that he was already rich and resourceful before all of the events of the story took place
He killed a bird in the movie
@@911fordummiesbydummies9 Yea the violence towards humans is already clearly established especially with the cattle gun, but him shooting the defenceless bird is a classic 'kick the dog' moment that is a trope in westerns to clue the audience in that this character basically has no regard for life, either animal or human its all the same to him.
@@911fordummiesbydummies9 He misses it actually.
Sounds like Anton was way scarier in the book , he is no different from Michael Myers
@@ghettoeasterbasket5638 indeed. but to note, he has a lot of dialogue in the novel, some in which i think is meant to be philosophical on the topic of how people change their behaviour to an overwhelming unknown force. kinda makes it less scary and makes you think instead...
I don’t know, the lack of soundtrack in this movie makes it one of a kind !!
Agreed. It's not even something I really noticed while watching either
It's amazing
Escape from alcatraz
There is a soundtrack actually. It's so subtle that all it does is amp up the tension on a subconscious level.
@@MayurKoitiya There IS tho
the intro should be "how not to ask questions to anyone, period". like its so annoying when someone decides to ram five questions into one and then just sit back proudly waiting for you to respond to their word vomit
Exactly. They're just showing off how a smart they are, which isn't what an interviewer should do.
Coen Brothers are the perfect siblings.
I would love to make films with my brother. That sounds really fun.
*cries In Safdie
The secret is they wrote it by writing it
I'm kinda fascinated over brothers collaborating in film. There are times where such sibling chemistry just makes for great creations, but I wonder if there are times when their ideas clash with each other in disagreement. I have brothers and I know what we each like and dislike. Something thats always in my mind.
Nolan brothers ?
The Coen Brothers have been frustratingly and deliberately coy about their writing process for the reason they are instinctive movie writers and their process to get to a screenplay is an observational riff, back and forward lengthy discussion about what if? Their what if moments are based on a deep understanding of the genre they are working in, eliminate the obsessive need for plot points or set up and pay offs to often the most , I dunno, banal decisions made by the protagonist? A rug that is pissed on, a cat escapes from an apartment. Here in this interview they give a clue as to how they love to work in large swaths of sequences ( set pieces) that make up most of their films. No Country is no different, count them, they quickly identified the set pieces in the book and built the structure around them, the voice over of the Sheriff protagonist then focused on dialogue. The Coen Brothers might be the most underrated writers of dialogue in the business along with David Lynch. They hear dialogue, it's rhythm's, regional American vernacular conversation - they mine for that shit.
Yeah, this video project has been sitting on my hard drive for months because I couldn't find many good interviews about their writing process. Excellent filmmakers and completely unpretentious about it.
Very well said.
@@BehindtheCurtain I'm so happy to hear that. I look up to them so much and am glad they are upright. No one develops such a depth of their characters as well as they do.
This is very well said. Though they do tend to pay off those banal decisions or have them as metaphors though. The rug that is pissed on is the reason The Dude is so invested. The cat is Llewyn. That's what makes their films so rewatchable, you figure out everything has meaning, even if it seems pithy or random. Even bits of dialogue come back later.
*its rhythms =]
The directors who altered how I see films, forever. Their "A Serious Man" actually altered how look at life, forever.
How so?
@@jamesbrown6020 It makes you question the purpose of life or whether life has indeed a purpose and everything is not just randomness and chaos. The Big Lebowsky teaches you how to deal with that, dude
Seriously, I saw a. Serious man some weeks ago... It is going to stuck with me. It's humour, and the whole ideology about "simplicity" hit me really hard... The way it showcases the people around the protagonist, is so absurd yet so relatable. I love this film and it's crazy that i found you here talking about it, since it's not that well. Known.
Luis Sierra it has a purpose, but be cool about it. Wow so many answers
"A Serious Man" seemed to their movie adaption of the book of Job.
“We had to look behind the curtain” *Ah! Ah! He said it!*
I HAD to include it haha
One of my favorite stories of all time. This, and There Will Blood, western Noir and tragedy at its finest.
The cool thing is, that both twbb an ncfaom ,shoot in the same time in the same location.
This was excellent, Cormac is my absolute favorite novelist of all-time; his earliest works particularly is unlike anything ever written, it's like his perceptive abilities are from another dimension and beyond mere linguistics.
You’re not very well read.
@@Zach-bt2ky ~ Actually, that would be "well-read", not "well read". This would be hilarious if not so pathetic after trying to disparage someone stating facts about a writer of renown. Nice try, but you made yourself look foolish. As far as McCarthy is concerned, his accolades speak for themselves... 1959 & 1960: Ingram-Merrill awards 1965: Traveling Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters 1966: William Faulkner Foundation Award for notable first novel for The Orchard Keeper 1969: Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing 1981: MacArthur Fellowship 1992: National Book Award for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for All the Pretty Horses 1996: International Dublin Literary Award longlist for The Crossing 2000: International Dublin Literary Award longlist for Cities of the Plain 2006: James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction and Believer Book Award for The Road 2007: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for The Road 2007: International Dublin Literary Award shortlist for No Country for Old Men 2008: Maltese Falcon Award, Japan, for No Country for Old Men 2008: Premio Ignotus for The Road 2008: International Dublin Literary Award longlist for The Road 2008: PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, for a career whose writing _"possesses qualities of excellence, ambition, and scale of achievement over a sustained career which place him or her in the highest rank of American literature."_ 2012: Best of the James Tait Black, shortlist, The Road
I did my first ever presentation on this movie, focusing mainly on the coin toss scene. Due to my love for this film and the information I provided I received the best grade in the class.
I don’t give a fuck
I like their choice of making Anton Chigurh more distinctive in the movie with the strange haircut and dark greyish clothes, but I would have liked to see him talk a bit more like he did in the novel. His dialogue in the novel is filled with unique monologues and philosophy, and his interactions with his environments and people like Carson show how relentless, deranged, and unstoppable he is.
I'm not even super interested in screen plays. I'm more engaged with written literature and stage plays, however this channel is so informationally dense. Anyone, comic book writer, authors, play-writes, have something to gain here.
There's so much the medium of film can do that theater and literature cannot. I don't want to make any assumptions about how many films you've seen, but if you haven't delved very deeply into cinema I implore you to do so- you'll be richly rewarded :) Do you have a favorite novel? I could use something decent to read.
Anyone who's read the book knows that it's essentially a script for the movie
Thanks for this. Stupendous film, filmmakers and villain. I love the Coen Brothers.
I do too. Thanks for watching. :)
Thank Mark Kermode and BFI.
Nice job lining up the “bang” with the explosion at 5:02. One of my all time favorite films, great video.
Among the greatest directors of all time. All of their films are interesting and unique. Some of them are really deep, some others are funny, some are both. Brilliant minds. My favorite directors.
This made me want to go read the book! It doesn't sound like the easiest one to adapt. Another wonderful video, thanks for sharing!
I love this series you do! I'm sure there's tons of hours you spend combing to get the interviews and perfectly blend it with the films. You must have done a lot of edits and picking the scenes.... Good job! Much love from India
Thanks, man! I appreciate the support! This video in particular I've been sitting on for months because I couldn't find enough interviews. I'm glad it finally came together.
Thanks for the amazing work man ! Really appreciate it 💯
This was a great collection of interviews, but even better is how you kept it largely spoiler-free! I haven't seen the movie in years and seeing some of those clips again make me want to go back and watch.
Loved these videos since day one mate, just wanted to show the support. Also you should do how Dan Gilroy wrote Nightcrawler
There's so much practical advice and information in these videos, I owe you one.
Glad you enjoy the video.
Are you suggesting you're going to write a screenplay? lol
You deserve so much more subscribers. This is top quality content!
Thanks, brother!
This is every screenwriters dream to hear the Coen brothers talk about their writing process.
i get so much help for my script writing course, thanks mate
Great to hear!
One of the best movies ever made.
Amen
I love watching these behind the curtain videos before I get into a writing session. Always proper motivation! P.s Have you ever thought of doing one on Terence Winters writing process for Boardwalk Empire or Wolf of Wall Street?
Awesome video as always! Since No Country for Old Men is an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel, maybe you could do a video on another film adaptation that takes from a non-literary form. I'd nominate Amadeus. It's based on the play of the same name by Peter Schaffer who also did the screenplay adaptation, and it's one of the few film adaptations based on a stage play that's truly cinematic and doesn't feel like a filmed stage play. (Apparently, Schaffer had to rewrite the screenplay nearly 50 times before the director and producers finally accepted it!)
That's an interesting idea. I'll look into it!
I just discovered this channel and it’s awesome.
Thanks, Jack!
Very excited for this one
1 minute and a half in and the interviewer in still asking his long winded question.
It's like how lawyers will make an accusation or spin a narrative, but pretend it's a question, he just wants to give his own opinion, but adds a question mark to the end so it isn't just him telling them what he thinks of their film.
Mark Kermode loves the sound of his own voice.
Masterpiece!
I love these videos so much
Thanks, man! You've been supporting the channel for a while now and I really appreciate that.
much like season 1 of Fargo, this movie got that Dirty Harry vibe where the tempo of the movie takes over from the music, to the point where so many parts of Dirty Harry have no score, just the sound of the car or feet down a parking lot or shots of Clint doing detective work. its sad how so few filmmakers can still manage to make the visceral nature of film the spotlight, rather than mute that with special effects, and well know actors and bullshit narratives (as was the case with GOT and Star Wars)
Bullitt is another good example of this I don't hear many people refer too. It does such a good job at using the world around it as it's soundtrack that its hard to notice it sometimes.
“And bang there he is” nice cut
Great video on my 2nd favorite movie
Another interviewer in love with his own voice. I like the way the brothers are visibly annoyed with this pompous windbag.
I know this may be random and maybe not really in your ballpark but I reckon it'd be so cool if someone applied this format of video-making to artists talking about albums they've create
If you're a fan of Cormac McCarthy novels then you should read Blood Meridian. Loved the video.
The film really leveraged the visual symbolic nature rather than juxtaposition dialogues and plot. Differences in some movies I enjoy watching them, not listening to them.
I think leaving the war veteran aspect of the characters out was a good decision. It's only present when the plot needs it to go on, for instance at the border passing. That way the characters can play out the universal story of a classical greek tragedy in a modern setting. And the Coens' are fond of the greek.
One of my favorite movies
Incredible movie.
I agree. Thanks for watching!
5:00 - 5:50 what kind of background music is this? Very beautiful. Is it from the movie?
They should be asking this of Cormac McCarthy. The movie is so good cause it follows the book so faithfully.
I just watched it yesterday
Hiya, how do you pull commentary from so many sources without any copyright issues? There seems to be no referencing also? Thanks 😊
"are you gunna kill me?" "do you see me?"
I know you probably don’t do requests but it would be really interesting for you to make a vid on David Lynch, an extremely creative and unique screenwriter in my eyes.
I always listen to requests! There are just so many, I don't always get to them right away. I would love to do a Lynch video. He's a tricky one because he often doesn't like to talk about process (at least in the ones I've listened to). I'll see what i can do!
Behind the Curtain yooo I appreciate that, I know he just did a Masterclass on creativity and film making, that might be a good place to look. Thanks for the reply my dude 🤙
The dude playing the sheriff assistant also plays a cannibal in the road!
Both Cormac books.
I can clearly see Tommy Lee Jones playing Anton Chigurh, were the film actually made in 1980.
after debating how many videos of yours was too much for my Watch Later, I realized I CAN SUBSCRIBE and it's all your videos in one place haha #sosmartofme #DontJustPutThatVideoInYourPlaylistBecauseThenItWillJustBeANormalVideo
It's Stellio Cantos!
“A jamboree of bad guys” omg I love these guys
They're so fun to listen to. They're just here for a good time.
I would like an exploration of villains drinking milk. Like, a really in depth one. None of that casual juxtapositional symbolism business.
When I read the title I thought it would feature Cormac McCarthy. Bummer. Edit: I absolutely love the Coen bros work though.
I searched for a long time for a Cormac Mccarthy interview. I thought that would be a really cool addition to the video. Unfortunately, he does very few interviews. And even fewer audio/video interviews. I hope you still enjoyed the video.
The central theme of this film is multiple players all looking for......what? The Money. Where is the money? From the opening scene where Bell says he WAS “once” proud to uphold the law, to the final scene where Bell says he was ridding a horse towards the final judgment of his father waiting with fire. What is the first thing Moss does after he gets the money? Retire. What is the first thing Bell does after seeing the dime heads up in the motel room? Something everybody misses in this film is who and what Bell is in this film. A badge does not guarantee noble thoughts and actions. It’s assumed the gang got the money. Those folks assume wrong. This is not a good guy bad guy movie. It is a bad guy bad guy movie.
What is the music starting around 5:00 ? Can anyone tell me ? Thx !
You should do FARGO (series)!
I’m here early , I don’t even like this stuff personally but it’s definitely interesting and very impressive how much passion and details go into this stuff.
Thanks for watching!
Y'all ever gonna do one on Edgar Wright?
Talk about No Country for Old Men and filmmaking on our official Discord server: discord.gg/xxTqXXd
not to sound crass but your videos give the impression you've interviewed people yourself when all you did was splice together interviews from footage online. Not implying you're scamming anyone but it'd be nice to see a preview of an actual interview to see if it's worth purchasing.
Hi,does anyone know what the background music is?
The most important difference between the book and the movie is that in the former Carla Jean DOES beg for her life. The change in the movie was, in my opinion, an improvement.
At 08:56, did you mean for the voiceover and the character’s lips to almost match?
Again feel I've seen this before. (Also how they wrote house M.D )
No Country is as faithful an adaption of a novel as I've ever seen, so huge credit to the Coens direction for guiding the film towards the perfect tone of the novel but in terms of the screenplay, they basically just copy and pasted Cormac McCarthy into celtx or whatever haha.
"a character confronting a very arbitrary, brutal, violent world": sounds like every person in 2020.
That sounds like every person through the history of human existence.
In reality the exact opposite has to be the case; the world would grind to a halt tomorrow if the vast majority of people did not cooperate or help each other constantly. As Stephen Jay Gould pointed out, every day only ten thousand acts of kindness make the enormous machine function. Our few psychopaths like to justify their violent free-riding by colouring everyone else as violent and greedy. They are the outliers, not the norm.
The world is less brutal and violent today (per capita) than for most of humanity's existence.
Title of the music?
I saw the title and thought , wait... Cormac McCarthy wrote that. At least they talk about him in the clip. Read Blood Meridian, you'll thank me later.
Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorite authors. I've read The Road and No Country for Old Men so far. I've been meaning to read Blood Meridian, and I might just pull the trigger on that now. Thanks.
"Hell's bells, they even shot the dog."
Anyone know the music at 8:16?
Lol hi Mark!
Hahaha, what a story, Mark.
Anton Chigurh looks just like my neighbor. Should I be worried?
Yes
This video has spent 8 months in travel to get to my iPhone. I won’t put it in my pocket I’ll save it to a named folder.
God the images are awful pretty. Roger Deakins is the GOAT. How did he not win an Oscar for this? Ahh... There will be Blood. Nevermind.
Imagine if these guys also wrote the screenplay for The winner stands alone...
Cohen Brothers made this movie better then the book. A HUGE FAN of this movie. I have read the book and in my opinion the movie is WAY BETTER!
When Kermode says it’s “very faithful to the novel”, he’s actually understating it. The script and text almost identical. The only changes made were the removal two or three scenes, cutting down a few moments for pacing and changing the coin toss scene from night to day. And that’s pretty much all they changed (obviously there were other small alterations made but I’m making a point). They changed the font of the dialogue from Baskerville to Courier and copy-pasted it onto the screenplay. And that’s probably why the film works so well. It’s a Cormac McCarthy novel; it’s pretty much a given that it’s already a classic, so changing it drastically would only worsen it. Great film.
I really enjoyed the cat and mouse portions of this movie, but I never was following with the Tommy Lee Jones character who (upon reflection) was the one carrying the true theme. The pointless violence of a changing world and a new kind of criminal. I felt like Tommy's character had less a say in the film, so his crucial voice was lost on me and I was left wondering what the point of the movie was in the end. It's taken some time to figure it out. There Will Be Blood is a lot like this one in that regard.
I hate people saying this should’ve been about the writer of the book 😔😔 literally most of this video is talking about the way they translated things that work in the book, like little description for the main antagonist, to film language, by taking out his longer dialogue to still make him mysterious. Like if you really like the book so much try to appreciate Why it felt like such a good and faithful adaptation in a different medium instead of just saying Well of cooooooourse it would be good, the book was gooooood Like ✨🌈🥰shut up ♥️🥰♥️
Mark Kermode is a fantastic critic.
no
Nice ;) 10:07
Is that Mark Kermode?
I wonder if the “fight club- interpretation” is actually correct.
That they're all the same person? I've never heard this
Behind the Curtain it is here: kzhead.info/sun/iMWdmqWbZKyOiYE/bejne.html and it makes a lot of sense I think
often the bad guy is a clone (of the character) of the hero, but made different choices along the way. criminals and cops can often have a lot of character traits in common. I would argue that the sheriff and the killer are the same character (good angel, bad angel) while the cowboy represents "us" - a regular person struggling between these two sides. good observation though.
1MinuteFlipDoc interesting!
there is no correct interpretation mate
Anyone else hate this movie but at the same time be very intrigued by it?
It's essentially just the novel.
But idk, even though it’s supposed to feel as if all the men carry equal weight throughout the movie, I still think Tommy’s character was felt the least.
All of the movie’s memorable lines are straight from McCarthy’s book. They did veeeeeery little.
One look at other films that faithfully adapt source material shows that to be no guarantee for dramatic success. Oneliners don't make a film good. How the Coen's apply McCarthy's themes and characters so cohesively and efficiently to film constraints is the achievement of their screenplay.
Well said. Knowing what to cut and what to keep is an art unto itself.
Carla Jean refuses to call the coin toss in the film. Better choice.
nICE! Think HBOs Watchmen deserves its own video!
Defend Kermode at all costs #markkermodetaskforce
Coen brother's writing advice? follow cormac's writting.
At the end « That l think that you will enjoy. » There’s a « that » too many there, kid.
I wish I had a sibling
“How I Wrote Shameless”
Wrote a script based on a book that already exists... Most of the work is done for you. Not to take away from the skills of these two director writers but it would have been nice to hear them talk about something more original.
You ever done that before?
I mean, they basically took the book and did everything that it described, after I read the book I was less impressed by the film. McCarthys books are fairly easy to make into films because of how film like they already are
I would love to see someone do blood meridian in film format. I think if they got it right it would be mind-blowing
@@nemsimicho4 yes although I think a mini series would fit the pacing of the book more
@@victorious-dl6hk I think you're right actually. I always thought of blood meridian as a kind of universe you can enter, rather than a specific narrative like no country. Either way, seeing it on screen would be awesome
@@nemsimicho4 yeah its perfect for netflix, no big distribution company affecting the directors and they can have a high budget at the same time. i just feel like it has multiple different parts with different themes and specific location and visuals. that would be awesome, sadly i dont think that will happen