How did the Coen brothers make the critically acclaimed film No Country for Old Men, nominated for an impressive eight Oscars, including Best Picture? Though the brothers can be notoriously opaque when answering questions about their art, the Coens, along with key members of their crew, attempted to enlighten 300 guild members at a recent Q&A panel held at Hollywood’s Harmony Gold theater. (Such panels are a common Oscar season occurrence in Hollywood.) Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation) moderated the discussion, along with No Country cinematographer Roger Deakins, sound editor Skip Lievsay, sound designer Craig Berkey, re-recording mixer Greg Orloff, sound mixer Peter Kurland, and production designer Jess Gonchor.
Two hours into the panel, I still had many questions for the Coens. (One can only hope they record a DVD commentary track.) I did, however, learn that…
• The Coens storyboard every shot of their films, but when it comes time to shoot, they often throw the storyboards out.
• Throughout the shoot in Texas and New Mexico, Deakins hoped it wouldn’t rain because he cherished the drab, brown color of the parched soil. As luck would have it, it never rained.
• The Coens shot only 250,000 feet of film. Most directors shoot three or four times that amount.
• Carter Burwell’s score is only 16 minutes long, and the majority of it is heard during the end credits.
• Jonze asked the Coens if they were as calm on the set as they were at this Q&A. "Yes, it approaches catatonia," Joel Coen jokingly replied.
• Tommy Lee Jones’ voice-over narration was recorded on set instead of in post-production, so that it would be easier for him to remain in character.
• The U.S.-Mexico border station was actually built by a production design team in New Mexico, a few hundred miles north of the actual border. That didn’t stop some locals from mistaking it for the real thing.
A side benefit of attending the panel: a few causally overheard conversationsfrom some of the guild members. I’m betting that a fair number of themare Oscar voters, and that these conversations could be an invaluableglimpse as to who wins — and who loses — on February 24th.
Guy No. 1: What did you think of Juno being nominated for Best Picture?
Guy No. 2: Don’t know. Haven’t seen it.
Guy No. 1: It’s a lot like the movie with the yellow bus in it.
And:
Guy No. 3: What was with There Will Be Blood? The music would start rising and yet there was nothing happening on the screen!
Guy No. 4: Yeah, who did the score?
Guy No. 3: Jonny… Greenwood?
Guy No. 4: That doesn’t even sound like a real name.
Guy No. 3: I know! That movie must have got in by only one or two votes.
If I had a vote, I’d cast it for There Will Be Blood. What aboutyou, PopWatchers: Which of the nominees would get your vote for Best Picture? And if you had five minutes alone with the Coen brothers, whatwould you ask them?
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My vote would definitely be for There Will Be Blood, although I loved Michael Clayton, too.
One question for the Coen Brothers: Do you even need to talk with each other anymore to make a decision or do you pretty much share a common brain?
My vote would definitely be for There Will Be Blood, although I loved Michael Clayton, too.
One question for the Coen Brothers: Do you even need to talk with each other anymore to make a decision or do you pretty much always know what the other’s thinking by now?
If those last comments from guild members are for real, it’s no wonder the Oscars are a joke. Shouldn’t only people who are passionate about films and understand film language be allowed to vote?
Sorry those were not mysteries dispelled and the title is misleading. Mysteries I would like dispelled are:
1) What was with the ending where Bardem gets in a car crash and walks away?
2) The editing was so quick between the time that Brolin’s character died and his wife’s mom died and the wife allegedly died I couldn’t tell if any of them were dead.
3) Who were all those Mexicans and how did they find everybody? Did they too have gps devices? How many gps devices were there to track people?
Sally -
The Mexicans found them so quickly because the mother told them where they were going to be.
I would vote for Atonement or Juno for best picture. No Country is good but needs a real ending. Haven’t seen There will be Blood but will in a couple of days and understand it is very bleak but awesome so may change my mind.
I’ve heard people complain and complain about the lack of ending in No Country For Old Men. Isn’t this because the novel ended the same way? I mean, they couldn’t just tack on a sappy ending where everything was tied up in a neat package if they wanted to stay true to the story.
It’s all open to interpretation, but I just came away with the feeling that sometimes evil does triumph over good. Sucks, but it’s true.
I’d vote for No Country for Old Men. I’d still nominate There Will be Blood, though, alongside Gone Baby Gone, The Savages and Zodiac.
Sally: maybe you need to watch the movie again. Pay more attention. The scene at the end was a continuation of the themes the entire movie set up… sometimes, fate and luck favor the bad guy… sometimes good people with good intentions get the short end of the stick… sometimes, the bad guy does win
My vote would be for No Country For Old Men. The ending didn’t bother me at all, in fact I loved that they didn’t feel the need to tack on a typical neatly-wrapped Hollywood ending.
I’d have to agree with the guild members about Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Be Blood, it bugged the hell out of me.
Of the five nominees I’d give it to No Country for Old Men. I really enjoyed Juno but nothing got to me more than the Coen brother’s masterpiece. However, if Sweeney Todd had been nominated for Best Film I may have given my vote to it. That was such an outstanding and mind-blowing piece of cinematic work.
I am I the only one who actually loved the ending to No Country? It wouldn’t have worked any other way. The movie really works because of the ending… i mean how great is it that all we can talk about is that slap to the face conclusion?
Atonement, hands down.
The ending to No Country DID bother me. Not because of the message it sent (I’m a big fan of movies dont’t have sappy ending where everything was tied up in a neat package – Sweeney Todd is a recent example).
I didn’t like the speech at the end by Tommy Lee Jones. I found myself bored halfway through it and all of a sudden the movie ended. Obviously I missed out on important dialogue, but there was no sign that the speech was a “this is the ending” kinda speech. I was thrown off. Although I felt a lot of aspects of the movie were excellent (direction, acting, etc), I didn’t enjoy the movie as a whole. I believe I am in the minority with that opinion. Anyway, my vote would be for There Will Be Blood. Followed by Michael Clayton.
There is no question that I would vote for No Country for Old Men. The film ends in exactly the way the book ends, with a satisfying reflection on good and evil. No, it’s not the pretty little package we are so used to, and the movie is way better for it.
I would also vote for There Will Be Blood. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I saw it. I also loved No Country and would not be upset if it won. If Michael Clayton wins however, then there really will be blood.
Those idiotic conversation you overheard are exactly why we should not care so much about the Oscars. Why then can I not stop caring?
My vote would be for There will be Blood. I won’t complain when No Country wins though, since I think some of the votes will be make-up votes apologizing for not voting for Fargo.
Ethan and Joel, how did you guys create a piece of plotless pretentious crap that everyone’s been calling a good movie?
Sorry folks, but I HATED No Country. WTF was up with Woody Harrelson’s pointless cameo? And that stupid ending with Tommy Lee ranting about his dead dad? Is this movie the emperor’s new clothes in movie form?
In the theater I saw the movie in (in Washington DC’s Georgetown), there were several people who were put to sleep by this movie and several groans of “why do people like this?”, with maybe one or two people saying they liked the film.
So I’ve got to ask. How does a movie that’s hated by so many get a nomination for best picture?
Juno, on the other hand, was funny, smart AND had a great story. It also proved how it’s possible to have a non-Hollywood ending that doesn’t stink to high heaven.
Why do defenders of No Country always fail to understand people’s objections to the ending? Nobody’s upset that the bad guy wins, more or less. It’s the fact that the climactic battle takes place completely off-screen and then the focus suddenly shifts back to the Tommy Lee Jones character, who hasn’t been much of a factor for most of the movie. We’re watching a very enjoyable movie about Javier Bardem chasing Josh Brolin and then we get an ending about Tommy Lee Jones discussing his dreams. I don’t care if that’s how the book ends. It’s a terrible ending for an otherwise good movie.
Loved “No Country” the long periods of silence interrupted only by extremely violent outbursts was amazing.
Anyone visiting New Mexico should check out Las Vegas, NM where much of the film was shot. That was also where Red Dawn was filmed. An interesting place.
Having finally seen them all, here is my list-style rundown of the Best Pic nominees:
1. There Will Be Blood
2. No Country For Old Men
3. Atonement
4. Michael Clayton
5. Juno
I saw No Country for Old Men for the second time yesterday and am now convinced that it’s the best movie of the year – a brilliantly scripted and acted, tightly-directed and edited film. The motivations of the Brolin and Bardem characters are so convincingly played off against each other, and the Tommy Lee Jones character is involved but also distanced from them. The ending is perfect – the resignation of a man who has fought all his life and now seeks assurance that generations before him will light his way into the inevitable darkness.
I liked No Country for Old Men, but thought the ending was little weak. However I use the arguments presented on this page to anyone who did not like CLoverfield…the similarities are astounding!
Though There will be blood was a good movie, with a GREAT performance by DDL.Wasnt so bothered with the score.
‘No Country for Old Men’ is by far the Best Picture of the year. ‘There Will Be Blood’ isn’t even close. And ‘Zodiac’ got robbed.
There Will Be Blood, although it loses points for the ending, which I found really weak. I think No Country was great, but a close second to PTA’s almost-masterpiece.
please please tell me that’s not what the guild members were saying.
There Will Be Blood for best picture.
No Country a close second.
I can’t even believe Juno is being discussed here as a contender. It was absolutely terrible. A lame excuse for a quirky indie movie (see Little Miss Sunshine for another example)
I can’t remember a year recently when I thoroughly enjoyed so many of the best picture nominees. While I haven’t been able to bring myself to watch the rest of “Atonement” (I’m in that group of people who hated “The English Patient” and “Atonement” just feels too similar — I’ve seen half of it), I’d sit through any of the other four again and again and enjoy each of them.
No Country all the way.
I actually thought “Atonement” was the best of the bunch. “Juno” was good, but I’m not sure why everyone seems to think it’s the funniest and best movie ever, while “No Country for Old Men” was a little too “WTF?” for me. “Michael Clayton” was also good, but a little bit dry. And as for “There Will Be Blood,” I give it the “Crash” award for movie I least understand the hype about. Daniel Day-Lewis was great, but I felt the rest of the movie was lacking. It was… well… kinda boring, and the shift in DDL’s character at the end, while not entirely unpredictable, still seemed a little abrupt.
You’re exactly right about the end for There Will Be Blood. It really bothered me that there is such a big character leap between DDL in the old days and DDL of the ending sequence. The audience is basically left to fill in the blank about what happened to this guy. There’s not much reason given for why this guy who has always been in control of things turns bat sh*t crazy.