Movie recommendation: No Country for Old Men

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Note: The movie that inspired me to read the book (from which it was adapted). Need I say more?

IMDB entry: No Country for Old Men

Genre: Crime, Thriller

If you enjoy symbolisms in movies, this one will be definitely liked. This movie at first viewing might also seem to be borderline meaningless. Until you get the symbolism of it all. That I got it only in the second viewing, is something that I will admit to frankly. Plus a second viewing is a must, to have a greater appreciation of this movie. It grows on you, like vintage wine or cheese.

Don't worry about the title, not yet. When the end credits roll you will totally get it. The movie follows a drug deal gone wrong in a remote Texas county. Moss (Josh Brolin), a smalltime plumber, stumbles onto the scene and walks away with the booty. However, there is a pyschopathic killer Chigurh (Javier Bardem) who is on the trail and will stop at nothing to get his money. There is also an old sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) in the mix, who investigates the murders and is struggling to understand the gravity and deadly repercussions of the crime.

Sounds ordinary? It won't if you see it. On the outside it seems like the classic cat chasing mouse thriller but inside it questions the intentions of crimes we read about in the news, everyday. Crimes that have no motive. Crimes that are so maniacal, it is gut wrenching. And such a story, as seen through the eyes of the sheriff, tells it all. That we live in a world full of violence, that is unexplainable and unfathomable. And this is what the sheriff struggles with - to understand the psyche of Chigurh. 

The sight of Chigurh is menacing and sends chills down the viewers. And Javier Bardem just epitomizes evil in this character - a kind of lunacy that is hard to imagine or comprehend. This conversation from the movie substantiates Chigurh's description:

Man who hires Wells: [about Chigurh] Just how dangerous is he? 

Carson Wells: Compared to what? The bubonic plague? 

There were scenes where my hair stood up; seeing him walk with the cattle gun (he carries a shotgun cylinder that is used in slaughterhouses to kill cattle). My heart pounding when the sheriff goes back to the scene of crime in the motel and Chigurh is inches away from him. And that with no background score, an ominous silence (except for the creak of the footsteps and the sound of breath) made it as intense as it could get. For that and the unconventional storytelling, I have to give credit to the genius that is Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski, True Grit fame)

The problem with this movie is - either you like it or don't get it. Some things I appreciated on my second viewing is the way the Chigurh's character is given no justification - he is simply monster of a man - no explanations for his behavior. That good doesn't necessarily triumph over evil, all the time. That sometimes the unexpected of things can happen and you wouldn't see it coming (similar to the climax of this movie that jolts you for a moment and also leaves you confused). This movie is as good as it can get for a modern Western tale. But watch it closely to get its intricacies.