Movies Spotlight – December 2013 – The Coen Brothers

The Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) are maybe the quintessence of the new breed of American auteur to emerge in the late 1980s through the 1990s; filmmakers that now command respect  and praise in American Cinema (filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, and David Fincher) among critics and filmgoers alike. They blend pop-culture sensibility with a great aesthetic style. The Coen Brothers do this maybe better than any other, as they tackle any and all genres. Their films, serious or hysterical, always employ fantastically written characters and engrossing narratives with a specifically unique style.

This month, their new film Inside LlewynDavis comes out. It is a love letter to the 1960s folk scene in Greenwich Village, starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, and Justin Timberlake. It looks to feature wonderful music from T-Bone Burnett and cinematography from Bruno Delbonnel. It is already an Oscar favorite and critical darling. Check out the trailer here.

Early Career:

Joel Coen attended New York University’s undergraduate film program, while Ethan studied philosophy at Princeton University. After college, Joel worked as a production assistant and film editor where he met Sam Raimi who was looking for an assistant editor for his first feature The Evil Dead. Raimi and Coen also appeared together in Spies Like Us (as guards outside at the drive-in movie). Raim next directed the Coen Brothers’ second produced screenplay Crimewave.

In 1984 with the help of Raimi to fund-raise, the Coen Brothers made their feature directorial debut with Blood Simple. Blending horror and film-noir genres, the film was an instant success among critics. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival and Best Director and Best Male Lead (for M. Emmet Walsh) at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Next, the brothers wrote and directed the crime comedy Raising Arizona about an unlikely couple who steals a baby to raise as their own. It stars a wacky Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter. While Blood Simple more or less flew under the radar with most movie fans, Raising Arizona quickly became a cult comedy classic.

Strange But Wonderful Films:

The 1990s saw the Coen Brothers really find themselves as filmmakers, churning out what is probably their best set of films – films that are very different but all feel aesthetically and thematically ambitious, and a bit odd. First among them, the gangster genre film Miller’s Crossing, which is highly underrated and brilliantly written. I would argue that it is one of the best films of the decade.

Barton Fink was their next. It is about a critically acclaimed New York playwright who comes to California to write movies for the money, but finds that he is descending into Hell while in Hollywood. The film features a great performance by John Turturro, and is a nice wink by the Coens at Hollywood filmmaking. Nominated for three Oscars, Barton Fink won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Actor, Director, and Film (Palme d’Or).

Teaming up again with Sam Raimi (who co-wrote and served as the second unit director), the Coens next made The Hudsucker Proxy. It is a film that feels like a classic screwball comedy, with lots of great nostalgic throwbacks (like a fast-talking Jennifer Jason Leigh, as a nod to Rosalind Russell). While the film never seemed to resonate with moviegoers or critics at the time of its release, it has since found its audience and is much adored. It was their first Hollywood film, and viewed as an utter failure (losing lots of money). This was the film that really introduced by to them. I had seen Raising Arizona, but The Hudsucker Proxy struck me as something special made by skilled filmmakers. I have been a fan ever since.

For their next film, the Coen Brothers retreated back into more familiar thematic territory, again making a crime film (with a black comedy edge). Fargo was a critical and commercial success, introducing the filmmaking brothers to many new fans. It won two Oscars (while being nominated for seven, including Best Picture) for Best Writing and Best Actress (Frances McDormand – Joel’s wife). It also won the Cannes Film Festival prize for Best Director. The film caused some problems for the Academy Awards, however. Firstly, the film exclaims that it is based on a true story during its opening, but that is untrue. Thus, the Academy did not quite know whether it should be placed in the adapted or original screenplay category. Secondly, the Academy nominated Roderick Jaynes for Best Editing, but that is merely a pseudonym for the Coen Brothers, who edit most of their own films. To this day, Fargo is thought of as the Coens’ best film by many (though, I would argue their next film is).

Today, The Big Lebowski is a cult classic that has fully become a part of pop-culture (see the many reference in Veronica Mars for example). It is beloved by many fans that have probably never seen another Coen Brothers’ film (or even know who they are) and the fans of the directors who have been there for each film (I, myself, saw The Big Lebowski upon its release in 1998 while in Paris in an empty theater on the Champs-Elysees and immediately fell in love). When it came out, it played to mixed criticism and almost no box office receipts. However, Jeff Bridges’s The Dude is now an iconic character. It is one of my favorite comedies of all-time as it brilliantly blends almost absurdist comedy with a hard-boiled detective narrative.

With Some Hollywood Mixed In:

In Preston Sturges 1941 film Sullivan’s Travels, John Sullivan plans on making a film called O Brother, Where Art Thou? – the Coen Brothers make it a reality with their narrative loosely based on Homer’s Odyssey. The film opened to the Coen Brothers’ biggest box office debut at the time, but the film’s soundtrack featuring great bluegrass and old time music was an even greater success. The film’s music was created with the help of T-Bone Burnett and is credited by some as assisting in the resurgence in interest in American folk music – Burnett is again working with the Coens on their new film about folk music, Inside Llewyn Davis.

For their next film, the Coens decided to make a strange crime drama about a barber who blackmails his wife’s boss for money so that he can invest in dry cleaning – but it all goes wrong. The Man Who Wasn’t There features maybe the best black and white photography since films became universally color in the 1950s. Roger Deakins work is phenomenal. The film itself was almost unseen when it came out, but is secretly a fantastic movie.

Returning to more Hollywood fair, though still a little strange narratively and stylistically, the Coen Brothers then made what are probably their worst two films (and really the only two films that are not genuinely good). Intolerable Cruelty was meant as another throwback to screwball comedies of the 1940s, but it just never really works (though, there is a great scene that feels like a reference to Network). The Ladykillers saw the Coens go from meh to just straight up bad. Firstly, they remake one of the great comedies of British Cinema; and secondly, nothing in the film seems to work all that well – especially Tom Hanks who just goes way too big.

After taking a three year break, the Coen Brothers returned in 2007 with No Country for Old Men, a modern western that exhibited all the best qualities of their work: electric, well-written characters, stark violence, dark comedy, and wonderful aesthetics. It is a film that just grabs you from the start, winning four Oscars (while being nominated for an additional five) including Best Picture, Best Directors, Best Writing, and Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem). It is one of the best films of the decade.

Now once again in the acclaim of critics, and with a somewhat newfound following among mass audiences, the Coens decided to make a very strange comedy – Burn After Reading, mixing a spy thriller with black comedy. The film played to mixed reviews, but it is fairly hysterical. Every character is their worst self, ruled by idiocy. Its strangeness though did not immediately isolate fans, as it debuted at number one its opening weekend. But again with A Serious Man, the brothers seemed to continue to try and push away their newer Oscar-bandwagon fans with an even stranger story about a math teacher’s decent into madness.

However, in 2010, the Coen Brothers returned to the western genre with True Grit (a remake of the John Wayne Oscar-winning film). The film played to huge acclaim (garnering ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture, but winning zero) and their biggest box office numbers to date. The film features wonderful performances, and feels like a classic western – only slightly warped in the Coens’ style.

Collaborators:

Like many of the auteurs in cinema, the Coen Brothers work frequently with the same actors and crew members. Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Jon Polito, and John Turturro have all worked with them more than four times. Other notable actors that have worked with them more than once include: Bruce Campbell (appearing usually in cameo or very small roles), Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Richard Jenkins, and Billy Bob Thorton (the Coens also, oddly, produced Bad Santa).

Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld shot their first three films (before becoming a director himself), while Roger Deakins has shot nine of their films. Composer Carter Burwell has scored fourteen of their films. Production designer Dennis Gassner designed six of their films, while Jess Gonchor has designed their last five.

Upcoming Projects:

The Coen Brothers provided the screenplay for the remake of the 1966 film Gambit. The new version directed by Michael Hoffman stars Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz. They are also rewriting director Angelina Jolie’s new war drama Unbroken. A TV series based on Fargo is in the works for 2014, which will involve the Coens as producers. They are also in talks to write a script for director George Clooney called Suburbicon. Finally, it is reported that they are working on a new musical comedy.

Career Highlights:

1)      Blood Simple. (1984) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Trailer)

2)      Raising Arizona (1987) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

3)      Miller’s Crossing (1990)* – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

4)      Barton Fink (1991) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

5)      The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)* – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

6)      Fargo (1996) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

7)      The Big Lebowski (1998)* – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

8)      O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

9)      The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001) – writers, directors, producers (DVD, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

10)   No Country for Old Men (2007)* – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

11)   Burn After Reading (2008) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

12)   A Serious Man (2009) – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

13)   True Grit (2010)* – writers, directors, producers (Blu-ray, Video On-Demand, Trailer)

*Editor’s picks

Sam Raimi – Movies Spotlight – March 2013

Sam Raimi, 53, is best known for his two film trilogies: The Evil Dead and Spider-Man, but for his fans his filmmaking style also stands out. Raimi employs many stylistically iconic trademarks like Dutch angles, whip pans, kinetic camera movement, references to The Three Stooges, and even tries to include his yellow 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 in all his films (to name a few). In March his new film Oz the Great and Powerful is set for release. It sees Raimi reteaming with frequent collaborators composer Danny Elfman (who he has worked with six times) and cinematographer Peter Deming (who he has worked with four times). It stars James Franco (who also starred in the Spider-Man Trilogy), Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, and Zach Braff. The film is a prequel to the classic The Wizard of Oz. The trailer for Oz the Great and Powerful: Here.

Early Career:

Raimi got his start making Super 8 films with his friends (including Bruce Campbell – who has appeared in most of Raimi’s work) and brothers (Ivan and Ted Raimi – both also continue to be frequent collaborators) in high school. He then attended Michigan State University with long-time friend and producing partner Robert Tapert (his roommate). With Tapert and Campbell, Raimi made his first two short films Within the Woods and It’s Murder! Their successes directly lead to his feature debut The Evil Dead (see paragraph below).

Raimi also developed a good friendship with writer-directors the Coen Brothers (who helped edit and raise money for The Evil Dead). The brothers, Campbell, Kathy Bates, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, and Raimi all shared an apartment together. For his second feature, Raimi directed Crimewave (intended as a live-action comic book), which he co-wrote with the Coen Brothers. Originally, he wanted Campbell to star, but the film’s producers wanted someone else so Campbell was left with a small supporting role. Raimi was unhappy with the end result and complained about the producers interfering too much in the making of the film. Early in their careers, Raimi and the Coen Brothers worked together frequently (the brothers employing a few of Raimi’s directing trademarks in their own films): Raimi helped them raise money for their first film Blood Simple., he has a funny cameo in Miller’s Crossing, and he co-wrote and directed the second-unit on The Hudsucker Proxy (and he also has a cameo). Joel Coen and Raimi also have a cameo in John Landis’s Spies Like Us (and Landis has cameos in Raimi’s Darkman and Spider-Man 2).

As a precursor to entering Hollywood, Raimi wanted to make a film adaptation of The Shadow, but was denied. So, he created his own similar original character and made Darkman. Again, Raimi wanted Campbell in the lead, and again the film’s producers objected. Liam Neeson was eventually cast opposite McDormand, but Campbell still has a cameo in the film (this is also the first film Elfman worked with Raimi on).

The Evil Dead Trilogy:

With the shorts It’s Murder! and Within the Woods under his belt, writer-director Raimi, producer Tapert, and star Campbell were able to secure financing for The Evil Dead, which went into production in 1979. Principal photography took place in Tennessee, after Raimi could not find a cabin in Michigan. The making of the film was an arduous experience for all involved, and ran out of money halfway through. Raimi, Tapert, Campbell vowed to do whatever it took to raise the remaining money needed to finish the film (taking out high interest loans, borrowing money from friends and family, cold calling local businesses for donations, and even putting up family land as collateral). The film finally came out in 1981 and was rated X, being banned in a few countries. However, he became a cult hit launching Raimi’s career.

For Evil Dead II, Raimi never intended in remaking The Evil Dead, but some fans think that it is a remake because Raimi had to reshoot the backstory that opens the film depicting events from the first film, as he was denied the rights to use footage from it. While The Evil Dead was intended as a straight horror film (in the vein of Wes Craven’s early work), Evil Dead II saw Raimi’s silly sense of humor and love of the Three Stooges become a major factor in the film, as much of it is filled with slapstick comedy. It is both scary/gory and hilarious (and my personal favorite of the trilogy – it is also Raimi’s first collaboration with Peter Deming).

The third film in the series Army of Darkness is pretty much a straight fantasy comedy with most of the horror elements left behind. It also has a much more epic scale (and even has famous names appear in the credits like Embeth Davidtz and Bridget Fonda, though both were just starting their careers at the time). Campbell is great in the film, completely playing up Ash as sort a boorish brute who only cares about himself. He also has many very funny moments. The film features work from composer Joseph LoDuca (who scored the whole trilogy, and has worked on most of the Raimi/Tapert produced TV series), composer Elfman contributes a piece of music as well, and cinematographer Bill Pope shot it (he would work again with Raimi shooting Spider-Man 2 and 3). It was a box office flop, but is now also considered a cult classic finding a life on video.

Hollywood Films (A Mixed-Bag):

In 1995 Raimi released his first Hollywood film for TriStar Pictures, a western called The Quick and the Dead. The film has a star-studded cast with Sharon Stone (a big star in the 1990s), Gene Hackman, Russell Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio (the latter two were somewhat early in their Hollywood careers, but still known actors). However despite its stars, the film is very campy (much like Raimi’s earlier work) and failed to connect with audiences. It is among his weakest films – though it does have a few good moments and ideas.

Next Raimi made a great crime drama/thriller with A Simple Plan (probably his best film that no one has seen). The film was critically acclaimed (Roger Ebert even gave it a perfect score), but no one went to see it. Bill Paxton (whose father has a cameo in the Spider-Man Trilogy), Billy Bob Thornton, and Bridget Fonda star in a tale about three small-town friends that discover a large sum of money – however the money breeds mistrust and distain between them with tragic consequences. It is a great little gem and well worth checking out. Raimi also got advice from the Coen Brothers on how to shoot in the snow (the Coens having just made Fargo).

For his third consecutive film, Raimi made another box office flop with For Love of the Game, which stars Kevin Costner and Kelly Preston. The romantic sports drama is about an a washed up star baseball pitcher and the girl he loves, shown through flashbacks of his career and relationship with her as he pitches what could be his last game. While it is also considered a critical failure as well, the film deserves a second look. The baseball stuff in the film is brilliant. It is clear that Raimi understands the game and has a love for it. The romantic stuff, on the other hand, is a little clichéd. Personally, I like the film (but mostly due to its baseball stuff – if it had only been a movie about Billy Chapel’s career, it would have been really good).

With The Gift, Raimi had his first Hollywood success (though, this is due to the film’s low budget and international appeal, as critically it played to mixed reviews). The film is probably best remembered for its cast, as it stars Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Keanu Reeves, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, and Hilary Swank. It is a decent crime drama. Raimi would next be hired by Sony to direct Spider-Man, which is all the more shocking considering his output to date in Hollywood.

After finishing his Spider-Man Trilogy, Raimi decided to return to his horror roots writing Drag Me to Hell with his brother Ivan and directing. The film very much feels like an Evil Dead film (specifically Evil Dead II as it mixes horror and strange slapstick comedy). It has some very thrilling moments (like the scene where star Alison Lohman is assaulted in her car) and a great score from Christopher Young (who also scored Spider-Man 3, after Elfman left the series due to creative differences with Raimi). It is a fun horror film, especially for Raimi fans that do not mind his campy style.

The Spider-Man Trilogy:

Raimi very much wanted to make a super hero movie. He has been a lifelong comic book fan (with reportedly over 25,000 comics in his collection). First he tried with The Shadow, then he actively campaigned to direct Batman Forever after Warner Bros. decided not to bring Tim Burton back, but Joel Schumacher was chosen instead (and we all know how that worked out). Thus, when Sony was ready to move forward with Spider-Man, Raimi again vigorously crusaded for the job. He was not Sony’s first (or even second) choice, but eventually won the job due to his love and enthusiasm for the characters and comics. Raimi also benefited from the growing trend in Hollywood to give fantasy/adventure genre films to cult cinema auteurs (like Peter Jackson being hired to direct The Lord of the Rings and Bryan Singer to direct X-Men), a movement that Warner Bros. started hiring Burton to direct Batman.

Suddenly, Raimi was at the helm of a film with a budget of $139,000 when the biggest budget he had ever worked with was $50,000 on For Love of the Game (and most of that went to Costner’s salary). However, he proved himself to be very capable, directing a very fun action/adventure film setting a new standard for comic book films. Spider-Man stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and Willem Dafoe (playing Green Goblin).

With Spider-Man 2, Raimi made the quintessential comic book film (and in my opinion, the best comic book film still to date). It has a flawless narrative structure as each scene builds into the next and the characters have well defined and developed arcs. Novelist Michael Chabon was brought in by Raimi to help craft the story, and it really pays off. Alfred Molina is also very good as Dr. Octopus, giving a memorable villain performance. What also works very well about the film is that Raimi allows his style to find its place (the operating room scene where Octavius’s metal tentacles attack the doctors is a fantastic example and scene) but balances it nicely so it does not take over and make the tone campy. 2004 was a very good year for films, but the level of storytelling on display in Spider-Man 2 is a notch above anything else released that year. It is Raimi’s best work. However, with the utter disappointment that was Spider-Man 3 (once the initial happiness of a new Spider-Man film wore off – remember, it is still the most financially successful in the franchise) has somewhat soured people’s memory of the trilogy and Spider-Man 2, but taken alone it is a magnificent film (comic book movie or any other kind of film).

As mentioned above, Spider-Man 3 is remembered as a disappointment (probably too harshly, as there is still a lot of good stuff in it – Raimi’s campy side just had too big a role, among other issues). The film is also a classic example of a studio not trusting their director (a director who had just delivered too massive hits with the first two films in the series), overreaching, and ruining a film. Sony/Marvel wanted Venom in the film and Raimi did not. He had cast Ben Kingsley as the Vulture and was well underway into production, but Sony/Marvel would have their way no matter what and the script was reworked (even though production had already begun!) to include Venom in  addition to Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church coming off his Oscar win for Sideways). Topher Grace was (mis)cast as Venom and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy (a competing love interest). Screenwriter Alvin Sargent knew there was a big issue, and tried to structure the film into two parts but could not get it to work. The film was over-packed with villains and characters (two new villain origin stories, Parker’s new relationship with Gwen, his continuing relationship with Mary Jane, and his friendship/feud with Harry all needed to find a place in the narrative) – a lesson apparently not learned by Sony/Marvel as The Amazing Spider-Man 2 sure seems like it has a lot of new characters and villains. All things considered, the film is actually not half bad.

Feeling that he was not allowed to make ‘his’ Spider-Man film due to Sony/Marvel’s gross interference on Spider-Man 3, Raimi signed a deal to direct Spider-Man 4, but only if he was creatively left alone, with the potential for a fifth and sixth part. Everyone was onboard for another film, and production seemed to be ready to get underway – there were even negotiations with John Malkovich and Anne Hathaway to play characters. But, then Sony demanded that Raimi finish the film in a timeframe that Raimi felt would hurt the overall quality of the film (due to scripting issues). Thus, Sony fired Raimi, only to delay the film by a year, deciding rather to reboot the franchise in 3D: giving us The Amazing Spider-Man (which is the third best film in the combined Spider-Man franchises to date).

Despite the rocky finish, Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy is still overall a critically acclaimed and hugely financially successful franchise – only second to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy (in terms of comic book film series).

Producing Projects:

Sam Raimi and producing partner Robert Tapert have also produced a number of films and TV projects. They started with Raimi’s The Evil Dead, Cimewave, and Darkman (and its subsequent terrible sequels – which Raimi did not direct). But, from there they branched out producing the Jean-Claude Van Damme 1990s action films Hard Target and Timecop (yeah, I know, super random).

However, on television, Raimi and Tapert found a niche in cheaply made (filming in New Zealand to save production costs – something Peter Jackson would later do with his big budget films) adventure series. Their first hit was Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, followed by the spin-off Xena: Warrior Princess. While they are fairly cheesy, they are actually very entertaining and were quite successful. More recently, they have produced two new adventure series: Legend of the Seeker (which is essentially the same as Hercules and Xena, but better – I actually think it is one of better adventure series made) and the highly stylized and graphic Spartacus (which is also very good – their best TV series to date).

In the 2000s they started Ghost House Pictures to make low-to-moderately budgeted horror films, the first of which was The Grudge in 2004. Ghost House Pictures has produced ten feature films to date.

Upcoming Projects:

Next on Ghost House Pictures’s slate is the Raimi, Tapert, and Campbell produced Evil Dead remake. It is co-written and directed by Fede Alvarez, co-written by Diablo Cody, and stars Jane Levy, Jessica Lucas, Shiloh Fernandez, Lou Taylor Pucci, and Elizabeth Blackmore. It is supposed to be extreme, and the most terrifying film ever made (or so says the marketing – the trailer is pretty intense).

Raimi is also attached to produce a remake of Poltergeist (the 1982 film is a horror classic) with Gil Kenan directing, but it is still early in the production cycle.

Career Highlights:

1)      The Evil Dead (1981) – writer, director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

2)      Evil Dead II (1987)* – writer, director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

3)      Army of Darkness (1992)* – writer, director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

4)      The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)* – writer, second-unit director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

5)      A Simple Plan (1998)* – director (DVD, Streaming, Trailer)

6)      Spider-Man (2002) – director (Blu-ray – Full Trilogy Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

7)      Spider-Man 2 (2004)* – director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

8)      Legend of the Seeker (2008-2010) – executive producer (DVD, Streaming, Trailer)

9)      Drag Me to Hell (2009) – writer, director (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

10)   Spartacus (2010-2013) – executive producer (Blu-ray, Streaming, Trailer)

*Editor’s picks

Roger Deakins – Movies Spotlight – October 2011

Roger Deakins is one of the best working cinematographers right now (and among the best in cinema history). He is best known for his work with the Coen Brothers. This month, he has a new film coming out entitled In Time – directed by Andrew Niccol. It is a sci-fi thriller about a society in which people stop aging at twenty-five, and must work for more time (here is the trailer).

Early Career:

Growing up, Deakins loved painting, which informed his decision to enroll at the Bath School of Art and Design to study graphic design. At school, he discovered his love of photography, leading him to make a photographic documentary of his hometown (Torquary, Devon, England). He then transferred to the National Film and Television School in England. He worked on a number of documentaries after graduating. In the early 1980s he also tried his hand at music videos both as a director and cinematographer. His work includes Carl Perkins’ Blue Suede Shoes and the concert film Van Morrison in Ireland. Building off his music video work, he began to get jobs shooting feature films. His first couple of note are Alex Cox’s Sid and Nancy and Michael Radford’s 1984. In 1989 he came to America, shooting his first three American films: Mountains of the Moon, Air America and The Long Walk Home. Then he was sent the script for the Coen Brothers’ fourth film and a fantastic cinematic partnership was formed.

Collaborations with the Coen Brothers:

Having seen Deakins’s work on the films Stormy Monday, Sid and Nancy and Pascali’s Island, the Coen Brothers (Joel and Ethan) sent him the script to their new film, Barton Fink, and invited him to join the project. Even though his agent advised against it, he met with the brothers and decided to work with them. It ended up winning the 1991 Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Next, he shot The Hudsucker Proxy for them. It has brilliant cinematography, being recognized by both the London Critics Circle Film Awards and British Society of Cinematographers. Fargo became the Coen Brothers’ first commercial hit (through their first six films) in 1996. Deakins received his second Oscar nomination for his fantastic work shooting the frigid landscape. The Big Lebowski came next (my personal favorite of the Coen Brothers’ films). Deakins got his fourth and fifth Oscar nominations for his work on the next two Coen Brothers’ films: O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Man Who Wasn’t There (which might be the most underrated work of his career – he won the 2002 AFI Cinematographer of the Year Award for it). The brothers then went through an artistically slow phase with Intolerable Cruelty and (their remake of) The Ladykillers. In 2007 they won their first Best Picture Oscar for No Country for Old Men and Deakins his sixth nomination. While not as flashy as some of the previous films, A Serious Man features excellent work from Deakins – but, his latest collaboration with the Coen Brothers True Grit features phenomenal work, collecting his ninth nomination (among my favorite cinematography of 2010). All in all, Deakins has shot eleven of their fifteen films.

Other Feature Films:

In addition to Deakins formidable body of work with the Coen Brothers, he has shot a number of fantastic films, beginning with Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption garnering him his first Oscar nomination. Andy emerging from the sewage drain into the rain is one of the most iconic scenes in cinema history, and beautifully shot. Having worked with Tim Robbins as an actor on The Shawshank Redemption and The Hudsucker Proxy, Robbins hired Deakins to shot his second feature Dead Man Walking. Next he received his third Oscar nomination for his work on Martin Scorsese’s Kundun. He then shot Norman Jewison’s biography of boxer Rubin Carter The Hurricane, and in 2001 he shot his first Best Picture winner for Ron Howard A Beautiful Mind. House of Sand and Fog is sort of a forgotten film from 2003, but Deakins’s work on the film is quite good. He then shot Jarhead working for Sam Mendes for the first time (for Mendes’s first two films he had worked with cinematography legend Conrad Hall). He next shot Paul Haggis’s follow-up to Crash (in that it was his next film) In the Valley of Elah. He also shot Andrew Dominik’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in 2007, receiving his seventh nomination. While it did not win the Oscar, it is one of the ten best shot films of the decade – absolutely magnificent (the other nine are: Amelie, The New World, Children of Men, Road to Perdition, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and City of God). He next shot John Patrick Shanley’s adaptation of his own play Doubt. Deakins got his eighth nomination (sharing it with Chris Menges) for Stephen Daldry’s The Reader and he also shot his second film with Mendes Revolutionary Road that year (2008). He also served as a visual consultant on the animated films How to Train Your Dragon, WALL-E and Rango.

Upcoming:

Up next for Deakins is his third collaboration with Sam Mendes, shooting the twenty-third James Bond film (currently untitled). It will be his first major action film (though he has worked on Hollywood films before, as he shot Courage Under Fire and The Village). While not formally attached, he will likely be shooting the new Coean Brothers’ film Inside Llewyn Davis, due in 2013.

Career Highlights:

1)      Barton Fink (1991) – (DVD, Streaming)

2)      The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)* – (DVD, Streaming)

3)      The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

4)      Dead Man Walking (1995) – (Blu-ray, DVD)

5)      Fargo (1996) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

6)      The Big Lebowski (1998) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

7)      O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

8)      The Man Who Wasn’t There (2001)* – (DVD, Streaming)

9)      A Beautiful Mind (2001) – (Blu-ray, DVD)

10)   House of Sand and Fog (2003) – (DVD)

11)   No Country for Old Men (2007)* – (Blu-ray, DVD)

12)   The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)* – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

13)   Doubt (2008) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

14)   The Reader (2008) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

15)   Revolutionary Road (2008) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

16)   A Serious Man (2009) – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

17)   True Grit (2010)* – (Blu-ray, DVD, Streaming)

*Editor’s picks