What is the true meaning of the Coen brothers' film?

A serious man It may be the most complex film of the Coen brothers' career, and that says a lot, but an ending like this film can be taken apart for decades. The Coen brothers have a filmography full of films that could be nominated as the best, and almost all of them would be entitled to the title. So to call A serious man his best film is as unnecessary as it is impossible to prove. However, It's hard to deny the cinematic and storytelling feat of his bizarre 2009 black comedy drama.

Here, the Coens combine themes they've covered in almost every previous film. There are important Jewish questions and issues raised in the film, nihilism and desolation are central, and the relentless passage of time and the inevitability of death are also important factors. There are also mystical and unbelievable elements of A serious manmoments that at first glance seem normal only to evolve, or devolve, into something unnatural or impossible. The darkly hilarious film takes Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbar) down a slippery slope of despair, punctuated by one of the best film endings of the century.

Arthur is disheartened by his accusations

Larry discovers that his brother is accused of sodomy and solicitation

Larry's brother, Arthur (Richard Kind), is a hilarious addition to the A serious man. He moves in with Larry's family, with no job prospects, and filling his time with "Mentaculua", a notebook of strange sketches that he thinks could be a probability map of the universe. Between taking forever in the bathroom and his sleep apnea mask, Arthur is the quintessential annoying uncle whose presence is enough to drive his niece and nephew crazy. However, at the end of the film, something happens to Arthur that paints the man in a much more despondent light.

The police show up at Larry's house with Arthur in handcuffs and explain to the confused Larry that Arthur is being accused of illegal gambling, solicitation, and sodomy. It's with this revelation that the idyllic suburban setting of the 1960s becomes a little more unnerving. Arthur is a Jewish criminal, suspected of being gay, and is being pulled over by white, Christian-looking police officers in middle America. The suggestions of police brutality and homophobia are hard to ignore.

When Arthur and Larry are kicked out of Larry's house, Arthur breaks down in the motel pool, crying out to God and Larry, feeling as if he has been treated unfairly his entire life. He names Larry as the lucky one, something Larry is surprised to hear. Later, Larry dreams that he helps his brother escape to Canada, only for his neighbors to shoot Arthur to death. He wakes up sweating.

Sy Ableman dies in a car accident

Sy is called a serious man

"Sy Ableman?"several people ask Larry to repeat throughout A serious man when he reveals who his wife is leaving him for. Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed) is a professor at the same college where Larry teaches, and instead of being a bold and rude adulterer, Sy is terribly kind, enveloping Larry in a big hug when he first meets him. One of Melamed's best moments comes when he and Larry's wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), gently tell Larry that it would make more sense for Larry to move away. Why this makes more sense to Larry is left unsaid.

Sy and Larry suffer simultaneous car accidents at the end of A serious man and although Larry is not worn out, Sy dies. For a reason unknown to Larry, he is coerced into paying for Sy's funeral by a crying Judith. At Sy's funeral, he is recognized as "a serious man." It is the only mention of the title in the entire film.

Danny's Bar Mitzvah goes well and he meets Rabbi Marshak

Larry and Judith reconcile

Larry's son Danny (Aaron Wolff) spent the film preparing for his bar mitzvah, but he mostly smokes pot, watches TV and avoids his intimidating bully, Mike Fagle (Jon Kaminski Jr.), who wants the $20 that are owed to you. Before his bar mitzvah, Danny smokes a lot of marijuana in the bathroom, so much so, that when he approaches to recite the Torah, the Coens' fish-eye film produces a sense of anxiety that anyone who has been under the influence of marijuana will recognize.

Just when it looks like Danny is going to pass out, he puts the yad down and reads his passage perfectly, much to everyone's relief. It's one of the few things that works A serious manand this leads to a few more victories for Larry. His wife apologizes to him and says that Sy wrote him a letter of recommendation for tenure. Larry smiles as Danny, still stoned, goes for a one-on-one meeting with the mysterious and rarely seen Rabbi Marshak.

The former rabbi looks at Danny before slowly saying:

"When the truth is found. Be lies. And all hope. Inside you dies. And then? Grace Slick. Marty Balin. Paul Kanta. Jorma... something. These are the membas [sic] of the Airplane. Interesting. Here. Be a good boy."

With that spoken-word version of the Jefferson Airplane song "Somebody to Love," Marshak hands Danny the Walkman that was confiscated at the beginning of the film, which contains the $20 he owes Fagle, and sends the boy on his way. Everything is fine.

Larry changes Clive's grade from F to C-

Danny and his colleagues evacuate due to a tornado

Back in his office, things are looking up in Larry's life for the first time. It's not great, but things are getting a little better. His son passed his bar mitzvah, his wife seems interested in reconciling, and when his colleague walks in with a big smile but closed lips, Larry is almost certain he's already secured the tenure. There's only one more matter to resolve: Clive's (David Kang) note. After receiving a bill from Arthur's lawyer for $3,000, Larry decides that changing an F to a C- is worth getting money from Clive's father.

Then the phone rings. That screeching sound that interrupts the scene is as frightening as anything seen in a horror film, and what comes next is just as ominous. It's Larry's doctor from the beginning of the film who was doing cancer tests. He would like Larry to join. As quickly as possible. Larry can only stare into space. Back at Hebrew school, Danny and his classmates evacuate their classroom to go to a storm shelter during a tornado warning.

In the parking lot, students mill around as the wind picks up and the teacher struggles to find the right key to the shelter. Danny sees Fagle and shouts that he has the bully's money. But Fagle isn't looking at David. He's looking at a swirling mass of wind falling from the sky a football field away. David adjusts his eyes as a huge tornado forms and staggers towards the school. As he watches, Jefferson Airplane picks up his headphones. "You better find someone to love,” shouts Slick, as the credits roll.

The true meaning of the end of a serious man

Larry's faith is tested to the extreme

A serious man it packs a lot into its relatively short runtime of one hour and 46 minutes. There is no solution to the Coen brothers' film, just a few ideas that can shine like a magical puzzle with multiple images embedded. What has always been a curious question about A serious man is whether Larry “deserved” the treatment he received. There are numerous parallels with the Book of Job in A serious manthe biblical story of a man whose life is ruined by God to show the devil that man does not need riches to love him.

Larry's life begins to plummet from the moment the film begins, and he's not sure why, hence his constant refrain: "What is happening?"This is both a specific and a general question. He has no idea why these things are happening to him. The final scene suggests that his decision to sin and change Clive's grade resulted in God striking him with cancer and his son with a disaster, but there are other explanations for why these things happen to Larry.

Maybe he's just unlucky, a victim of an uncaring universe, which is a common Coen brothers theme. Maybe his life is good, at least compared to Arthur's, and he should take stock of the good in it. Maybe your family is cursed and your ancestor actually killed a man instead of a Dybbuk in the film's prologue. Don't ask the Coen brothers. They're not even sure if it was a Dybbuk, as the credits for A serious man to read, "Fyvush Finkel as Dybbuk?".