There is no country for old people is one of the landmark films of the last 20 years, setting new standards for the Western genre and winning four Oscars, including Best Picture. However, There is no country for old peopleThe ending of is somewhat surprising, as the film's two biggest character deaths happen off-screen. However, when it is widely accepted that the Coen brothers created a masterpiece for the modern era with this drama, there is certainly a reason for this creative decision.
There is no country for old people examines themes of morality and pure evil in an evolving world when Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), characterized as a man from a bygone era, tries to track down Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) before he is killed by Anton Chigurh, the latter one of the most iconic movie villains of all time and Javier Bardem's career-defining performance. Chigurh's quest to recover the drug money Moss found goes beyond material concerns, and the way the film depicts their deaths further emphasizes its effect.
Llewelyn and Carla Jean Moss are killed off-screen in No Country For Old Men
The deaths of these important characters in No Country for All Men seem underwhelming in theory
There is no country for old peopleThe opening sequence, a contender for one of the best film openings of all time, establishes the violence and banality of Bardem's character. When he spends the rest of the film chasing Moss with cruel, deadly calm, this apparently makes their eventual confrontation dramatically bloody. However, Moss is killed off-screen by a different group of criminals, and the aftermath is discovered by Bell - a shocking fate for one of the There is no country for old peoplemain characters.
Chigurh recovers the drug money and later tracks down Moss' wife Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), having promised to kill her if her husband did not comply with his demands before his death. There is no country for old people strongly implies that Chigurh kills Carla Jean, as he is only seen leaving her house after talking to her. In this pivotal scene, Carla Jean makes her own contribution to the film's themes, forcing the blame back onto Chigurh, refusing to play his game of coin toss when he is the one who decides whether to kill her.
No Country For The Off-Screen Deaths Of Old Men Is A Discreet Horror And Reinforces The Banality Of Evil
No Country for Old Men carefully constructs its drama through which character deaths are shown
In a film primarily about Chigurh's violence and Moss's selfishness, the off-screen deaths diminish both. There's a kind of chilling terror to imagining the murders that take place beyond the public's view, especially when the film begins with the brutal murder of a minor character, a masterful narrative sequence in terms of tone. Additionally, the banality of evil is never clearer than when we focus on what Chigurh does after Carla Jean, focusing on escaping even after a car accident.
Chigurh commits crimes like this regularly – the fact of the murder itself may be important to the audience, but not necessarily to him. As far as Moss was concerned, he kept the money at all costs until it led to his death. There's more horror in seeing Bell react to the scene, as he's the one trying to find some semblance of meaning and morality in this world. Carefully hiding something from the public is a long-standing narrative trick, which There is no country for old people uses it beautifully to reinforce the idea of a world where evil is becoming the norm.