The Coen Brothers

The dynamic duo the Coen Brothers, home grown here in Minnesota are truly unique in their ideas and filming styles. Spreading the good word about the humble people of MN are the Coen Brothers, bringing to Hollywood the base of film noir with a modern twist. They always work together and in doing so have created some truly remarkable pictures.

In Raising Arizona they are able to bring together a ton of action and comedy into what would otherwise be a dull place in the Arizona desert. H.I., a newly released repeat criminal and Edwina (Ed) are newly weds whom are unable to conceive. The plot thickens when they discover a woman married to Nathan Arizona, the owner of a chain of unpainted furniture stores has quintuplets. More than willing to take a baby or two off their hands they decide they have more then they can handle and 'it's just unfair they have so many' and kidnap Nathan Jr.

As the Coens do, they create a whole new world filled with interesting characters, irony, & a idea that 'money is the basis of crime'. I noticed this first in Fargo, a low budget film about a man with money problems pays a couple of men to kidnap his wife to get money off her dad. This film is con traversal among Minnesotans since the Coens poke fun at their Minnesota roots. Another fun fact about the film is although it's said to 'be based off of a true story' it really isn't; thus supporting the irony the Coens enjoy so much.

And lastly I must note is the Good vs. Evil aspect of if not all than most of their films. There is a very clear show of this in their blockbuster hit No Country For Old Men, where after a drug deal gone bad, the unlucky finder of the left over cash is being chased by a cold hearted serial killer, who would easily kill someone just for picking the wrong side of a flipped coin. On the good side we have sheriff Bell whom is harboring internal conflicts with himself as he follows the trail of disaster left behind by killer.

Altman

Encouraged to bring reality into his movies, Altman is a director of an naturalistic sort. By organizing crossed conversations and steady but consistent movement he brings the audience into a situation that is almost believable. Altman was concerned more about character motivation and development than most others; he constantly demands attention from the audience which gives the audience a jerk to pay close attention.

I learned after watching his film The Long Good Bye his creative cross conversation style and realistic happenings in his films. He keeps in the back of his mind the realistic attitude that "time waits for no man" and really puts effort into linking together piece to piece of each character to one another in a realistic environment. Speaking of random piecings together brings me to my next point about another of his films, Nashville.

There is much debate over this film since it is so spontaneous and has little no what would seem no plot development. However I can see the creative and unique technique that makes his directing style so genuine. Although Nashville has many linked relationships from one character to the next I don't feel at all that Altman was pulling a plot out of thin air. There is what appears to be a main plot idea and he simply uses that as a guide throughout his films, adding more important details for his character's development. He uses plot as a guideline for his films, not bound by a certain ending or restricted by certain idea points.

After doing a little research I found a couple bios (and yes I admit I did a bit of wikipedia) and had discovered that Altman was going through a bit of a funk period before Mash which gave him a bad look on Hollywood. My point leading to is that it's possible the film The Player was based off of his not so friendly attitude toward Hollywood. The film itself is about a Hollywood production company and it's flaws, a man Griffin Mill is desperately fighting for his job from another employee whom seems to be out doing him. The main idea is that Hollywood is full of crooks and crazy men biting at each other's heels to get some recognition.