Great Cinema Series shows`Blood Simple’
The official start of the all new Great Cinema Series kicks off Thursday evening, September 20 with “Blood Simple.”
Released in 1984, this was the first film from the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, and in this humble reviewer’s opinion, it is their best. True, it lacks some of the polish of their later films, and definitely the budgets, but therein lies much of its charm.
The basic plot of the film starts out quite simply. A cuckolded husband hires about the seediest detective you could ever hope to find to kill his cheating wife and her lover. From there the plot twists are almost never ending; no one does what you would expect them to do, and the characters are continually having to try to escape from one unexpected development only to end up in another.
For those who are only familiar with the Coen brothers from their later films, such as “Fargo,” there are a lot of things to look for in “Blood Simple” that foreshadow much of the brothers’ later works. An obvious one is the appearance of actress Frances McDormand, who makes her film debut here as the unfaithful wife Abby. McDormand has been a favorite of the Coen brothers and has appeared in a number of their films (we’ll discuss why she has been a favorite at the screening). Also present is veteran character actor M. Emmet Walsh, another favorite of the Coen brothers. The quirkiness that is often a major factor in the Coen films also appears here, though it does not overwhelm the film as has happened in some later films from the brothers, notably the follow up to “Blood Simple,” “Raising Arizona.”
Another technique the Coens employ here, which they have often used in subsequent films, is the excellent use of silence. There are scenes that go on for some time with absolutely no dialogue. There are also a few truly “nightmarish” scenes in this film that can haunt you for some time afterward – if you’ve ever had a fear of being buried alive.well.oh what the heck, come see the film anyway!
For those wondering, the film would probably carry an “R” rating principally for the violence – and there are some pretty intense scenes.
The klassic kartune that will precede the feature attraction also carries some pretty intense scenes but of a different nature: ghostly creatures singing “Minnie the Moocher” with more symbolism than you’ll find in an Ayn Rand anthology – now THAT’S scary!
The film festivities will start at 7:00 pm in that movie house paragon, the A&S auditorium. Remember, films are now Thursday evenings as opposed to Fridays. For those who just tuned in, the Great Cinema Series is dedicated to bringing films to the GC&SU community that could otherwise go unnoticed. These are usually not the kind of films you will expect to find playing in local commercial theatres; you will probably never see a III, IV, V, etc or “staring Baby and Ginger Spice” following the titles of any of these films. Some are relatively new; some are “vintage.” They can be domestic or international in origin (there have even been near “festivals” of Australian films built around music from defunct Swedish bands). In other words–SOMETHING FOR EVERYBODY!!
And we’ll try to make sure the air conditioning is turned up in the A&S auditorium. What “Fargo” did for showing Minnesota in the middle of winter, “Blood Simple” does for Texas in the middle of what must be the hottest summer one could imagine.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Sep 14 2001. Filed under Features.
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