The Art of simplicity and using it in creating an experience rich in tension, thoughts, and cinematic awesomeness.

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2011)

Not many films accomplish what No Country For Old Men does. Coming from the Coen brothers, this slice of western-influenced, 80's style storytelling just flows in front of your eyes at a slow yet enigmatic pace, delivering a form of tension that you rarely get to see in films nowadays.
To your ears, this experience will seem very intense yet pretty minimal, especially in terms of music, which is pretty much absent from the ensemble, only to leave you with the calm sounds of the windy Texas desert, dry gun cockings, the brutal sound of Chigurh's infamous tank or silenced shotgun (doing bloody damage shown in all its graphic greatness!), among many, many others. Every footstep is a part of the experience, every gun shot sounds loud and lethal, every silence builds the tension, and the almost scientific pace of NCFOM.
Nowadays, music dictating how you should feel and crescendos on queue with the jump-off-your-seat moments is a common thing. Music being absent, you are left with your own nerves, and the incredible tension generated by Javier Bardem's character, one of the coldest-blooded human beings ever portrayed on film, period. What ensues is so effective and precise, it's both completely badass AND cinematically stunning.
You become quite worried about this poor kid, Moss, who's being ruthlessly chased by this complete psychopath who murders anyone stepping on his path without any visible kind of emotion. With basic yet brilliant subplots involving Moss' wife, the Mexican cartel, and an ageing sheriff losing control and confidence in this whole situation, this adaptation of Cormac MacCarthy's novel will simply blow your mind if you have the slightest interest in either western cinema, genuine writing and storytelling, or minimalist cinema.
Hell, whatever your favourite genre is, if you're not expecting Transformers or some other MTV-style blockbuster and have a minimal interest in auteur cinema, No Country For Old Men's experience will exceed any of your expectations.
Now, what I previously called a ''subplot'' is, in fact, the whole core of the movie. It's Sheriff Bell's part. Again, it's very minimal, but it does dictate the whole narrative line of this film, and gives it its aura, its magic feeling of old people getting constantly bullied by the young, which is exactly why this film is called what it's called. And why you get this narration at the start, while witnessing some crude and cold violence, committed by a young man. Through two young men's classic western pursuit, you get an old man's struggle with the pain of getting old and feeling obsolete next to these younger, meaner wolves.
This is why the ending is what it is as well. And what an ending this is! Pure brilliance. Had me smiling in admiration for 20 minutes after the film ended.
A brilliant piece of cinema, just as incredible as Fargo was. Yet these are two very different films, they both shine with irresistible brilliance. Congratulations to this top-notch cast, these two incredible film-makers, this genius of a man who wrote this story, and to the whole team behind this modern-day masterpiece.