Ambiguity And The Dreams

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2019)

While reviewing a movie on IMDb I couldn't remember if I had reviewed this film. I clicked on audience reviews and was shocked by the number of reviews panning the film almost entirely because of the ambiguity of the ending. Which is fine. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I never suggest whether to view a movie or not. This applies even when I believe a bravura film has been made. I leave it up to the reader whether they choose to view it or not. Of the four movies adapted from McCarthy's novels, which this viewer has read every one of, this film follows the novel almost to a tee. This film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. I'll admit I was ambivalent about the ending, but this is a virtuous film. The Coens have ended films cryptically before. In "Raising Arizona" H.I. is laying in bed awake and part of his monologue is, " This whole dream, was it wishful thinking? Was I just fleeing reality like I know I'm liable to do. But me and Ed, we can be good too. And it seemed real". It leaves the ending open for interpretation. I'll review the plot direct, I won't provide analysis, I won't address all of the symbolism and I won't examine it as thoroughly as I normally would. The ending is what I'd like to offer an opinion on. This film has astounding direction, cinematography, screenplay, settings, score and acting. The storyline follows Llewelyn finding a case full of cash from a drug deal gone awry and stealing it. This ignites a pursuit of Llewelyn being hunted by the cartel, a psychopathic bounty hunter named Chigurh who embodies evil, another bounty hunter named Carson and Sheriff Bell. During the entire film Llewelyn is able prove to be a worthy adversary for his main pursuer Chigurh. We find out Llewelyn served two tours in Vietnam which might be indicative of his survival skills. We learn from Carson that Chigurh always gets his man and that Chigurh has principles that transcend money or drugs or anything else. Bell is in pursuit to save Llewelyn from death. With Chigurh, a person's life hangs in the balance by the toss of a coin. The toss of the coin has modeled Chigurh as a force of random death. The pursuit is full of action, duplicity and killings. In the end it is only Chigurh and Bell left. To address the ending I do have to spoil one part of the film which I never do in a review. So be warned. Llewelyn is found dead in a motel room and the cash is gone. All we see is a group of men speeding out of the parking lot. We don't know who killed Llewelyn, but we do know it wasn't Chigurh. Llewelyn wasn't a classic western hero. He stole the cash. The point is that the odds caught up with him. In old westerns the hero always strolls off into the sunset. The Coens are known for a pessimistic world view. Chigurh visits Llewelyn's wife Carla Jean to fulfill his promise to kill her. After a brief exchange he explains the best he can do is offer a toss of the coin. We see him leave. Does it matter if Carla Jean is killed? Whether Chigurh has free will or not, the coin was tossed. Chigurh is sideswiped and severely injured in the crash but walks away. This is symbolic of his very own coin toss. The coin represents forces beyond our control. My interpretation of the dreams. Bell is having breakfast with his wife Loretta explaining dreams he had the previous night. In the first dream Bell's father gives him money, but he can't remember what he did with it. This symbolizes youth living in the moment and not thinking about the future. In the second dream his father is carrying a flame in a horn like people used to do. The flame symbolizes the values and integrity of the old west and old sheriffs. Bell then says, "And then I woke up". Cut to black. This symbolizes the world he believed in probably never existed, it was an illusion and he just realizes it. He understands that today's world is no country for old men. No matter what one's interpretation of the ending and the dreams this film is sublime, ingenious and an avant-garde modern day western. It's yet to be surpassed.