Chigurh: A Simple Representation of Situational Violence in Film

Rating: 9/10 (5 May 2010)

In Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men, the character Anton Chigurh explores the concept of unadulterated violence in an environment that is neither the old west, nor modern times. Chigurh is part of a larger argument, that incorporates the films three main characters. Each character represents a different thematic element, such as Chigurh's representation of evil, because of his tendency to execute merciless killings. Sheriff Bell takes on the dual role of unwitting prophet via his narration, and actively participates in the investigation of the drug deal gone wrong that sets of the chain of events that creates No Country for Old Men. The third main character, Llewelyn Moss, stays true to his introduction, and never fully realizes the potential the rewards he sought had to harm him. Chigurh though, truly represents Joel and Ethan Coen's goal of creating a simple, yet realistic representation of situational violence and its implications.
"The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure," Bell intones as desert scenery gives way to a shot of a man being led into a cop car, "It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, 'Okay, I'll be part of this world.'" This line, along with a shot of Chigurh being led into a cop car serves as the character Chigurh's introduction into the world of No Country for Old Men. It takes the Coen's only moments to make good on Bell's observation of crime that's, "hard to even take its measure," (Coen).
This is merely the beginning of what can only be described as Chigurh's wholesale assault on No Country for Old Men's other characters. As Bell steps out of the role of narrator and into the role of character, Anton Chigurh is in custody, in a police station. This does not stop him from manifesting both resourcefulness and sociopathic tendencies, when he uses his handcuff's to brutally strangle his arresting officer. The manner in which this scene is filmed lends much to the Coen's creation of Chigurh as a character.
As Chigurh slowly kills his victim, the shot is switched to an overhead view, which shows both men's faces while they are locked in a battle to the death. Chigurh's face wears an empty, twisted smile, while his victim stares into the camera displaying a look of shear terror. During this overhead shot, and for the whole murder sequence, there are no sound effects or music played. A highly unusual move for any movie made after the invention of sound on tape, the absence of music is an element repeated throughout No Country for Old Men. By showcasing Chigurh's brutality simply and explicitly, the Coen's establish a character who serves only his own purposes, regardless of morality.
The third main character is introduced in the next scene in a similar manner to the other two, that is being shown in a way that establishes both his character and the path that he will tread through the rest of the narrative. Llewelyn Moss is shown sitting on a bluff somewhere in the desert, dialing in the scope of his rifle. He lines up his shot on the heart of a distant animal and then fires. The shot hits its mark, but does not kill the beast. Moss ejects the spent round from his rifle, carefully picks up the shell and proceeds into the valley to pursue the injured animal. Upon arriving at the location the animal had been shot, Moss finds two different trails of blood, one following the animals path and the other leading out into the dessert. He follows the trail and finds a drug deal gone wrong. Moss investigates the scene and finds a satchel full of money, which begins the game of cat and mouse between him and the man tasked with retrieving the money, Chigurh.
The man responsible for these shots, Roger Deakins, is quoted himself as saying that, "There's nothing worse than an ostentatious shot, or some lighting that draws attention to itself, and you might go, 'Oh, wow, that's spectacular.' Or that spectacular shot, a big crane move or something. But it's not necessarily right for the film – you jump out, you think about the surface, and you don't stay in there with the characters and the story" (Siegel and Block). The violence portrayed in the film, then becomes something that is there to establish who the character is and what they are willing to do.
No Country for Old Men provides an unrelenting vision of what men are capable of inflicting upon each other. The Coen's have created an important film, that presents moral arguments that work on several levels. Representing the three concepts that drive No Country for Old Men, the three main characters of Chigurh, Bell and Moss reflect a disturbing mix of absent morality, clinging to the past and not preparing for the future. Chigurh, is the representative with absent morality, or at least operates on a twisted version of what he sees as morality. Moss would be the hero, if in the end he did not fail to escape the consequences of his violence. Finally Sheriff Bell, embodies the concept of fate, both because he endures the chaos of Chigurh and because of his narratological omnipresence. Through the use of cinematography that mimics the style and layout that is found in photography, No Country for Old Men is a cinematographic wonder, in which, what occurs visually is representative of what is occurring within the story. Through a simple portrayal of violence, No Country for Old Men sets a precedent for providing a simple, yet realistic representation of situational violence and its implications.