One of the greatest films of the '90s

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2017)

It is difficult to define one genre for this masterpiece:Coen Brothers combine comedy with various elements of the noir movies, such as the abundance of characters linked to each other through secret ties that reveal the rottenness behind everyone.Our protagonist is not the usual policeman or private investigator damned and alcoholic, but a complete idler,Jeffrey Lebowski(interpreted by Jeff Bridges) who will be meddled in a case of alleged kidnapping. The film is set in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, with characters well-outlined and marked by a story behind, many of which are just victims of events that live or are forced to live.
The Jeffrey Lebowski characterization is gorgeous: a middle-aged lover of bowling and white Russian (this movie will make you want to drink one immediately!),in which there is a great influence of Taoist philosophy.Jeffrey abides all the events that come to him, staying calm and never getting angry.Just like a Taoist sage, he does practically nothing to change his situation. He never takes position in doing something, he always finds himself victim of the events.
The protagonist is joined by Walter (played by John Goodman), representing Jeffrey's complete opposite: this character is in fact presumptuous and violent; he is angry at all (the scene where he threatens to shoot an acquaintance only because he broke a rule of Bowling is awesome) and takes the situation in hand, turning it completely.The contrast between the two is functional: like the yin and the yang, the two friends complement each other creating a balance between disorder and order, activity and passivity.
Photography and direction are sublime, the only opening scene is worth more than whole films. The Coen brothers manage to focus the attention of the spectator on objects and minutia, even with mute shots and without giving much explanation. Salient points are then highlighted by the scenes in which the protagonist is out of his own (as when it is hit in the head) in which his subconscious frees up and transforms Jeffrey's desires and thoughts into true images. In the visions are actually present the bowling, carpet and daughter of the homonym Mr Lebowski dressed as a Valkyrie (surely to mark the nationality of the nihilists with whom she had to do).The soundtrack is very good for the film, so it is connected to Lebowski as much as his dressing gown and cocktails.
End up finally recommending this movie to anyone: that you love the investigative films or the comedies you can not do without this movie! You can see it with your family in cheerfulness and tranquility, or have a thorough insight into the Freudian nature of visions and the well-delineated philosophy of the characters and still enjoy this masterpiece, which would definitely be seen at least once in life.