Coen brothers

**Joel David Coen** and **Ethan Jesse Coen** are movie directors, producers and screenwriters. They are brothers and always work together. They have won many awards including the Academy Award _(Oscar)_ four times and the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival. Their movies are different genres. They sometimes make movies that are funny like _Raising Arizona_ or movies with a lot of violence like _No Country for Old Men_. They can also mix both styles like, for example in _Fargo_.

They write, direct and produce their movies and they share the credits. People sometimes call them "A two-headed director" because when actors who work in their movies have a question they can ask either Joel or Ethan and get the same answer.

## Biography

Joel was born on November 29, 1954 and Ethan on September 21, 1957 in St. Louis Park, Minnesota near Minneapolis in the United States. Their parents were teachers, their father taught economy and their mother art history. Joel bought a camera and with it they started making new versions of the movies they saw on television.

When they finished high school, Joel studied movie at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Massachusetts and Ethan studied philosophy at Princeton University.

## Personal life

They are married. Joel married actress Frances McDormand in 1984 (she has acted in six of their movies). Ethan is married to Tricia Cook who edits their movies. They live in New York with their families.

## Career

Their first movie, _Blood Simple_ (1984), follows the story of a bar-owner who asks a detective to murder his wife and her lover. The Cohens directed, but only Joel appears in the credits and he accepted awards at Sundance and Independent Spirit.

They wrote the screenplay for the Sam Raimi movie, _Crimewave_ in 1985.

In 1987 they wrote and directed _Raising Arizona_. The movie is about a couple that cannot have babies and decides to steal one. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter played the married couple. The movie was not very successful and it did not make a lot of money in the box offices but many people consider it a cult movie (a movie that has a relatively small number of fans who constantly repeat lines from the dialogs, buy or create merchandise and gather to comment on it).

Their next movie was _Miller's Crossing_. It is about gangsters and was made in 1990.

After _Miller's Crossing_, _Raising Arizona_ and _Blood Simple_, the brothers received good comments on their movies and their directing style as well as the dialogs in their movies. It was not until they made _Barton Fink_ in 1991 that the brothers achieved international fame. The movie was nominated for Academy Awards. It won three awards at Cannes International Film Festival (the Palme d'Or, best director, and best actor). The story is about a playwright (a person who writes plays) whose name is Barton Fink and he moves to Los Angeles to write movies. Fink is played by John Turturro.

After _Barton Fink**s success, the brothers had the chance to make a big-budget movie (with more money than the previous ones). That movie was _The Hudsucker Proxy_. The story talks about a man who is given the opportunity to be the director of a big company because the other people in the company (the board) want to buy it at a low price so they intend to have him ruin it. Instead of ruining the company, the man invents the hula hoop and becomes famous.
The Coens had 25 million dollars to make this movie but it only earned 3 million so it is considered a commercial failure (not successful). The critics said the movie was not good because it had nothing new to offer the viewers.

The brothers made another movie in 1996 with a little money. The name was _Fargo_. It was universally praised (almost everybody said it was good). They returned to Minnesota because the story takes place there and in North Dakota. The story is about a man who needs money to start his own business so he pays other men to kidnap his wife and plans to ask his rich father-in-law for the ransom (money given in exchange for the woman). Everything goes wrong and a series of violent events starts.
Experts say the movie was very good because of the dialog used by the actors (they used different accents) and Frances McDormand's performance (acting). She won the Best Actress Oscar. The brothers also won Best Original Screenplay and the Palme d'Or for Best Directing for a second time.

By 1998 they were famous for their style and talent and they made another movie _The Big Lebowski_, a comedy about a man who does not work and spends his time bowling. The man's name is Jeffrey Lebowski so some guys mistake him for a millionaire who has the same name. Fans of the movie consider it a cult movie.

Inspired by parts of Homer's Odyssey, _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ (2000), received wide critical acclaim.

In 2001 they created _The Man Who Wasn't There_. The movie is supposed to be in 1940's in California.

In 2003 they directed _Intolerable Cruelty_. It is their most mainstream movie (the movie that is closest to the most common or popular genres). The leading roles are played by George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

They worked with Tom Hanks in _The Ladykillers_ in 2004. A previous version had been made before (not by the brothers) in 1955.

_No Country for Old Men_ came out in 2007. The movie is based on the book with the same name written by Corman McCarthy.

_A Serious Man_, set in the 1960s in the suburbs of Minneapolis, came out in 2009.

### Academy Awards

The Coen brothers are two of only seven directors with three Oscars for the same movie.

**1991:** _Barton Fink_
- Best Supporting Actor (Michael Lerner, nominated)
- Best Art Direction–Set Decoration (Dennis Gassner, Nancy Haigh, nominated)
- Best Costume Design (Richard Hornung, nominated)

**1996:** _Fargo_
- Best Picture (Ethan Coen, nominated)
- Best Director (Joel Coen, nominated)
- Best Screenplay – Original (**won**)
- Best Film Editing (as Roderick Jaynes, nominated)
- Best Actress (Frances McDormand, **won**)
- Best Supporting Actor (William H. Macy, nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)

**2000:** _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_
- Best Screenplay – Adapted (nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)

**2001:** _The Man Who Wasn't There_
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)

**2007:** _No Country for Old Men_
- Best Picture (with Scott Rudin, **won**)
- Best Director (**won**)
- Best Screenplay – Adapted (**won**)
- Best Editing (as Roderick Jaynes, nominated)
- Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem, **won**)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)
- Best Sound (Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland, nominated)
- Best Sound Editing (Skip Lievsay, nominated)

**2009:** _A Serious Man_
- Best Picture (nominated)
- Best Screenplay – Original (nominated)

**2010:** _True Grit_
- Best Picture (with Scott Rudin, nominated)
- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jeff Bridges, nominated)
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Hailee Steinfeld, nominated)
- Best Achievement in Directing (nominated)
- Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)
- Best Art Direction (Stefan Dechant, nominated)
- Best Costume Design (Mary Zophres, nominated)
- Best Sound (Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F. Kurland, nominated)
- Best Sound Editing (Skip Lievsay, nominated)

### BAFTA Awards

**1996:** _Fargo_
- Best Film (nominated)
- David Lean Award for Direction (Joel Coen, **won**)
- Best Screenplay – Original (nominated)
- Best Actress (Frances McDormand, nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)
- Best Editing (as Roderick Jaynes, nominated)

**2000:** _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_
- Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music (T-Bone Burnett, Carter Burwell, nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, nominated)
- Best Costume Design (Monica Howe, nominated)
- Best Production Design (Dennis Gassner, nominated)
- Best Screenplay – Original (nominated)

**2001:** _The Man Who Wasn't There_
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, **won**)

**2007:** _No Country for Old Men_
- Best Film (with Scott Rudin, nominated)
- Best Director (**won**)
- Best Screenplay – Adapted (nominated)
- Best Supporting Actor (Javier Bardem, **won**)
- Best Supporting Actor (Tommy Lee Jones, nominated)
- Best Supporting Actress (Kelly Macdonald, nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, **won**)
- Best Editing (as Roderick Jaynes, nominated)
- Best Sound (Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, nominated)

**2008:** _Burn After Reading_
- Best Screenplay – Original (nominated)
- Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt, nominated)
- Best Supporting Actress (Tilda Swinton, nominated)

**2009:** _A Serious Man_
- Best Screenplay – Original (nominated)

**2010:** _True Grit_
- Best Film (with Scott Rudin, nominated)
- Best Screenplay – Adapted (nominated)
- Best Leading Actor (Jeff Bridges, nominated)
- Best Supporting Actress (Hailee Steinfeld, nominated)
- Best Cinematography (Roger Deakins, **won**)
- Best Costume Design (Mary Zophres, nominated)
- Best Production Design (Stefan Deschant, nominated)
- Best Sound (Peter F. Kurland, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, nominated)

### Berlin Film Festival

**1998**: ***The Big Lebowski***
- Golden Bear (Joel Coen, nominated)

### Cannes Film Festival

**1991:** _Barton Fink_
- Best Actor (John Turturro, **won**)
- Best Director (Joel Coen, **won**)
- Palme d'Or (Joel Coen, **won** – unanimously)

**1994:** _The Hudsucker Proxy_
- Palme d'Or (Joel Coen, nominated)

**1996: **_Fargo_
- Best Director (Joel Coen, **won**)
- Palme d'Or (Joel Coen, nominated)

**2000:** _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_
- Palme d'Or (Joel Coen, nominated)

**2001:** _The Man Who Wasn't There_
- Best Director (Joel Coen, **won** – tied with David Lynch for _Mulholland Dr._)
- Palme d'Or (Joel Coen, nominated)

**2004:** _The Ladykillers_
- Jury Prize (Irma P. Hall, **won** – for her acting)
- Palme d'Or (nominated)

**2007:_' _No Country for Old Men_
- Palme d'Or (nominated)

## Filmography

|Year|Movie|Director credit!!colspan=2|Academy Award!!colspan=2|Golden Globe!!colspan=2|BAFTA|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1984|_Blood Simple_|Joel|||||||
|1987|_Raising Arizona_||||||||
|1990|_Miller's Crossing_||||||||
|1991|_Barton Fink_|3||1|||||
|1994|_The Hudsucker Proxy_||||||||
|1996|_Fargo_|7|**2**|4||6|**1**||
|1998|_The Big Lebowski_||||||||
|2000|_O Brother, Where Art Thou?_|2||2|**1**|5|||
|2001|_The Man Who Wasn't There_|1||3||1|**1**||
|2003|_Intolerable Cruelty_||||||||
|2004|_The Ladykillers_|Joel & Ethan|||||||
|2007|_No Country for Old Men_|8|**4**|4|**2**|9|**3**||
|2008|_Burn After Reading_|||2||3|||
|2009|_A Serious Man_|2||1||1|||
|2010|_True Grit_|10||||8|**1**||
|2012|_Inside Llewyn Davis_||||||||
|**Total**|33|**6**|17|**3**|36|**6**|||

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Joel and Ethan Coen
- **image**: Coen brothers Cannes 2015 2 (CROPPED).jpg
- **imagesize**: 210px
- **caption**: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
- **birth name**: Joel David Coen
Ethan Jesse Coen
- **birth date**:

- **birth place**: St. Louis Park, Minnesota, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, U.S.
- **notable works**: _Raising Arizona_, _Fargo (movie), Fargo_, _The Big Lebowski_, _No Country for Old Men (movie), No Country for Old Men_, _True Grit (2010 movie), True Grit_
- **other names**: Roderick Jaynes
- **years active**: 1984–present
- **spouse**: Frances McDormand <small>(Joel)</small>
Tricia Cooke <small>(Ethan)</small>