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Good then; great now'Blood Simple' still enthralling, 15 years after debut
(CNN) -- Though they're now widely considered two of the sharpest, most-diverse filmmakers on earth, Joel and Ethan Coen started out like lots of other directors. They were independent before independence was cool. "Blood Simple," which debuted in 1985, is receiving a 15th anniversary re-release in remastered and very slightly re-edited form. It always felt more like an audacious calling card than a completely serious movie. It remains a remarkable first feature while being too smart-alecky for its own good, a defense mechanism that still protects the Coens when they aren't quite sure what kind of picture they want to make. Even when their extraordinary skills mesh into a seamless unit, the Coens' movies can be rather off-putting. It wasn't until 1996's "Fargo" that they managed to piece together a film with something resembling wall-to-wall empathy; it's no coincidence that it earned them their only Oscar nominations. That happened later, though. Genuine concern for humanity is a million miles (or at least 11 years) away from "Blood Simple"'s gleeful nihilism. The fun here lies in seeing desperate shmucks do desperately stupid things in a highly visual manner. And several of them suffer gruesome, picturesque deaths as a result. Re-releasedThe reissue begins with a classic bit of Coen-style sarcasm. A pipe-smoking film historian informs the audience that "Blood Simple" is a timeless contribution to American cinema, and that the re-worked print finally brings it into the modern age ... even though it was originally released when Ronald Reagan was in office. The "historian," of course, is just a character actor, and no effort is made to hide the fact that he's reading from cue cards.
This is the single biggest addition to what's being advertised as the movie's "director's cut," but please don't think that "Blood Simple" isn't worth seeing again in pristine form. The elegance of its key images, and the joy with which they're executed, leaves most current-day movies in the dust. The Coen-penned film noir script is unique in that the audience knows more than the characters do, and each character slowly formulates his or her own (incorrect) version of the proceedings. Adultery, mayhemJohn Getz and Frances McDormand play Ray and Abby, two Texas adulterers who've bitten off far more than they can chew. All of the lead performers choke on a mouthful sooner or later; their befuddled misfortune is the whole point of the movie. Ray works as a bartender for Abby's slimy husband, Marty (Dan Hedaya, practically sweating grease). Unfortunately, the lovers don't realize that Marty has had them followed by an even slimier private investigator named Visser, played by M. Emmett Walsh. Visser is one of the sleaziest characters in movie history; the Coens even include a couple of shots where flies land on his face. But -- and this is a prime example of the brothers' wacky touch -- he's a really entertaining guy. You can't help but laugh at the joy he takes in being so openly loathsome. Even though there's a lot of intentional confusion in "Blood Simple," Walsh delivers one particular message loud and clear- never trust a grown man who wears a yellow leisure suit and a straw cowboy hat. And make sure that you see the body if you hire someone to commit a murder. Marty grows enraged by his wife's adulterous ways, so he fires Ray, attempts to rape Abby, and eventually enlists Visser to kill them both. Visser agrees, but actually has other plans for his employer. Half the fun of "Blood Simple" lies in watching everybody misinterpret the increasingly cloudy situation. Suffice it to say that things get very, very messy, in ways that you couldn't possibly imagine during the opening reel. Blood and vomitBefore it's all over, one character will have been "killed" two or three times, Ray will have buried a man alive to protect a woman who hasn't done anything wrong, and Visser will find himself pinned to a window pane with a hunting knife jabbed through his right hand. It makes perfect sense that the Coens indulge their strange fascination with vomiting on several different occasions during this movie. There's a hell of a lot to puke over, with one guy going so far as to cover the floor with about a gallon of upchucked blood. Yuck. The deliberate pacing slows down to a crawl once in a while, but striking visuals appear out of nowhere and re-enthrall you when you start to feel like you've had enough. Some are just small gestures; a shot that creeps down the length of a bar and casually hops over a splayed-out drunk comes to mind. But several moments are virtuoso displays of show-offy craftsmanship. Easily the most impressive is a little number in which McDormand stands in the barren back office at the bar, then, without a single cut, lies down, puts her head on a comfy pillow, and goes to sleep. The location changes from the bar to her bedroom without so much as a dissolve or an insert. Fifty bonus points if you can figure out how the Coens did it (Hint: it involves strapping the actress to a stretcher, then rotating her position.). A hint of the futureThere are some terrific elements in "Blood Simple," and a lot of stuff that would have benefited from more sincerity and less flash. But hindsight leaves you noticing the promise of things to come. Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld has gone on direct such films as "Get Shorty" (1995) and "Men in Black" (1997). And the score, by Carter Burwell, is an eclectic hodgepodge that points the way toward his equally inventive work on "Raising Arizona" (1987) and "Miller's Crossing" (1990). He's an amazing talent. (The credits to Coen movies, by the way, always list Joel as director, Ethan as producer, and both men as screenwriters. In reality, each participates in every facet of the filmmaking process.) The brothers' newest movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (starring George Clooney and John Turturro), will be released later this summer. It might be interesting to watch it with the filmmakers' earliest work fresh in your mind. That alone would make a return visit to "Blood Simple" worth the price of a ticket, especially during a movie season that promises little more than a torrent of shiny objects and loud noises. It is possible, after all, to get more bang for your buck without a single explosion in sight. "Blood Simple" is pretty grotesque. There's lots of blood, lots of vomit, a premature burial, bad language, several shootings, that knife through the hand, and an overall sense that the world is populated by indefensible creeps. And it's really funny. Something you may not have noticed before: The perturbed voice on one character's answering machine obviously belongs to Holly Hunter, who would later star for the Coens in "Raising Arizona." Rated R. 97 minutes. RELATED STORIES: Review: 'Big Lebowski' is fun, but won't bowl you over RELATED SITES: Upcomingmovies.com: Blood Simple: Director's Cut |
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