One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

As one who did not read, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, I really enjoyed the film. Something I focused on throughout the film was MacMurphy's effect on the other men in the ward. When he enters the ward and sits in the circle for the first time we see how Mac just listens and how distraught and troubled all the men are. The anger escalates and there is constant disorder.

Throughout the film the characters progress and adapt to Mac, and begin to rebel against the nurse and the change I saw that really interested me was when they all left the ward for the day. Mac gave the men a chance to get out, get an experience and be happy. Mac represents the hope for these men and acts as a voice, as we see them evolve throughout the film to become more confident.

The ending scene represented a large significance as well as a large point in the film because the men don't see Mac, dead... They see the window, and all react ecstatic to him successfully escaping from the ward. I think it's better off that it ends this way and the men don't know it was Chief because it continues to give the men hope and a confident, admirable trait from the men about Mac, while it gives Chief a chance to start over and have Mac reign in him. 

What effect do you think MacMurphy had on the men in the ward?

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is an extremely interesting story and I thoroughly enjoyed the film (I even want to read the book now because I enjoyed the film that much!). I think that the most interesting scene in this film is the one where Chief killed McMurphy. I don't even like to call or think of it as killing him because I believe that what he did was what McMurphy truly would have wanted. Because of the lobotomy, McMurphy was basically turned into a vegetable and Chief was such a good friend that he knew that he would never want that for himself.

I think what is so interesting about this is that everyone in the mental hospital thought that Chief was, essentially, a vegetable too. Chief acted as if he was blind, mute, and dumb, which is what he witnessed McMurphy embody. Chief understands how McMurphy feels and he doesn't want McMurphy to live a life that Chief had to pretend to lead.  Along with this, McMurphy was such a hopeful spirit. If anyone else else saw him in that state, they would all be discouraged and a light would fade in their lives.

Chief is a good friend, and although he killed someone, he did what McMurphy would have wanted if he had the ability to do anything about his life at that point in time.

Do you think that Chief suffocating McMurphy was ethical? 

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a mental institution. We see how the patients are treated/punished because of their bad behaviors. What I found to be particularly disturbing is how McMurphy was punished with having a lobotomy and basically becoming permanently disabled. I think that this was completely unjust and uncalled for. This disgusting act shows how much mental institutions have changed over the past few decades. There were probably many other options of punishment, but the lobotomy makes absolutely no sense to me. Obviously McMurphy deserved some form of punishment for trying to kill Nurse Ratched, but the actions that the staff of the institution took show how they are incompetent at trying to actually help/cure the patients. There are many better solutions to issues that the patients create within the hospital besides shock therapy and lobotomies. Even though most of these patients have severe problems, there is no reason for these forms of "curing" them.

Do you think McMurphy's punishments were justified?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest directed by Milos Forman is a film with a strong message about societies expectations vs. the individual needs. The audiences sees all these patients in need of medial assistance while McMurphy comes in and just wants  to avoid work. McMurphy is mentally stable, however, works really hard give the impression that he is 'crazy'. He acts irrationally and causes disturbances in the institution schedule and environment. There were many instance where McMurphy purposely goes against whatever Mrs. Ratched wants in expression of fighting against the system. McMurphy believes the patients deserve better treatment and care in contrast to Mrs. Ratched's beliefs of just having everyone under control. McMurphy smashes glass, talks to TV, refuses to take medication and promotes patients to take charger of themselves. After all of these different events the most significant is when he brought two girls, alcohol and a party to the floor in the middle of the night. This resulted in a sequences of negative events, Billy kills himself and then McMurphy tries to choke Mrs. Ratched to death. This ended up with McMurphy being 'treated' (punished) with a lobotomy. This symbolized McMurphy fighting for the patients support and Mrs. Ratched constantly repressing them.

What do you think Mrs. Ratched represents? 

One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a very emotionally distraught film. One of the most compelling themes throughout the film is Randy McCmurphy's influence that he has on the rest of the characters in the mental hospital. Throughout the film, we see Randy's true character develop into this life changing leader. From the beginning, Randy is trying to make a difference on these people's lives. The first scene that we see Randy helping others begins with him trying to get Cheif to communicate with him and play basketball. The others are constantly telling McCmurphy that there is no point in trying, because he is deaf and cannot speak. Randy refuses to take no for an answer. Later on in the film, McCmurphy gets fed up with the nurses, and takes the school bus to the sea where he piles the rest of the crew onto the bus. All Randy wants to do is get the rest of the guys to live a little, and venture out of the nurses' rules. Another aspect that makes the film very intriguing is Randy's reactions to the nurses' rules when compared to the rest of the gentlemen. As the film carries on, and after Randy decides to throw a party in the home, the camera focuses on a close up shot of Randy looking out of the open window. He had a   perfect opportunity to escape, and has previously, yet does not take power of the chance. The close up shot of McCmurphy reflects him thinking about his decision and the impact he has had on the rest of them. The fact hat he stays, says so much about his character. Do you think that McCmurphy stays because he feels an obligation to his friends, or is it because he wants to get revenge on the nurse?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the most powerful films that we watched all year. It had the most depth to it when dealing with the serious issues of the mental illnesses at the hospital, but also had moments where it was balanced with lighthearted comedy. I think the two most interesting relationships in the movie were between McMurphy and Nurse Ratchet and between McMurphy and Chief Bromden. I think that McMurphy and Nurse Ratchet had similar ideas of the fact that they wanted to change the mental hospital, but they went about it in two very different ways. Nurse Ratchet believed that all the patients should always listen to the doctors and nurses and never question them, and she was able to keep that rule over them until McMurphy showed up and decided to make other changes of his own by creating real friendships with the other patients in the ward. McMurphy created some good relationships with the other patients and helped them to not be so afraid of Nurse Ratchet, but the most powerful and effective relationship was between McMurphy and Chief Bromden. Until McMurphy came to the hospital, all the patients had the mutual understanding that Chief was "deaf, dumb, and mute" and never questioned it and simply ignored him the whole time.

Chief was the first patient that McMurphy spoke to when he first entered the ward, and I think that shows something about his character and what he wanted to achieve at the hospital in that he wanted to change everyone's life, not just the ones that would respond to his actions. And even though Chief didn't immediately respond to McMurphy, his actions paid off in the end because Chief revealed to McMurphy and only McMurphy that he wasn't deaf or mute. I think he did this for McMurphy only because McMurphy was the only person in the entire ward that didn't immediately write him off as useless or worthless just because he'd never spoken to anyone. 

What other relationships in the movie do you think were the most powerful?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Nurse Ratchet believes that she can "fix" McMurphy where I believe McMurphy can fix himself and the other inmates. Throughout the entire movie McMurphy has been there for the guys to stand up for them when they're too scared to do so themselves. A lot of zoom in's on Nurse Ratchets face show how she's reacting to McMurphy's situations and scenarios he's doing. One in particular was when he was getting the guys to start playing around on the basketball court and got one really tall patient to lift him up. McMurphy was allowing the boys to have fun for once and to not feel so isolated where Nurse Ratchet was onlooking with a glare in her eyes. There were dozens of other scenes where McMurphy is trying to take charge and provide fun for the boys and Nurse Ratchet looks with such anger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n9hSMquADI (2:50 is where Nurse Ratchet is starring at McMurphy)

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This movie was infuriating, but also amazing. I havent read the book but I have heard that it is much more serious compared to the movie. however, even though the movie is very light hearted at times, the ending is very intense. its almost harder to watch because compared to the rest of the movie, when billy dies and how mcmurphy ends up, is very hard to watch and intense.

The worst part about the whole thing is the the reality of it all. The movie, and the ending in general really captures the dillusion of this time period. Nurse ratched single handedly causes billy's suicide and she believed she was helping him. 

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 "One flew east, one flew west, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest."

The famous line from a childhood nursery rhyme rings true as we talk about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". At first it is not as apparent as it becomes towards the end, but this line is a motif that can relate to all of the characters in the movie, and those of us outside of the story. 

When you're a kid, the word "cuckoo" is often used to describe something we find crazy, or a little strange. In reality, Cuckoo birds are known for not raising their own young. They have become incapable, making the "Cuckoos Nest" a very lonely and solitaire place to be. In the movie, I think that the "Cuckoo's Nest" is referring to a stage in your life where you don't have everything together, and it's a stage where these people need a guiding light, or host parents. This doesn't necessarily mean that everyone whose "flew over the cuckoos nest" is mentally ill, but more unstable than your usual self. However, each person's journey "Over the Cuckoos Nest" does has a different duration. Some people, like the birds that are left with a host family, are successful in getting out of their "Cuckoo stage", because the family is the right match. Others cannot become successful enough to leave the nest, as they don't have host parents to nurture them to independence, or their host parents can't offer their "breed" the specific needs they need to triumph. 

Randall McMurphy is an example of one who flew over the cuckoo's nest, but never got out. He was dropped with a host family, or Nurse Ratched, but it wasn't a good fit. Ratched could not offer McMurphy the type of nurturing that he needed in order to fully develop. McMurphy ended up a vegetable because once the cuckoo has been dropped with a host family, even if its not a good match, there are no reassignments later. McMurphy died, like all the other cuckoo birds that were not nurtured properly. Had he been dropped in the nest of another, things could be different. 

Do you think there is a deeper meaning to the title of the book/film?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

        One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was particularly interesting to watch after reading and viewing Silver Linings Playbook because it was a different perspective on people with  mental disorders. In Silver Linings Playbook, we didn't get to see Pat when he was in the facility while in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a mental ward was basically the only setting. One of the most interesting concepts of the film was the relationship between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. The two are basically polar opposites, but for some reason they seemed to have a weird connection.
         Before McMurphy went to the ward, Nurse Ratched had all of the patients on a tight schedule and took pride in maintaining order. When McMurphy came and started to shake everything up, she did everything she could to put him in his place. Nurse Ratched's name comes from the word "ratchet," which is a both a verb and a noun for a device that uses a twisting motion to tighten bolts into place. This is very fitting to her character because she is constantly trying to keep everyone in place while McMurphy causes chaos and makes the other patients riot against her. McMurphy seems like Ratched's worst nightmare, so it confuses me why she voted for him to stay in the hospital. I think she wanted him to stay at the ward because thought she could save him, or make him a better person. I also think she wanted him to stay because she saw the ways he was positively affecting the other characters. In the end, however, it becomes evident that she cannot control McMurphy's crazy schemes and quiets him down once and for all. 

   

    If McMurphy was such a menace to Nurse Ratched, for what other reasons do you think she voted for him to stay at the ward?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, I think, was one of the most powerful movies we have watched all year. Even though the plot and more importantly, setting, were somewhat depressing aspects, there was still comedy and light hearted moments in the film. I think this mix of elements is hard to accomplish and this film does it flawlessly. With that being said, one of the characters that really stood out to me was Chief Bromden. In the beginning of the film he seems really easy to take advantage of since most of the men in the ward make fun of him from the start for being "deaf and dumb". One time where you can see this is in the basketball game scene where Mac tries to convince Chief to participate in the game. Because of the use of the medium shot here, you can see all the other men and their expressions. They are clearly amused and surprised that someone is even talking to Chief. It shows what little faith they have in him.

But this pre conceived notion about Chief is not true. He can talk and hear, but chooses not to. That was interesting to me, as to why he didn't talk for the whole film until the end when Mac gives him a piece of gum. That particular part was intriguing to me because of the close up shots used. I liked how there was the extreme close up of Mac giving Chief the piece of gum and then the pan to his face when he says "juicy fruit". It allowed for the viewer to see Chiefs change here and how all the other men were wrong about him.

Why do you think Chief chooses to stay silent until this point in the film? What effect did this have on you when you see him kill Mac and then escape?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Noah Pines
Robbins
Film Analysis
Due 12/19/14

The R.P. Effect

While RP (played by Jack Nicholson) wasn't a very good guy, he was the only person who actually cared about the mental patients, and his actions had an overall positive effect on all of them. The staff at the mental institution were strict and very tough on the patients (ex: badgering Billy Babbit about his attempted suicide, not telling RP what was in the medicine. Over the course of the movie, RP helped everyone grow out of their shells, and even start questioning Nurse Ratched and her staff on their own.

One of the moments when you see this change, is when Cheswick starts questioning Nurse Ratched, and later demands getting his cigarettes. This is a powerful scene because everyone begins shouting, and it really shows how far they've progressed (compared to the first time we see them meeting, and no one wants to say anything).

Another moment that really surprised me was when Chief finally talked, saying "thank you" when RP gave him gum. People believed that he was deaf and mute, so no one paid attention to him. The only person to include him in anything was RP. 

Why do you think Chief never talked?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Gottschalk 1 

Lauren Hope Gottschalk

Mrs. Robbins

Critical Analysis of Film and Literature 

19 December 2014

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Throughout the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, one could think of many reasons why the film 

focused on the rebellious hero R.P. McMurphy. Is he there to make the film more comedic? Is he 

there to show how truly insane the men in the mental hospital are with his unexpected normality? He 

seems to be there for those reasons, but also to give the men an experience. Whether it was in the 

mental hospital or on a fishing boat McMurphy gave those men an experience while he was at the 

hospital. The first time that he gave them an experience was when he narrated the World Series for the 

men without any audio besides his and the other men's voices in the mental hospital after Nurse 

Ratched refused to let them watch it on the television because of too few votes. At first he is subtle, but 

then he stands up and his voice gets louder, he even tells Martini to look at one of the baseball players. 

In the end, the men seem to become overwhelmed and overjoyed with the excitement of McMurphy's 

attitude and narration.

The second experience that McMurphy gave the men was when he takes them on a boat to go deep sea 

fishing. While on the boat, McMurphy gives the men the experience of getting away from the mental 

hospital and out onto the ocean, he lets Cheswick steer the boat and helps the men catch a fish. In this 

experience he helps the men accomplish something besides swallowing a few pills with some juice. 

They are physically doing something without being monitored or sedated.

Do you think the men were affected by the experiences given to them by the protagonist McMurphy? 

Silver Linings Playbook

Scott Yarmoff
Mrs. Robbins
Film Analysis Period 3
12/13/14

Silver Linings Playbook

Based on what I had heard about the movie (not much) I didn't like it. That's a big reason as to why I didn't choose to read it. However, Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were absolutely phenomenal in displaying two mentally unstable people. Bradley Cooper's timing on his very inappropriate comments was spectacular and made me feel so uncomfortable in a good way. 

His repetition of the fact that Tiffany's husband is dead is gruesome but shows how off his mind actually is. This insanity transitioning into the clarity that is portrayed by the end of the movie is really spectacular. I really liked this movie more than I thought I would. Do you think there was enough of a build for Pat's character?

Silver Linings Playbook

One thing that I thought was interesting in Silver Linings Playbook were the characters. None of them, not even the supporting cast, were two dimensional. I especially liked how each of them had their own issues, even if they showed it less than Pat and Tiffany. Ronnie whispered to Pat about how empty he felt, even though he seemed to have his life together. Pat's father also has a gambling habit, and evidence of previous violence. This really made them feel more real. Other movies would just have supporting characters have one  defining characteristic that they keep throughout the movie, but that would not make them memorable or interesting.

What other factors contribute to the realism of the supporting characters?

Silver Linings Playbook

When it all comes down to it, Silver Linings Playbook is nothing more than a love story. The general movement of the story, the major plot points, is nothing that hasn't been done a thousand times before. However, it is the story's clever intricacies and its unique characterizations that hide this fact, and make us feel as though we've never seen anything like it before (this is a good thing by the way). 

In essence, Silver Linings Playbook is a love triangle, between Pat, Tiffany, and Nikki. However, we don't see it this way because in truth, Nikki is not a part of this triangle and never was. Pat however, thinks she is for most of the story, which is what moves the plot along.  The main reason this twist on the love triangle works is the humor created from Pat's insistence that he and Nikki are still together. We laugh at him, but also feel sorry for him, because in truth, Nikki did a horrible thing to him. Therefore, we are able to root for him and Tiffany getting together. We see that over the course of the story, a lesson that applies to everyone: helping other people helps you as well. Namely, Pat helping Tiffany with her dance competition helps him get over the large obstacle in his life that is Nikki.

Silver Lining's Playbook

Something I was struck by when watching Silver Lining's playbook was the quality of the characters, even the minor supporting ones. In many films, characters can simple, one dimensional, and the audience knows how they'd react,. In Silver Lining's, every character was a person, a real person who was just on the other side of a screen, and they all served a purpose. We were surprised to hear Pat's father yelling at him over the Eagle's game when just the day before he tearfully said that he wanted more time with his son. This showed that Pat's father too had problems of his own, and put a "silver lining" on his often poor decisions.
Even Ronnie, who wasn't in the movie that much, was a quality character. The only seemingly normal person in the movie, with a marriage and a family, he was also revealed to have his own issues. Still, Ronnie was able to make the rest of the characters relate-able. Instead of the cast looking like a bunch of nuts, some with anxieties, others with a gambling problem, Ronnie bridged the gap between audience members that wouldn't relate to the other characters, and in a film that focused on mental illness, that was really cool to see.
Do any other characters have some significant worth that wasn't initially obvious?

Silver Linings Playbook

Movie Style

What I found most interesting about Silver Linings Playbook is the style in which it was created. The way that this movie was filmed was in a style that I could not see in any of the other movies that we watched in this semester. 

When watching this movie, I realized that it had a very casual and easy feel to it. When investigating the reason behind this, I concluded that it could not have been through the plot, since the plot discusses heavy subjects - mental illness, cheating, and death. However, after thinking and analyzing, I reached the conclusion that there were two main factors that played to the easiness of the film: the camera technique used and the light humor sometimes used in the film.

If one pays close attention, they will notice that the camera is never set on a fixated axes. In the majority of the movie, the camera is handheld. This can be concluded because the camera deliberately shakes and moves in a very fluid, natural motion. Because the camera is handheld, the audience feels as if it were watching a home movie, which adds to the casualness of the film. Because the film does not look like it is filmed professionally, the audience feels less of the screen between them and the characters and actually feels like it is watching their lives happen before them. In the clip below, if you pay close attention, you can see how casually the scene is filmed. There is no excessive studio lighting or abrupt camera movement. The camera is handheld, the lighting is very natural, and how regular the conversation is adds to the casual feel of the film.

Silver Linings Playbook

The finished dance at the end of Silver Linings was one of the most interesting and symbolic moments in the entire film. While it wasn't exactly the winning dance of the night, it was the perfect moment for the characters. The music, slow classical sounds mixed with a quick cut to a fast paced song from The White Stripes, is especially symbolic of Pat and Tiffany's personalities. They switch from high to low with no introduction or warning, leaving half the people watching completely and utterly confused. The other half rides the roller coaster with them, elated during their fast paced song and emotional during the slow. Even their score, a measly 5 out of 10, shows something. It's not a great score, not even a very good one, but Pat and Tiffany got exactly what they needed. They won the parlay, and the entire dance process is ultimately what won them each other. What other moments in the film foreshadowed or symbolized Pat and Tiffany?

No Country for Old Men

One of the scenes that was surprising to me was the scene of Llewellyn's death. Nearly every scene he was in he was running or hiding from someone who was trying to kill him, and nearly every scene was tense and suspenseful. It was not far-fetched for the directors (and author of course) to kill Llewellyn off, but what surprised me was the complete lack of his death scene. His "death scene" was shown from Sheriff Moss' point of view, already finding Llewellyn dead.

The movie brings up the issues of fate, the saying that is attributed to the film is "There are no clean getaways" (Evidently there aren't any for Llewellyn either). What made this scene memorable for me was not that Llewellyn died, but that they chose not to show his death. What was interesting about this scene for you? Are there any other scenes that were similar?

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men

    I didn't have a lot of knowledge on the film No Country For Old Men prior to watching it in class, but I never expected it to have that much violence or gore. The Coen brothers' film was incredibly suspenseful because it constantly kept the viewers guessing. Although the antagonist, Anton Chigurh, always knew what he was doing, the audience was on their seat trying to figure out his next step. Suspense was created in several different ways, one of them being diegetic noises. Chigurh has a detector that beeps while he drives around, but the audience isn't exactly sure what it's for. As he gets closer and closer to Llewelyn and the money, the beep gets faster and faster. This increases the pace of the scene and makes viewers think that something bad could happen at any minute. 

Another way suspense was created was how the audience didn't know whether or not Chigurh let his victims live. In one scene, a man asks Chigurh if he is going to kill him. Chigurh responds, "That depends. Do you see me?" The screen then fades to black and the next scene begins. The audience isn't sure how that situation ended, and it occurs again at the end of the film. When Carla Jean finds Chigurh in her house, she pleads with him not to kill her. He basically tells her that he doesn't have a choice, but he flips a coin anyways to decide her fate. The camera switches to a shot of Chigurh leaving her house, but again, we aren't sure what happened. I think this was interesting because it leaves the audience to interpret what happened. It also lets the audience decide on what kind of person they think Chigurh is. If he is purely evil and killed these two people, or if he has a sliver of humanity in them. Do you think that Chigurh killed Carla Jean and the accountant?

No Country

T​he movie opens with Sheriff Bell talking about sheriffs-past in different areas of Texas. The camera shows us gorgeous shots of Texas. The movie immediately has a Western feel. The Coen brothers bring a sense of no laws. 

The film's shots, cinematography and editing are all flawless. Every shot and transition are all seamless. For example; in the earlier part in the film, Moss is out hunting and he sees an injured dog. The camera cuts to the long shot of four or five pickup trucks with open doors and no people and then to Moss at the scene with the dead people.

Next, he walks along the tire tracks and the viewer can barely see through the tall grass where the film cuts to Moss finding a tree where he believes the man with the money would've stopped. It doesn't waste time to cut to him at the tree, standing over a dead man. From there he is instantly at his car, instantly home, and instantly inside talking to his wife. Not a second is wasted.

I like how although the film feels long with the lack of music and long plot, there is nothing in the movie that doesn't serve a purpose. What was your favorite scene in the movie and what specific types of editing made you like it?

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a quintessential story of the Cowboy being chased through small deserted western towns. However, this version of the story stands out from the crowd  for two reasons; The chaser, and the way the Director portrays it.


The interesting thing about the chaser in this story, is that he is not your run of the mill sheriff, like in similar movies. No, the antagonist is a serial killer in search of the money that Llewellyn possesses. This gives a classic story a twist


One specific scene that stood out to me was when the sheriff and Chigurh sat in the same spot in front of the TV. When Chigurh is on the couch, you can see his reflection through the television, and then later the same thing happens, but with the Sheriff. He says, "He's seen the same things I've seen" This had an impact because they both literally had seen the same things. It set the scene for the wild chase that was bound to come.

Are there any scenes that specifically stood out to you?

No Country For Old Men

For me, No Country For Old Men is definitely the most suspenseful of the three fear films we have watched. There is something about the fact that it is a newer movie, as opposed to Psycho and The Shining which are more dated, that makes the fear more real. What caught my eye from the very beginning of the film was the way that antagonist Anton Chigurh went about killing the first two men that got in his way. As a member of the audience, I expected him to use a standard shotgun to kill these men, but was startled, intrigued, and disturbed to see the weapons that he used instead. When he comes across the driver of a car he is trying to steal, Chigurh approaches him and calmly asks him to step out of the car. The driver points out the captive bolt pistol and asks what it is. These are his last words. Instead of immediately putting the pistol to the driver's head, Chigurh draws the moment out for a few more seconds, letting the fear settle in the driver before taking his life. This was the first example of the creative methods that Chigurh uses to murder his victims.

Soon after this in the second example, Chigurh is in the deputy's office awaiting punishment. While the deputy is on the phone facing away from Chigurh, we see the deputy in focus and Chigurh in the background slowly getting up and walking towards the deputy until they both come into the same focus. Chigurh strangles the deputy with his handcuffs, yet another clever way of killing someone. As a hitman, Chigurh has learned that the only way he can get what he wants is to kill everyone who gets in his way. He will also find any way to do it, using whatever resources he has. That explains how he achieved his first two killings. The fact that the audience has to wait for Chigurh to slowly approach his victims creates fear and anxiety, which adds to the suspense factor. What makes the film so frightening is how Chigurh stirs up the audience like this before delivering the pain to his victims.

What I noticed from these two scenes is that Chigurh is not a violent person, although he commits violent acts. He approaches each situation calmly and then snaps into a killing machine.

Besides him being so calm in the terrifying situations he creates, what else is scary about Chigurh?

No Country For Old Men

To me, No Country for Old Men was more terrifying than The Shining and Psycho. While the two horror movies had psychological fears and music to create such a suspense where everyone jumps out of their seats, No Country gave a different perspective. The silence of every scene gave a different type of suspense. You never knew what was coming.

Like the scene when Anton was walking down the motel barefoot. Every step he took gave such n unsettling feeling. By the way he looked and not knowing which room Llewelyn took, you thought he was going to bust down Llewelyn's door and kill him. Even though you saw the killer, you were still shaken up. You knew how murderous and emotionless Anton was. And you knew everywhere he went there would be a death. 

Throughout the movie we see how inhumane Anton is. Especially when he cares so little about human life. Especially when he uses the captive bolt pistol normally used to kill animals. Although you see multiple times Anton bring out a coin to decide whether one dies or not. In the scene where he is in the gas station talking about how that one coin that saved the man's life is valuable, Anton seems to care for the life of someone else. He is playing with fate. But is he hoping that fate lets the man live? Or he just playing games?

No Country for Old Men

I think this film was successful in creating terror to the audience because of its main villain, Chigurh. Because his character was essentially a killing machine and felt no remorse whatsoever after he had done so, this was the scariest aspect of it all; the fact that Chigurh would kill everyone in his path towards the retrieval of the money. His constant killing was played out as if it were a daily ritual, something as normal as having a cup of coffee in the morning. One scene that has made a lasting impression on me is when he encounters the store clerk and makes him call heads or tales when he flips the coin, basically threatening his life and confusing him. He agitates him with prying questions and Chigurh gets pissed off at the old man's slow mental capabilities, not picking up quickly enough on his questions. However, the fact that this man was "married into" this business of owning the gas station and store, this is a determining factor for Chigurh in deciding not to end his life abruptly, he asks, "What's the most you've ever lost on a coin toss?" Why do you think that this comment played a part in his decision not to kill him? (other than the coin toss)

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men was most definitely a suspenseful movie and hard to predict. An element that was prominent was the use of subjective point of view and parallels between different characters. It was used very minimally and subtly, but it was enough to make the viewer feel like they were in the action of the movie. The most effective portrayal of the subjective point of view is when the camera is placed on the dashboard of the car and filming the road.

I think this method of filming is effective in this movie because like the characters driving in the film, you don't really know where they are going or if they are going to find a place to hide or the person they're looking for.

Another way I thought this movie was made more interesting was the parallels between the reflections of Chigurh and Sheriff Bell in the TV in the Moss's trailer. They both sit down on the couch in front of the window, pick up the glass of milk, and there is a shot of both of their reflections in the empty television screen. I thought this showed the idea that they are both looking for Moss, but each for completely different reasons, but it was interesting that they were both shot in the same way as if they were doing the same things for the same reasons? Were there any other parallels between characters that made the movie more interesting?

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men in my opinion was more terrifying to me than Psycho and The Shinning combined. Although The Shinning and Psycho had both psychological fears, No Country For Old Men was violent, gory, and brutal. When Anton kills the people he was sent to kill he's neither sentimental, nor second guessing. He does it without hesitation which in a sense ties in the factor of psychological fears. Anton's use of the captive bolt pistol  makes the deaths of the people he kills seem so inhumane and gruesome. What scared me most in this movie was the use of this pistol because of how it was a gun used to kill animals and Anton was using it to kill humans. It made the whole idea of death seem so unnatural and as if he were killing animals. When really all they were, was just humans.

Towards the end of the movie the viewers see Anton start to have what seems to be emotions when he's talking to Llewelyn's wife. He seems to be almost sad that he has to kill her, but at the same time he really doesn't care because it's his job and it's what he does. In my opinion the scene where he tells her that people always say, "you don't have to do this" is what makes me get the impression that he's over this murdering spell. Do you think that Anton has any true emotions? Does he care about killing Llewelyn's wife?

No Country For Old Men

No Country for Old Men

What I found most interesting about this film is how the director created suspense. I'll admit that while watching Psycho and The Shining, I thought that the only way to create suspense was in the way that Hitchcock and Kubrick did it - through music, sounds, and making every scary scene have a normal setting. However, after watching No Country for Old Men, I realized that I also felt anxious due to suspense created in the film, but for a very different reason.

Unlike Kubrick or Hitchock, the director of this film did not use music to create suspense. Instead, what I noticed is that he used clues to give the audience some sort of knowledge about something so that when this object is later reintroduced in the film, the audience would begin to know what is happening and, in turn, become terrified. For example, one of the very first scenes in the film shows the antagonist, Anton Chigurh, killing an innocent man on the side of a road with an air gun (above). By showing this without even introducing Chigurh prior, the director gives the audience some information about a character. Later, we become scared every time we see his weapon or his use of it, such as his shooting of a door knob before entering a room and killing everyone in it. Every time there is even a slight clue of Chigurh's presence, the audience becomes terrified because there is a large chance that he will kill whoever else is in the scene. This is best exemplified in the scene where he has a conversation with the store clerk. Throughout the entire scene, the audience is terrified that Chigurh will possibly kill the man after they finish talking only because of the prior knowledge of Chigurh that the audience has, not because of music, sound effects, or any special camera techniques.

What other techniques do you think the director used to create suspense?

NCFOM swag

No Country for Old Men was awesome. There are so many moments where the audience is just about to explode with suspense. That is captured through the actors and their amazing performances, and the director.

I think this movie has a a lot more deeper meaning than one might think at first. One scene in particular is the one where Tommy Lee Jones's character goes back to the hotel where Luwellin was killed and the lock is clearly blown out by Sugar's oxygen tank. As Tommy Lee walks in, there is a shot of Sugar hiding. After Tommy Lee sits on the bed, the only thing we see in the vent taken off the wall with the screws and a dime, suggesting that Sugar has the money.

The next time we see Tommy Lee Jones is at the very end of the film. I think it is very possible that Sugar killed the sheriff because at the end of the movie it is the first time we see the Sherriff in any other clothes besides his uniform and the room he is in is flooded with light, much like heaven. It also makes sense because there is no reason Sugar wouldn't have jumped out earlier and just killed the sheriff. Sugar also presumably killed Luwellin's wife and they don't show that. The next shot after their scene is just Sugar walking out of the house.

No Country For Old Men

There is no doubt that No Country for Old Men, is a great film. But what makes it so great? There have been plenty movies about a drug deal gone wrong, or the lives of sheriffs in the vast Western states. I think No Country for Old Men takes these two ideals and takes them in a new direction. The drug deal may have gone wrong, but what is interesting is how it sparks a chase between the protagonist and antagonist for the two million dollars. Also, it uncovers a villain that has a unique approach at committing murder, both with his unusual weapon of choice and his sly demeanor.

However, for me the most interesting aspect about the film is the use of subjective point of view. This point of view is used at various times in the film mostly from the driver of a car. I thought what was unique about the way it's used was that it made me feel as if I was sitting on the hood of the car, not in the drivers seat. And sometimes, the camera seems to be angled towards the road, not straight ahead as the driver would see things. But other times it is angled more upwards like in the picture below:

The use of subjective point of view makes the viewer feel as if they are in the action, as if they are Sheriff Bell or Chigurh. I think that this unique perspective that the viewer is forced to take on is what sets this movie apart from others with commonalities. What else do you think helps make this movie different than others with similar themes?

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a very violent yet intriguing film. There are many components that are responsible for the film's success in building up such an exhilarating suspense. As the film opens up, there are many long shots of an empty field from a subjective point of view from one of our main characters Anton Chigurh. The viewer is automatically hit with a sense of isolation and better yet, within the first five minutes of the film, a police officer is killed by antagonist, Chigurh. Nearly three minutes later, he kills another person who he finds driving on the street while in desperate need of a new car. As the shot is being filmed, the viewer can see behind the police officer as a long shot and watch the killer plot his murder. Similar to the film Psycho, the viewer can see the killer before the target can. This adds thrill and "excitement" to the viewer leaving them with hope and interest in what will happen next. Another aspect that made the film intriguing was the character development of Moss. Early in the film, we see Moss get asked for water and he seems to be this brave, selfish, and self-oriented person who only cares about himself. However, we see that he does in fact have a conscious because later that night he gets up and brings the guy water even though he was already in bed. In your opinion, were Chigurh's murders symbolic or random? Why?

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men is known as an "almost impossibly faithful adaptation" of the novel by

Cormac McCarthy, all the way down to what could be translated to camera angles. For example, the scene where Chigurh goes to Moss' trailer. In both the book and film, Chigurh blows the lock in with his cattlegun, scans the rooms, takes a carton of milk from the refrigerator, and finally sits down on the couch and "looked at himself in the dead gray screen." (80) This exact shot of Chigurh was used by the Coen brothers, but the most interesting part about it was how they continued to use it. Parallels were a common motif in this film, beginning with both Chigurh and Moss telling their prey to "stand still" before shooting. This shot
created several more parallels between the movies characters in an interesting way too. The first is between Moss and Chigurh again: when Moss arrived home and sits on the couch with Carla Jean, they are filmed in one medium shot. When Chigurh sits on the couch the

next day, he is filmed the same way, creating the parallel between those two men, but the camera also switches to reflect Chigurh in the screen. This seems insignificant until Bell arrives mere hours later, and is shot the same way as Chigurh, in the TV screen. This entire motif is symbolic of the characters relationships to each other: Moss and Chigurh are directly hunting each other, as are Chigurh and Bell,

but Bell and Moss are only involved through Chigurh. What other parallels are made between characters throughout the film?

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is a great dramatic thriller film. There is so much intensity from Chigurh simply killing people for his own purpose. Anyone that is a problem or a disturbance to his life, he kills with no second thought. However, the people that didn't necessarily cause any discrepancy and are only trying to get by their own lives he considers their lives within a coin toss. There were a few times were Chigurh came accross people that didn't harm him however he still considered killing them. In those times Chigurh would bring out a coin and ask his subject to call heads or tails. He wouldn't explain what they were calling for and just told them to call one side. Each time, the subject would refuse to call unless they knew what they were calling for. You would think Chigurh would just get annoyed and decied to kill them anyways but the fact that he resist killing them in the first place and gives them a chance to survive shows how he didn't have a true intention to kill them.

What do you think the coin represents?

No Country For Old Men

No Country For Old Men was a great film, scary and violent; there were many things that made it so. The movie opens out with the voice of Tommy Lee Jones, sheriff, discusses a teenage killer who had killed his girlfriend. Here the mood for the whole filmed is laid out for you in a confident voice.

The antagonist really stood out to me, the man is named Anton Chigurh. His appearance is that of  a tall man with black hair and a terrifying smile, who travels through Texas carrying a tank of compressed air and killing people. 

Chigurh goes to a rundown gas station in the middle of wilderness and begins to play games with the old man (Gene Jones) behind the cash register, who becomes very nervous and preoccupied. It is clear they are talking about whether Chigurh will kill him. Without explaining why, he asks the old man to call the flip of a coin. After seeing him kill the officer at the beginning of the movie, we question as to why he doesn't kill this old man and let's him decide his own faith.

This movie is a prime example of evocation of time, place, character, moral choices, immoral certainties, human nature and fate. Why do you think Chigurh didn't kill this man? What do you think of Chigurh?

No Country For Old Men

Noah Pines
Robbins
Film Amalysis
Due: 12/8/14

To Kill or Not To Kill

Almost immediately in the film, we see Chigurh (Bardem) take his first victim of the film, strangling the oblivious deputy that was watching him. We then see him pull someone over in his stolen cop car, and he uses an air gun to blow their brains out and steal their car. The third time is different though. He stops at a gas station and gets into an argument with the owner of the station. Chigurh bets the man's life on a flip of his coin.

The man guesses correctly and Chigurh leaves. This is the first time we DON'T see Chigurh kill the first person he sees. But why?

I believe that Chigurh only killed out of necessity; he wouldn't kill someone unless he had a reason to. He needed to break out of jail, he needed to steal the man's car, but he had no reason why he should kill the gas station owner (besides getting into a small argument with him). But that doesn't mean he's not crazy. He killed Carson Wells (Harrelson) simply because he felt that he didn't need him. Carson was sent to find the case full of money, which he did, but he was unable to retrieve it. Chigurh told him that he didn't need to know where it was at that moment, because he already knew where it will be later, set at his feet.

He then killed Carson, because he knew he would get it eventually.

Do you think Chigurh killed Carla Jean Moss? Why?

No Country for Old Men

Gottschalk 1

Lauren Hope Gottschalk

Mrs. Robbins

Critical Analysis of Film and Literature 

08 December 2014

No Country for Old Men

I will put it easily, No Country for Old Men was a great movie. I think what made it the great movie

that it is, are the characters. One character that especially stood out to me was Anton Chigurh, the

antagonist, and the unstoppable, murderer that will do whatever he needs to get what he wants. The

immediate focus on how Chigurh has no conscious or moral compass is what makes him most

frightening. Throughout the film Chigurh is killing person after person. With his weapon of a choice,

an air gun, he blasts through door knobs and bodies. Although Chigurh does annihilate anyone that

does or does not step in his way, there were two things that stopped him on two separate occasions.

One was the coin toss, and one was standing up to Chigurh. The time when he enters the gas station

convenience store, and begins to get increasingly annoyed with the owner is the first time the coin

toss is seen (It is not known if Carla Jean Moss was killed or not). It seems that Chigurh's choice of

either killing someone or not is based on odds. The coin is flipped, the victim guesses correctly, they

live. The coin is flipped, the victim guesses incorrectly, they die. Chigurh can't even decide for

himself whether to kill the person or not, he leaves it to a coin.

The second instance where Chigurh  let someone go free was when he was looking for Llewellyn

Moss. He goes to the woman that controls Moss's home, and the surrounding homes. The woman

gives Chigurh a disrespectful tone which to the viewer would signal that she is going to be killed, yet

Chigurh leaves the woman perfectly intact.

It seems as though Chigurh has his own moral code. Although this code of his is

very different from the average person, it is what distinguishes right from wrong to him. The man at

the gas station hit a more disrespectful nerve in Chigurh then the lady that deals with the trailer park.

Therefore, Chigurh executed the coin toss with the owner of the gas station.

Why is it shot that the viewer can not see if Chigurh killed Carla Jean Moss, or not?