Joel and Ethan Coen have given us another masterpiece. We saw it Monday night at SF Bio Söder. I loved it. It's slow, meticulous, details to drown in. Need to see it ten times more to take it all in. In this respect it reminds me of The Big Lebowski, another case of detail overdose. A wealth of side stories, drug hallucinations, dreams, fantasies.
Depressing it its depiction of Jewish middle class life in yes what was it? late 50ies? early 60ies? there's a terrible loneliness throughout it all. Loneliness like in An American Dream. Larry, the main character, looks almost Indian in his helplessness and overwhelming passivity. A Jewish Mr. Biswas. The Coen Brothers already set the tone of this feeling of being completely lost, of not understanding, of being completely without control in there previous movie Burn after Reading. Similiar atmosphere.
Dialogue. Aaah. Fabulous. My favorite perhaps the scene with the Korean student's father visiting Larry's home to threaten/bribe/entice him. Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Larry believes the student tried to bribe him, leaving a thick envelope of cash on his desk. The father disputes this and plans to sue Larry for defamation. Unless, of course, Larry keeps the cash and changes the kid's grade. Larry, understandably, is confused. The father's advice? "Accept the mystery." Perhaps the summation of the whole movie.
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