The Coen Brothers, Second Edition
Ronald Bergan
- 360 Pages
- January 5, 2016
- ISBN: 9781628729320
- Trim Size: 6in x 9in x 0in
Description
Brought completely up to date, this insightful biography remains "a must for any self-respecting Coen fan" (Screentrade).
This fully updated edition of the first biography of the Coen Brothers includes their complete work so far, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), with a reassessment of their remarkable career as a whole. Joel and Ethan Coen have pulled off the ultimate balancing act. Despite having their movies financed and distributed by major studios, they have managed to remain true independents, rejecting commercial clichés and never giving up on their own fiercely idiosyncratic vision. While doing so, they have established themselves among the world's leading filmmakers.
From their startling debut, Blood Simple (1984), all of their movies reveal a distinctive stamp: a flamboyant visual style, richly conceived characters, crisp dialogue, and brilliant casting. They have revitalized old Hollywood genres such as noir, screwball, and the western, giving them a contemporary sensibility. In this biography, Ronald Bergan traces the brothers' Jewish roots, their beginnings as film geeks in suburban Minneapolis, their battle to get their first feature made and released, through their early features and the movies of their maturity. He gives blow-by-blow accounts of the making of each movie. New chapters cover all those released since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), with which the first edition of this book ended.
This fully updated edition of the first biography of the Coen Brothers includes their complete work so far, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), with a reassessment of their remarkable career as a whole. Joel and Ethan Coen have pulled off the ultimate balancing act. Despite having their movies financed and distributed by major studios, they have managed to remain true independents, rejecting commercial clichés and never giving up on their own fiercely idiosyncratic vision. While doing so, they have established themselves among the world's leading filmmakers.
From their startling debut, Blood Simple (1984), all of their movies reveal a distinctive stamp: a flamboyant visual style, richly conceived characters, crisp dialogue, and brilliant casting. They have revitalized old Hollywood genres such as noir, screwball, and the western, giving them a contemporary sensibility. In this biography, Ronald Bergan traces the brothers' Jewish roots, their beginnings as film geeks in suburban Minneapolis, their battle to get their first feature made and released, through their early features and the movies of their maturity. He gives blow-by-blow accounts of the making of each movie. New chapters cover all those released since O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), with which the first edition of this book ended.
Authors
Ronald Bergan, film historian, critics, and lecturer, is a regular contributor to the Guardian. The author of numerous film biographies, including Jean Renoir, Sergei Eisenstein, and Katharine Hepburn, all published by Arcade, he held the chair in film at Florida International University in Miami and lectured at the Sorbonne, the British Institute in Paris, and the University of Lille. He now lives in Prague, where he teaches at the famed FAMU film school.
Reviews
Praise for the First Edition of The Coen Brothers:
"A very thoughtful and clever book."—Booklist
“Full of delicious details.”—Evening Standard
"Well researched and entertaining."—Financial Times
"A must for any self-respecting Coen fan."—Screentrade
"A blow-by-blow account of the making of each movie in turn . . . Bergan has interesting things to say about the input of the Coen's collaborators . . . and also provides entertaining quotations."—Sunday Telegraph
"Brings out the good humour and eccentricity of the Coens and their films."—Economist
"We not only get a clear, sensitive, yet candid view of the mercurial brothers and their lives, but also a critical look at the films the pair have produced and directed and the places where those films connect with each other as well as their creators. . . . A highly readable biography of an esoteric duo, The Coen Brothers will strike a chord with those of us that love their movies."—January Magazine
"A very thoughtful and clever book."—Booklist
“Full of delicious details.”—Evening Standard
"Well researched and entertaining."—Financial Times
"A must for any self-respecting Coen fan."—Screentrade
"A blow-by-blow account of the making of each movie in turn . . . Bergan has interesting things to say about the input of the Coen's collaborators . . . and also provides entertaining quotations."—Sunday Telegraph
"Brings out the good humour and eccentricity of the Coens and their films."—Economist
"We not only get a clear, sensitive, yet candid view of the mercurial brothers and their lives, but also a critical look at the films the pair have produced and directed and the places where those films connect with each other as well as their creators. . . . A highly readable biography of an esoteric duo, The Coen Brothers will strike a chord with those of us that love their movies."—January Magazine
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