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A Coen-ography: The Films of Joel and Ethan Coen

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007)
Betrayal, theft, and murder amid the dusty plains of Texas: No Country for Old Men saw Joel and Ethan Coen return to the territory where their career began a quarter-century earlier. (In the process, their adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel became their biggest hit to date and earned the brothers Academy Awards for Best Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay, as well as a Supporting Actor Oscar for Javier Bardem's insta-classic performance as cattle-gun-wielding killer Anton Chigurh.) The film also marked their return to themes that have preoccupied them throughout their career: crime and punishment, inscrutable evil, and the eccentric folkways of small-town America. Along the way, the brothers have played with film conventions, just to see how far they can bend them (a lot of viewers felt cheated by No Country's irresolute ending, for instance). Here's a look back at the Coens' twisted journey from indie provocateurs to Oscar royalty.