No Country For Old Men Movie Review

This story is an ALLEGORY! To see it otherwise is to recognize only one level of meaning.

The title is from the first line of Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats, a classically trained poet and considered by many to be the greatest the 20th Century produced. This should signal author McCarthy and the Coen brothers may be up to more than just the surface story of a drug deal gone awry.

Who is Anton Chigurh? He is Death. His hair style (hood-ish, shroud-ish) and black clothing shout Death. As we know from the universe in which we live, Death takes the innocent as well as the guilty and has its own set of rules. When the witness to the high-rise killing asks, "Are you going to kill me?" Chigurh answers, "It depends. Do you see me?"  When the kids on the bicycles help Chigurh after the car accident he tells them, "You didn't see me." You don't die unless you see Death. No one in the film dies at Death's hands without seeing Death. Sometimes you don't die even if you do. His rules are his rules. Chigurh walking away from the accident at the end shows that Death cannot be stopped. It will always exist and is a part of our existence.

Carson Wells compares Anton Chigurh to the Bubonic plague. The plague was vectored by rats upon which resided contaminated fleas. One small flea-like parasite is called a "chigger". Yes, like "Chigurh". Probably no coincidence. Death is not evil, however.  It is as much a part of life as any of life's other qualities and remember Orson (not Carson) Welles's quote, "Without death, life would have no meaning." It does make one wonder whether McCarthy recalled this quote when assigning the name "Carson Wells".

Death kills with a cattle stun gun like a member of the clergy administering a cross to the forehead of a parishioner. In Western culture, Death often is portrayed as a hooded figure dressed in black with a scythe. In this case he's a hooded figure,due to his haircut, with a cattle stun gun and black clothing.

Man is Llewellen Moss: part sinner, part saint. Offered a deal by Death ("This is the best deal you're gonna get"), Llewellen instead challenges Death and by doing so signs his wife's death warrant.

When Carla Jean tells the Sheriff, "He won't quit, neither. Never has." the audience expects a later showdown because we've been trained to see the protagonist take on the antagonist at the climax of a story in a High Noon ending. Before that can happen, however, life's randomness gets in the way --- the Mexicans kill him. This is the first major turn in the movie and the one which takes the sail out of the audience, which has been led to expect the showdown later and is now deprived of it. The audience is now adrift and probably is hoping Sheriff Bell will take vengeance. The audience is in for more surprises.

Free Will is Carla Jean. She chooses self-determinism and refuses to allow Death to be random. She has a chance to save herself but chooses not to call the coin toss. She is the bravest of the lot by choosing to die by her own decision.

The scene with the Sheriff and Death at the same hotel room at the same time is vital --- the Sheriff does not see Death and thus lives. This scene solidifies the allegory. The Sheriff enters the room but does not see Death and so does not die. This is the "supernatural" scene which signals we're watching an allegory, something more than it appears. This scene also shows the courage Bell has summoned up to enter the room --- it is his triumph to be able to do it in spite of Death which may await him there.

Death then claimed Carla Jean. Her refusal to call the coin is self-deterministic free will. There's no question Death took her then --- checking his shoes upon leaving her home eliminated the possibility of any other result.

We misinterpret the protagonist at first. This is excellent misdirection. The High Noon showdown never occurs. That which does is off-screen! Some have criticized that after Moss's death the story is anti-climactic. Viewed with Moss as the protagonist it would be. But Moss isn't the protagonist. Sheriff Bell is. It is Sheriff Bell's story --- he is the philosopher attempting to understand the universe. At the end the Sheriff bemoans the fact God never entered his life. The irony is that God had. God had visited a plague upon Sheriff Bell's land in 1980 like the Great Death of 1348.

No filmmakers chose a time 30 years ago to film a story unless it's relevant to the story. 1980 was chosen for good reason. Perhaps the Ellis scene near the end is a clue --- he says "it's coming". By now it may be here.  Ellis also reminds the dejected Bell that there always has been senseless death and violence and that Bell should not take it personally that he was unable to quell it.  Ellis's answer to Bell about Ellis's anger at the man who put him into the wheelchair also shows that Ellis has put that behind him --- that holding onto revenge will eat into the holder until there's nothing left. This is a strong message of morality in the universe in which we live.

Ellis is described in the screenplay as having "one clouded eye". The Coen brothers' tribute to Ulysses/Odysseus utilized classical mythology --- remember Goodman's portrayal of the Cyclops and the Homeric figure on the handcar at the beginning?  Is Ellis the Sophoclean chorus? Ellis says, "You can't stop what's comin'" and Llewellen, asked by the girl at the motel, answers, "Lookin' for what's comin'". Her answer to him is "Yeah, but no one ever sees that." Excellent thematic planting.

Ponder this parallel --- Moss buys a coat from some boys as he crosses the border; Chigurh buys a shirt from some other boys after the car accident.  Think about it. Enjoy this excellent film again!