Directors: Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind & Fred Melamed
An impressive drama and return to their roots for Coen Brothers with great performances from an, almost entirely, unknown cast.
After a lacklustre decade of films featuring big name casts with only 2008’s No Country for Old Men standing out as being the equal to the brothers’ earlier, more critically acclaimed work, the Coen Brothers deliver an excellent feature film in A Serious Man which, after the star studded and comedic affair that was Burn After Reading, is a quieter, more thoughtful and personal film for the directors and features a cast of virtual unknowns. A Serious Man though is an impressive film that manages to grip throughout and evokes tones similar to the Coens’ Fargo and Barton Fink.
Set in 1960s Minnesota; Jewish physics professor Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), patiently waiting to receive tenure at the university in which he works, finds his life thrown into upheaval when his wife requests a divorce so she can marry another man, when a student attempts to bribe Larry for better grades and blackmails him when Larry refuses all on the eve of family preparations for Larry’s son’s Bar Mitzvah. Larry is forced to move out of his home and into a motel, with his near-autistic brother Arthur (Kind) and looks to consult a divorce attorney whilst also seeking the advice of three Rabbis’s that he hopes can provide him with wisdom that will help explain why he, a good man, should be facing such troubles. Events then continue to occur to further frustrate Larry and prevent him from finding the answers he needs.
Almost anti-commercial in its concept, a small town drama set in a Jewish community in the 1960s, featuring no well known actors and a plot and dialogue that draws heavily on Jewish culture, A Serious Man seems the complete opposite of the Coen Brothers’ previous film, the star studded spy comedy Burn After Reading. Fortunately, this is all for the better and regardless of whether this film achieves big Box Office success, A Serious Man is far superior to almost every film the Coen Brothers have made in the past decade and the key to its success relies on how personal the project appears to be to the Coens. Based in their home town during a period and culture they lived in as children with characters based upon people they knew, A Serious Man is almost auto-biographical. The Coens’ familiarity with the period, place and people involved results in film that is mature, well written, well realised and with well developed characters that all manage to immerse the audience in the world and in the story, the story which also includes some familiar Coen traits such as small town crime/problems, family relationships and open endings leaving the audience to make their own conclusions as to the future of the characters or to the meaning behind their troubles. Weaving in references and stories from Jewish history (including an odd, yet intriguing prologue to the film and a story about a dentist getting a message from God), they not only add to the development of the characters and atmosphere of the film but also give hints as to the meaning of the film’s ending which is all handled delicately and successfully by the Coens.
Featuring mostly unknown actors, A Serious Man nevertheless impresses greatly from the performances of its cast. Stage actor Michael Stuhlbarg is excellent in the lead role of Larry Gopnick who manages to carry the film well and captures his character’s rising frustration and despair in face of his troubles effectively and sympathetically. Richard Kind (of TV’s Spin City and Scrubs), one of the few actors in the film that has some recognisability, gives an impressive performance as Larry’s brother Arthur who is an enigma throughout the film, sometimes unseen and almost rarely seen outdoors, his character is one that appears nearly autistic and while never dominating in any scene is nevertheless very memorable. Fred Melamed appears as Sy Abelman, the man whom Larry’s wife wishes to marry, whose calm, assured delivery is enjoyable as much as his character frustrates Larry and Aaron Wolff is good as the son of Larry who, like his father, is facing his own problems throughout the film.
A Serious Man is an excellent film by the Coen Brothers and one that harkens back to their earlier, more acclaimed era of filmmaking. Its lack of stars, its attention to period and cultural detail and its open ending might frustrate some audiences but long time Coen Brothers fans will find this their best film in more than a decade.
Rating: 5/5
