Imagine watching a 2 hour long movie- that too, a gripping cat-and-mouse drama- without the slightest notion that it is completely devoid of background music. Well, that happened to me with "No Country for Old Men", Coen Brothers’attempt to break a long standing convention.
What more ’achievement indirection’ can they claim than holding you to the edge of the seat sansthe screaming violins and fiddles or booming drums in the background?The blood-and-guts story based on the Cormac McCarthy novel follows the gory path of a psychopathic cold blooded serial killer, Anton Chigurh (played by Javier Bardem toAcademy award winning perfection).
It’s about fate, chance andcircumstance, incidentally the directors’ favorite theme, and howordinary people become victims of these. The brilliant writing anddirection (both receiving awards) is revealed in the depiction ofsubtle violence - when Chigurh cleans the chicken crates carriage orwhen he checks the sole of his shoes as he leaves the house towards theclimax. So, beware he’s still somewhere near, with his cattle gun andasking you to call his coin flip- the world has never been a safe placeat all...