Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Ethan Coen

The Man Who Wasn't There

Label:

tbrown by Tom Brown November 4th, 2001

It is a well-known fact that the Coen Brothers love the noir genre. Many of their films such as Miller’s Crossing are updates of or homages to the genre, and even the comedic brilliance of The Big Lebowski was based in part on a Raymond Chandler novel. Of late, their movies have become more accessible (although never mainstream) with varying degrees of success (1998’s The Big Lebowski was stunning, 2000’s Oh Brother Where Art Thou? was patchy). In this context, The Man Who Wasn’t There could be interpreted as an attempt to return to their core audience.

Set in the 1940’s, it is noir-ish in that it is shot entirely in black and white, and concerns crime to a certain extent, but that is not to give the impression that it is wall-to-wall sharp-suited gangsters and seductive femme fatales, because that is the furthest thing in the world from the truth.

The Man Who Wasn’t There tells the story of a laconic barber called Ed Crane (played by Billy Bob Thornton) whose wife (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with her boss. One day a man walks into his shop with a revolutionary idea of ‘Dry Cleaning’. It could make millions if he only had financial backing. So Ed blackmails his wife’s boss so as to raise the money.

From here, misfortune after misfortune after misfortune follows. Death, destitution, the crushing of hopes and dreams. In the hands of a lesser director, this could have been made into a tragedy, with mournful music and wailing and numerous stunned reaction shots. But instead it’s all understated and subtle, and in a movie world where every hackneyed trick and effect is brought out to force you to react, it is so wonderfully refreshing.

Despite all this, there is humour, but it is wry and gentle and again, understated (an example being when Crane asks his wife if they should get to know each other better marrying, she replies ‘’Why, does it get better?’’).

It is also one of the best movies the Coen Brothers have ever made, and without a doubt the best movie I have seen released this year. The camera-work is stunning, the plot loose without being tangential, and the script brilliant.

Billy Bob Thornton is perfect as Ed. While practically every other character is over-bearingly verbose, trying to fill the silence with floods of words which don’t need saying, Thornton remains practically mute, and at every turn we can sense the touching, exquisite discomfort of a quiet, possibly inarticulate man adrift in a world of ‘Gabbers’, as he calls them.

Despite the sadness of the ending, you leave with a profound sense of peace, and it was disorientating in a way to leave this film and return to a loud, colourful outside world.

Once again the Coen Brothers have produced an anachronism, a movie touching without being schmaltzy, funny without being ironic, poignant without being overbearing, and it is practically perfect in every way. Essential.

  • 9
    Tom Brown's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing


  • Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alternative must sees



Left-arrow

My Vitriol, Seafood, Queen Adreena at Academy 2 (formerly MDH), Manchester, Greater Manchester, Sat

Mobback

The Vines at Camden Electric Ballroom, Camden, Thu 19 Feb

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145
  • news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143

    news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141
  • news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139

    Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138
  • Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137

    Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
  • Festival Review


    Way Out East: DiS Does Sharpe Festival 2019

  • 106135
MORE


    news


    The Neptune Music Prize 2016 - Vote Now

  • 103918
  • Takeover


    The Winner Takes It All

  • 50972

    Takeover


    10 Things To Not Expect Your Record Producer To...

  • 93724
  • review


    The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

  • 4317

    review


    Sonic Youth - Nurse

  • 6044
  • feature


    New Emo Goth Danger? My Chemical Romance confro...

  • 89578

    feature


    DiS meets Justice

  • 27270
  • news


    Our Independent music filled alternative to New...

  • 104374
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND