This is the forteenth feature length film I've seen by directors Joel and Ethan Coen. I chose to watch this film based on previous good ratings I've given other films by this director and to better my favorite directors by algorithm listing.
A Serious Man
It's a special moment that seems to have come around once a year in the fall season the last few years when I get to watch another new Coen brothers film. Since they are my favorite filmmakers, and being a film lover, there are few moments of cinematic anticipation as big as this for me.
My love and admiration for their films always ends up being massive. Sometimes immediately, and sometimes as it sinks in. Last year's Burn After Reading was pretty much instantaneous. A Serious Man I knew I liked just as much, but took me a while longer to figure out completely why. The reason it took me a while, is actually the reason why it's so great.
It has a lot of the wonderful and distinctive Coen brothers characters and dialogue. But in trying to make sense of the plot, the viewer is doing exactly what the protagonist is trying to figure out about his life. A lot of things and events occur in Larry's life that either seem like they have some kind of meaning or otherwise at least incite a search for their meaning. The same thing holds true about things and events in the film that incite the viewers to deeply question their meaning. It's like the story within a story of the goy's teeth. The Rabbi telling the story loves to tell it with enthusiasm, punctuating every detail, and seemingly building it up to a climax so that any average listener assumes there is some meaning behind the story that will be revealed. When in actuality the point is never reveal as anticipated and the story teller's reason for even telling the story seems ambiguous beyond just enjoying telling the story.
I think the Coens see themselves as story tellers like this, and maybe they even sometimes see God as a story teller like this. Either way, they will point out that life can be like a good story where certain events seem to stick out as if they have some kind of important meaning or foreshadowing that we are meant to investigate. But a lot of times in life that meaning is never quite found, so why should a good story feel like it needs to give a clear answer or meaning in the end either?
As an extra comment about the film, all of the scenes where Larry is in his office are my favorite. Be it either talking to the student Clive, or to his boss about his tenure, or on the phone with a representative from Columbia house. These scenes should be added to the huge list of other sublime moments from the Coens' spectacular oeuvre.
Joel and Ethan Coen:
Total feature length films seen: 14
Previous average film score: 9.9231
New average film score: 9.9286
Rating: 10/10