No Country for Old Men - Questions to consider

 

No Country for Old Men - Questions to consider

- Do you find the ending of the film to be satisfying?
- How were you expecting the film to end?
- Why do you feel the Coen Brothers decided to have their main protagonist killed offscreen , and then avoid a final climax between Sheriff Bell and Chigurh? (Consider the effect on the audience in terms of expectations, etc...)
- Who represents the force of good in the film? What does the film’s ending suggest about the battle between good and evil? 


The ending of the "No Country for Old Men" film is definitely anticlimactic and unsatisfying. From the beginning, due to the build up and quality of the film, the audience is expecting a good resolution and/or a worthy battle that would end with (at least) one of the main characters achieving their goal. A spectator about to watch an old west film is likely to have certain expectations for the plot and the outcome due to the stereotypes of the genre. It is expected to end with a battle between the main characters, where one represents the good and the other the evil. This battle should end with one of them alive, the stronger and smarter one. I was expecting at least a second battle between Llewellyn and Chigurh. After their encounter which left both of them injured, I expected a "second round" where Anton Chigurh would end up killing him. Llewellyn would have never been able to defeat him - he was no opponent to the cold blooded murder. 

The fact that Llewellyn Moss dies of camera, in the hands of a Mexican gang with no back story nor major relevance until that point, is in fact disappointing to the viewer. The Coen Brothers made this decision to create an effect on the audience, to destroy the expectations of the old west genre. Some could maybe think that it was not really Llewellyn who was dead in that motel, as it was so anticlimactic and uncharacteristic for a film to do. Why would they kill one of the main characters without showing it and by the hands of a secondary group of characters? The audience mostly expected a confrontation between Llewellyn and Chigurh, a battle between the characters that represented two opposite people that were more similar than they thought. 

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is the closest character to be considered as “good” in this film. Both Llewellyn and Chigurh are selfish while the sheriff wants to dispense justice without any casualties. He does not want to use violence. This can be seen when he avoids using his gun and his almost unnoticed shaking whenever he holds it. Although in this film, being good and doing things the right way seems to lead to no results whatsoever as it ends with the main character dead, his opponent Chigurh (the “evil”) hurt but alive, and the sheriff retired as he realises that he is not fit for the job anymore. Good and evil only represents the characters personality, but the battle between these opposites does not end as it would be expected to. This ending shows that life is not fair and that, just because someone is good it does not mean that the resolution will be in their favour. 



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