No Country for Old Men - Ending and Resolution

 No Country for Old Men - Ending and Resolution 

The reaction to the ending of “No Country for Old Men'' from a first time viewer is generally disappointing, shocking and/or confusing. It does not have a satisfying ending where the audience sees a close resolution to the story of each individual, instead we get the death of a main character off-screen and we miss a climactic confrontation between the two remaining main characters – Chigurh and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. But once the ending is analysed and thought through, usually the audiences’ reaction changes from disappointment to curiosity.

The worst ending from the audience perspective is definitely Llewellyn’s death off-camera. It feels unresolved and too realistic for a film: very unexpected. He was meant to meet his wife Carla-Jean, but died later in the afternoon before she could get to the motel. A Mexican gang killed him, characters who barely were mentioned and seen in the film, instead of Chigurh who was the one that was supposed to confront him – to give the audience a satisfactory battle between the main characters, between the “good” and “evil”.
When he first arrives at the motel he speaks to the woman at the pool. He seems sure of himself, very confident in his actions and his words. He allows himself to let his guard down – he gives his back to where danger could possibly appear from and finds himself in a relaxed position. After analysing his last scene, it is perceptible that he was never real competition for Chigurh as he was not as professional as he seemed. He was a military man who knew the basics, but as Bell said in the beginning, the nature of criminality was getting too complicated that went beyond their understanding, meaning that Chigurh is too complex for them to compete with.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell was more of a passive character in this film. His resolution was retirement after being defeated by the increased nature of criminality, what he said he feared at the beginning. He was not fit for the job anymore. It had become too dangerous for a man that did not like to pull out his gun and tried avoiding violence. A perfect example of this is when he arrives at the motel, just when the Mexicans are leaving in the car – the Sheriff had two possibilities; he could have followed the gang or he could see what happened at the motel. Based on his personality that avoids confrontation and prefers not using violence, he chooses the coward option and lets the gang escape.
Although his character represents “good” (more than Llewellyn does) he is more likely to be seen as a defendant of the law instead of being the comparison to the “evil” represented by Chigurh. He retires, feeling unproductive and a failure in comparison to his family, and ends talking about his dreams and how he has time to dream now. For this film and this character specifically, his resolution seems perfect for him.

Anton Chigurh’’s ending is quite surprising in comparison to the other characters. After having visited and killed Carla-Jane, he seems distracted for the first time in the film. She seemed to have gotten somewhat into his head, something that had not happened before as she had confronted him about his “fate” excuse when he brought up the coin. Carla-Jane calls him out and tells him that, in spite of what the coin may show, it will still be Chigurh committing murder – it is not a decision made by fate.
He leaves the house and gets into a car which moments later crashes with another one in an intersection. He survives the crash with many injuries, while the other driver is most likely dead. This event may have happened due to his lack of attention to the road, as he was too distracted with Carla-Jane’s words. Probably, for the first time someone had gotten under Chigurh’s skin, which had caused a moment of weakness where he had let his guard down. But he is still alive in spite of the crash, maybe due to fate which he seems to profoundly believe in. The last time the audience sees Chigurh he is injured with a bone sticking out of his arm, limping, but still alive. Does that mean that “evil” has won?

The decision making of this film from the Coen Brothers was ideal. Their goal wasn’t to please the audience with an easy narrative and a predictable ending – they used the basics of the western genre and twisted it until it became something completely different. The avoidance of a confrontation between the two remaining main characters was the best decision they could have made. It would have been out of place to have a confrontation between Chigurh and Ed Tom Bell; a cold blooded assassin and a Sheriff who does not like violence and tries to avoid it as much as possible. It would have destroyed the narrative they had been building up until Llewellyn’s death with a predictable ending where Chigurh would have won anyways.

In spite of being a surprising ending, maybe too realistic for the audience, it leaves a message behind. “Good” has lost the battle as Chigurh is still alive while the others are dead or have given up. At first, it is shocking to see one of the main characters being killed so suddenly and off-screen as well as having an unclear ending of the remaining character. But as it is further analysed, there were signs through film form and dialogue that hinted the ending, leaving the audience to think and interpret.