Entertainment
DVD Corner: No Country for Old Men
Greg Kaczynski |
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 No Country for Old Men, the Academy award-winning Best Picture of 2007, has now landed on DVD (Miramax, MSRP: $29.99). The movie is amazing: beautifully crafted, enigmatic, the sound crisp and the acting profoundly satisfying. But the DVD itself? Just so-so.
No Country tells the story of Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), the aging authority of a small west Texas county where some serious mayhem goes down. Local welder Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles across a drug-deal gone bad and finds himself a nice bit of money for his troubles. Later in the night, he returns to the scene of the crime and is discovered by the drug runners. Thus begins the pursuit of force-of-nature hit man Anton Chigurh (the phenomenal Javier Bardem).
The story essentially plays out as a chase film, Anton chasing Llewelyn, with them both being pursued from afar by Sheriff Bell. The big difference here is that it’s told from the legendary Coens’ point of view. In their capable hands, such a simple story takes on enormous weight with stark, honest performances, breathtaking cinematography and that unique Coen quirk that inhabits all of their films.
The movie itself is stunning, of this there is no question. It requires multiple viewings for the viewer to even begin to understand the nuances of the story, the subtleties of the characters, their motives, their meaning. The film alone is worth the purchase of this DVD.
 Visually, the transfer is pristine: the blues, browns and oranges of west Texas, the sunsets and desert landscapes…the burnt shadows and light are all here as Roger Deakins (the Coens’ director of photography since 1991’s Barton Fink) intended. It cannot be emphasized enough how amazing his work is. Deakins can take the most boring of scenes, like two old men talking, and make it a feast for the eyes and the imagination.
The sound design is also nothing short of brilliant. There is a lack of a traditional soundtrack in No Country. There’s no Texas love song ever playing in the background, no rock music as Llewelyn is chased through the desert, nary a score. Silence and stillness pervade this film and it is powerful. The DVD transfer keeps it and the digital mix keeps the crispness of the details: the weeds in a large field rustle in the wind, the reports of gunfire echo through empty valleys, broken glass tinkles musically on the ground. The soundtrack is mostly diagetic and pertinent to the story. The DVD doesn’t make too much use of the back channels, but there’s no real need for it.
Now for the bad news: there are very few extras on the disc and, true to form, there is no commentary at all. Nothing from the crew nor from the cast, and definitely not from the Coens themselves. There’s a knee-jerk reaction to this, to cry “Why?” to the heavens and gnash our teeth, but really, have we all become a bit entitled? Watching this movie, it made me realize that some films are better left not totally explained. This is one of those movies. This is a film that one could watch with a group of friends and debate the deeper meaning (if, in fact, there is any) of Bardem’s character for hours, and this is what makes such a great movie amazing.
 Lack of commentary aside, the extras that are there are fun and somewhat informative. The strongest of these is “The Making of No Country for Old Men” (24:28). This is the most informative, providing details for parts of the plot which some might find vague and providing quite a bit of insight into the process and overall meaning behind the film. In this featurette, the cast and crew and even the Coens themselves (who spend most of their time staring at the ground) all share anecdotes about the production--how it got started, working on set--all painting an incredibly positive picture of working on a Coen Brothers’ set.
“Working with The Coens” (8:07) delves even deeper into the on-set Coen culture, the actors praising the brothers in their process and how well they work together. There’s apparently never any fighting on set, the entire shoot moving like clockwork while the brothers are open to listening to feedback and suggestions from the actors. Watching this makes any industry professional salivate at the thought of someday working with them.
The final (yes, there are only three bonus features) feature is “Diary of a Country Sheriff” (6:44) in which Tommy Lee Jones and company talk a bit about the main character, Sheriff Bell, and his perspective in the story, which is key to truly understanding the film.
 Add it up, and you’ve got less than 45 minutes of special features and no commentary. While I said earlier that perhaps audiences have become a bit entitled, it does feel a bit skinny for a Best Picture award-winning film. Expect there to be a rerelease down the road with extra bonus features as the studio takes advantage of the acclaim and hits the “double dip.” In the meantime, is this DVD worth the purchase? Personally, I’d say rent it, maybe more than once as the film warrants multiple viewings, but hold off on the purchase for the real deal sure to come down the road.
No Country for Old Men is now available on DVD.
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