Movie Analysis Essay on No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen

Introduction

No Country for Old Men by Joel and Ethan Coen is a film based on a western crime novel by Cormac McCarthy. The scene of strangling in the movie shows some aspects of the relationship between individual identity and group identity. This scene starts when the opening voiceover by Sheriff Bell ends, and a policeman is putting a dark-haired man into the back of his patrol car. The film flashes to the countryside police station where a police officer is talking to his superior on the phone about this dark-haired man called Anton Chigurh, who he has just arrested. Chigurh owns an item that looks like an oxygen tank with a hose. While the young officer is on the phone, Chigurh is seen getting up at the far end side of the room, changing the positions of his cuffed hands from back to front, and calmly walks up behind the officer (Ziggness, 2012, December 5). In an evil and calculated move, he flings his cuffed hands over officer's head, pulling him back on the floor, strangling him with the chains on the cuffs to death, and the place is filled with blood. Chigurh exhales calmly and goes to the bathroom and without haste takes off his handcuffs, and washes his bloodstained wrists in the hand basin. Then he picks up his large tank and hose before leaving. He steals the officer's car and shortly puts sirens on pulling over a driver in the interior of the desert (Ziggness, 2012, December 5). Chigurh walks towards the driver and asks him to step out of the car and then points the hose on the man's forehead and pulls the trigger. The man falls dead on the ground while Chigurh smiles, bringing the viewer to the end of the scene.

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Scene Analyses

The scene of strangling is a section that is highly informative of the identity of the characters in this scene. The view shows great relationship between individual identity and group identity. Personal identity is the concept that one develops about them over life events. It may include the choices that one makes in life, the color of the skin, beliefs, and one's background (Evans et al., 227-256). Besides the scene being so violent, the audiences are introduced to the identity of one of the main characters, Chigurh. Bringing his cuffed hands from the back to the front tells the audience that it is not his first time to do that, which indicates that that was not his first arrest. It also shows that he believes that the law does not confine him. After strangling the officer, he deeply sighs showing that he felt relaxed. This further indicates that Chigurh is not scared to kill. The next murder he commits to a random road user defines him as a person who is possessed in killing people. The naivety of the police officer and the road user show a group of people that are naive for every situation and are most hurt by the evil thinkers. Thus the relationship between the identity of a person and a group is shown, which indicates that every group or individual has a different personality, which is shaped by the surroundings and life events.

However, killing the road user can be seen as a representation that Chigurh kills everyone who crosses his path. This belief is seen to exist in his mind may due to past violent experiences. Having committed two murders within a short time defines Chigurh as a passionate person. His tranquility and lack of sensations during and after the crimes he has committed suggest that he has experience in violence. The scene of strangling is the most informative scene of the novel as it reveals the identity of Chigurh, creating awareness among the viewers that he is a criminal. Thus, the scene is an essential description of Chigurh's identity as a killer, who kills almost everyone that crosses his path, which is metaphorically portrayed by the driver's death.

Work Cited

Evans, M. Blair, et al. "When a Sense of "we" Shapes the Sense of "me": Exploring how Groups Impact Running Identity and Behavior." Self and Identity 18.3 (2019): 227-246. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15298868.2018.1436084

Ziggness. No Country for Old Men Strangling Scene. Miramax2007 (2012, December 5). [Video]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_9KNP9I6YA&pbjreload=10 [Accessed in 2019, October 4].