Choose a cultural context through which to look at a 5-minute scene in Blood Simple and 2 film elements with which to do an analysis of the scene. Be sure to include a sentence or two on the scene's relationship to the film as a whole.
Cultural contexts include:
Economic
Geographical
Historical
Institutional
Political
Social
Technological
The Coen brothers’ neo-noir film Blood Simple flips the script on classic noir films through its cinematic depiction of women. Abby doesn’t die in the end, but is the only one out of the rest of the main male characters to survive, all of whom were male. In the original noir genre, the woman would die in the end and the men would triumph. The last scene, where Loren kills Ray and tries to kill Abby, (1:27:00 - 1:32:00) demonstrates this role reversal through costume design and lighting. In classic noir films, women were softly lit to emphasize their looks. In this scene, Abby is not lit softly but rather hard, like men in the original genre were- with lots of shadow on their faces. This scene is also very dark as opposed to the brightness you would find in female-focused shots in a noir film. The lighting has placed Abby in the role of the man in a classic noir film. The costume design has the same effect of reversing the typical roles seen in the genre this film was based around. In classic noir films, men were always dressed formally, in black suits. In Blood Simple, Abby is dressed casually in a white sweater. The inversion of colors and styles embodies the atypical role Abby is taking on as a women in this genre.
ReplyDeleteThe context that can be examined in connection to the cinematic role reversal of women as the “champions” by the end of the film is the real life role reversal as women came into the workforce in greater numbers. By the end of 1985, 71% of women were a part of the workforce in some way and “[women’s] share of ‘management’ jobs nearly doubled, growing... to 36 percent” (The Atlantic). Women found themselves in roles and industries that had been traditionally dominated by men until then. This shift is mirrored in the film by the fact that Abby finds herself in the role of the powerful, self-sufficient, sole survivor out of the cast of main characters that would normally belong to a man in the classic noir genre.
The Blood Simple sequence I chose starts when Visser enters the house to steal Abby’s gun (00:33:14) and ends when Marty sees the doctored photo of the dead bodies and feels sick (00:38:14). I am going to analyze it through an economic cultural context using its cinematography and writing.
ReplyDeleteThe cinematography in this scene is meant to show the dubiousness of the characters, implying the lengths that they, or anyone, would go to make money. Firstly, the camera movement that opens the scene is a steadicam shot through the empty house towards the door being unlocked. This emphasizes the emptiness of the room while also focusing on Visser’s actions, which are clearly illegal. His face is also shrouded in shadow indicating his shady nature. Additionally there is an overwhelming blue color in the scene, and the cool tones suggest a lack of life, or a lack of morals. Later in the sequence, when Marty and Visser are meeting with each other, much of the light comes from the neon lights of the bar. These lights are very artificial and point to falseness and dubiousness. Again there are many shadows to illustrate their dishonesty.
Dubiousness is also shown in the writing. Marty and Visser (especially Visser) are very vague, and never honest. This is clear when Visser is in a phone booth talking to Marty. Visser never directly mentions the murder (the actual topic of the conversation) and instead speaks in code and talks about fish. After Marty just comes out and asks him if everything is done, his immediate next subject is the money that he is owed. Next, in Marty’s office, Marty offers him some fish but he declines and again brings up the money. After Marty prompts him to explain what happened more, Visser just says, “The less you know about it the better.” He is never direct for a moment in this sequence.
The cinematography and writing in this sequence go hand in hand to show that people will do anything for money. The Texas setting plays into this as well. In Texas in the 1980s there was an oil bust, leaving many Texans poor and homeless. This led to many people being desperate for money. Visser is desperate for money and agrees to a murder plan in able to get it. He lies about the murder, too, adding another level of duplicity. The cold, dark cinematography illustrates his dubiousness and the vague writing illustrates his dishonesty. This sequence is showing what lengths people will go to in order to make money and is clearly representing it as a bad thing by emphasizing Visser’s lack of morals and integrity.
Blood Simple, a neo noir film produced in the early 1980s, provides a elephant for the state of the United States in that time period. In the middle of the Cold War, a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Much like the tension between nations, the tension between the characters. The distrust between them, especially Marty and the private investigator he hires to murder his wife and her lover.
ReplyDeleteThe scene I choose begins with Marty slamming a string of fish onto the table in his office and ends with the private investigator walking away after shooting Marty in the chest. Throughout the scene, there were multiple cuts done with little to no rhythm. The cuts seem abrupt and at times jarring as there appeared to be no pattern to them. This use of editing in the scene creates a sense of underlying discomfort. The lack of pattern or rhythm is not apparent and many would not notice it, but it creates an uncertainty, much like the Cold War had done in the 1980s. The Red Scare had begun to die down nearly 2 decades before the film was produced, however the Cold War had lasted into the 1990s creating a similar sense of uncertainty and discomfort for an indiscernible reason. The shots themselves represents the war as a whole as the mood changes from discomfort to distrust. The actions of the two men in the scene are prime examples of the slow changes that the war went through. The slam of fish was a sudden change from the slow build up of the plot, confusing and startling the audience. The mood then changes to that of distrust and suspicion as Marty sees the picture and furrows his eyebrows. The action of the Private Investigator appear suspicious as well because he is fidgeting and looks nervous. This distrust grows as the audience sees Marty hide the photo in his safe while retrieving the private investigator’s money and the very same man shooting Marty in the chest. Throughout the scene distrust is apparent as the two men, who appeared to have known each other, condmen each other, the private investigator by killing Marty, and Marty by saving evidence of the private investigator’s crime.
The Cohen brothers' film "Blood Simple" can be considered a neo noir film as it contains many signature elements of the genre regarding theme, subject matter and lighting to name a few. However, one major element in which it differs from traditional noir films of the past can be seen when examining the film from a social context, more specifically the role of women in the narrative. This can be analyzed fully when observing the scene in the film in which Ray confronts Abby about the murder of her ex-husband Marty. This scene serves to widen the division between Abby and Ray. To demonstrate how this element of the film differs from classic noir films I will examine this scene using the cinematic elements of writing and acting.
ReplyDeleteIn many traditional noir films the main female character of the plot typically turns out to be secretly pursuing her own hidden agenda, while using her sexuality and perceived innocence to manipulate the men around her. The events of this scene from "Blood Simple", where Ray confronts Abby about the murder he thinks she committed would fall in line then with other noir films however in truth, Abby never killed anyone. In truth, she was framed for Marty's murder. However, Rays suspicions of her are confirmed when she defends herself by saying that she hasn't "done anything funny", as these where the exact words Marty told him she would say when trying to manipulate him. When he hears her say this we can see the visible shock and hurt on his face, as he believes he has been lied to.
"Blood Simple" is different from other, more traditional noir films as it manages to flip the gender stereotypes on its head by utilizing a strong female as its central character. When in many similar films we would not want to trust the female character, in this one we both believe and sympathize with her, and root for her survival and well being.
Blood Simple, a neo-noir film by the Cohen brothers, tells the story of a man so enraged by his wife leaving him that he hires a private investigator to kill her and her new boyfriend. Taking place during the early 1980s in Texas, Blood Simple’s thematic undertones reflect the social importance of religion, (specifically, Christianity) during this time by emphasizing the presence of it through framing and sound design.
ReplyDeleteChristianity has been a major religion in the United States for an extremely long time. However, starting in 1979, Christianity became a major factor in Southern politics in particular in the form of the religious right. “The evangelical desire to act as moral guardians of America’s social order” (The Public Discourse, Forster) surfaced through a more political lens, and this viewpoint would have peaked in Texas during the 1980s. As a result, religion was unavoidable - whether or not you partook in it, the concepts would be present in your life.
This is particularly shown in the scene where Ray takes what he believes to be Marty’s corpse out onto the highway to bury him far away from the scene of the crime. The scene opens at 0:49:95, with a shot of the road, and ends at 0:54:00, with a shot of Ray getting out of the car to go stop Marty from trying to escape.
The sound design is essential for the religious metaphors and themes that this scene presents. The scene opens with a reverend preaching over the radio, discussing the presence of the Anti-Christ on Earth, showing the social presence of religion. This is accompanied with sounds of cars on the highway, which at certain points are louder than the radio, reflecting how Ray is attempting to ignore morality in favor of escape. As the reverend continues, he states that he believes that the Anti-Christ is alive on Earth today - both a reflection of the terrible actions the leads in the film have committed thus far, and a direct warning that Marty isn’t dead yet. The religious metaphor displays the importance of religion during this time in Texas. After this announcement, the Ray switches the radio to a song, showing his aversion to religion due to his guilt, as well as emphasizing how both Marty and Ray are far from morality at the moment (Marty by hiring a killer, Ray by attempting to cover up what he believes is Abby’s attempted murder of Marty). The silence that follows this song also emphasizes this, while also displaying that there is nothing to distract Ray from the immortality of the actions he is choosing to follow through with. He has multiple opportunities to leave the situation, but he continues to press deeper into the situation.
The framing also shows the importance of religion by establishing religious metaphors. The scene opens with a long shot of the road, extremely dark, showing the literal dark path Ray is heading down. There are multiple cuts between the road and closeups of Ray’s face, extremely sweaty and nervous - the contrast between his nervousness and the reverend’s preaching display the drastic immoral extent of the sin Ray is committing. The shadows over Ray’s face, again, emphasize the darkness of the path he is heading down. Once Ray realizes Marty is still alive, panicked, he exits the car. This is shown through a tracking long shot, and Ray’s small physical presence in the frame displays his powerlessness under religious judgment. The following shot, which shows the car that Marty is still in, also small in frame, emphasizes this as well. As Ray heads back to the car, his size in the frame grows, but the shadows on his face grow darker and more intense - the more power Ray obtains in this situation, the further he strays from God.
DeleteOverall, this scene is the most explicitly religious one in the movie. Though there may be other religious allusions, none of them are quite as overt or draw parallels as strong. This contributes to the message of how unavoidable religious was in Texas during this time - all the characters do something morally drastic at some point, so it is natural that they may not want to involve a higher being or the concept of hell. However, as shown in this scene, you cannot avoid the moral implications of your actions without digging yourself an even bigger grave.
The in Blood Simple I chose was the scene in which Marty hires Visser to murder his wife and her lover. The cultural context I chose to analyze this scene with is Economic, and I will be using the writing and directing to do this.
DeleteThis film was made in 1984. During the early 1980’s, there was a great economic recession. In addition to this, there was also a resurgence of laissez faire style economics. This means that the government had little to no intervention with the trade and business that went on within whatever area is being referred to. In this scene, as stated prior, Marty is convincing Visser to take the job of killing his wife and her lover. In terms of dialogue, the Visser says things along the lines of “Go fishing and when you come back it’ll be done”. He also says that if “it pays right, I’ll do it”. I we few the transaction as an economical transaction, we can view Visser as a company doing it’s dealings. This “company” doesn’t want the higher power to intervene, and it doesn’t. Not only this, but Visser seems to think he above the actual government, the law, the moral bindings of society.
To add to this, Visser also doesn’t seem to care there is a fly buzzing around him. There is a lot to be said about this fly and what it symbolizes and what it means to the narrative. I must commend the Coen Brothers for figuring out how to direct a fly! (I’m joking). Even so, the fly does appear in a couple different scene, and nothing in a film is arbitrary, so it was made to be just there. A fly, or rather multiple flies denote evil and pestilence. If we take this, combined with the fact that Visser is a ruthless kind of guy that will do anything for the right price, we see even deeper just how The Coen Brothers related this to the economy at the time of release. I believe that the Coen Brothers are trying to make the statement that, with the abuse Laissez Faire economics, evil monopolies will form that try to be far too controlling. This is very much supported by this scene among others in both it’s dialogue (and therefore narrative) as well as direction.
In the scene in which Marty asked Loren to kill Ray and his wife, Loren is offered $10,000 to complete the task. Loren accepted the job, as he was willing to do anything for that kind of money. He references Communist Russia, saying that citizens there earn less than a dollar each day, to emphasize the money’s value to him. Loren’s economic dependence on blood money shows how dire his financial situation is, which relates to economic struggles people face even now. The sound design in this scene offers little background noise, which puts more focus on the characters’ dialogue, and the low-lighting emphasizes the grim nature of the task. This scene serves to connect the later events of the film together and to show Loren’s greed that drove him.
ReplyDeleteThe five minute scene I will analyze is the scene where Ray is burying Marty alive. The cultural context I will analyze is social. In this scene Ray believes that Abby is the one who tried to commit murder on Marty and as he discovers the alive but injured body, he tries to dispose of it for the sake of Abby. This shows the love Ray has for Abby, that he will quite literally kill someone for her to be off the hook, even though he didn't really investigate a whole lot, or else he would've discovered that is was Loren who shot Marty. This scene where Ray is burying Marty alive starts off very calmly and discreet. Ray just wants to get this over with so that Abby's job is finished and so she won't have to worry about Marty anymore. The sound aspect of this scene starts off quiet and subtle, all you can hear for the most part is the slow breathing of Ray and the digging sound. As the digging and burying progresses, Marty realizes that he has a gun that was concealed in his pocket by Loren, and attempts to shoot Ray, unknowing that the revolver was actually empty the whole time. During this tension, all the focus is on Marty, the gun, and Ray's reaction. You hear the clear clicking of the gun after it doesn't fire, then from this point on. Ray starts frantically trying to bury Marty, as he just experienced a could be life ending event. The sound of his breathing is heavily increased and is happening at a much faster rate to show his distress and need to finish his job and leave. This is all for him to just finish the mess he put himself into, because of his relationship with Abby. Once he finally concludes his burial, he flattens the top of the dirt with urgency. This is heard very loudly as well with the sound of the shovel hitting the dirt, which co-en-sides with the built up tension. The camera cutting back and forth also displays Ray frantically throwing dirt on Marty and the rate at which the camera cuts from Marty being barley covered to fully, increases as the tension increases until eventually the flattening out of the dirt happens, which is the peak of the tension.
ReplyDeleteThe Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple is considered a neo noir film because it incorporates classic staples of noir filmmaking with modernized and personalized touches of their own. Although many of the elements of cinematography are strikingly similar between Blood Simple and noir films of the forties and fifties, what really differentiates the two is the social context in which they were created. Blood Simple came out in 1984, a time where women were treated more equal to men and with increased respect than what was given to them in the forties. This is clearly shown in Abby’s character, and how, by the end of the film, she is the last one standing with all the main male characters dead. This event would most likely never occur in noir films because the women were largely villainized through their sexuality and would often be the one killed, certainly not the other way around. One scene that supports this role reversal is when Abby ends up beating up Marty when he invades Ray’s house to attempt to kill her. I will evaluate this scene based on its social context through camera movement and acting.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of this scene, the movement and angle of the shots are pretty standard, or what viewers see is similar to what they would see if they were in the same location of the camera. It isn’t until Marty’s hand appears covering Abby’s mouth that the camerawork starts to get interesting. The camera drops down to show the seashell compact-mirror Abby drops before racing back up again to show Marty’s mouth whispering in her ear, and then repeating these two shots again rapidly. The camera shifts to take on Marty’s perspective looking at the door Ray is behind. When it does this, the camera is shaking, mirroring the movement of Abby and Ray’s chokehold. The moment they go outside, the camera seems to run towards them as if the lens was Marty’s dog, before a short fast-paced fight scene. The camera movements don’t become regular again until Abby kicks Marty in the groin. This is the moment she becomes safe from his grasp, but also ensures dominance over the situation. A turnaround like this would have never happened in a film of an earlier time; the break in intense camera movement seems to also symbolize a break in societal expectations for women.
The acting in this scene also helps to establish Abby’s character as an alternative depiction of women in noir. When Abby is struggling under Marty’s grasp, she, naturally, has a terrified and anxious expression. The contrast, however, becomes that much more stark when she breaks free from and harms Marty, now with a glare of hatred. Marty doesn’t even try and retaliate at this point, he just flees from the scene in his car. His movements until this point are slow as he is stumbling from his injury and his expression holds that of pain and immense shock over what Abby was capable of doing to him. Her look of loathing and his fearful expression are total role reversals of what the film might’ve looked like if it carried the social norms of an original noir film.
The scene I'm going to be choosing is the scene when Loren kills Ray and attempts to kill Abby this scene is very important to the the film as a whole because it well portrays the contexts of economic and social. The economic aspect is how money was able to drive Loren to the brink of insanity. He kills Marty for the money which also causes him to need to kill Abby and Ray to keep the money as clean as possible and his greed lead him to his demise. This could be portraying the greed in America at the time because at this time the economy rebounded causing people to spend unnecessary money. The social context is much simpler as in the fact that Abby is the only survivor of her two lovers, this is trying to show that women at this time are getting their power.
ReplyDeleteJoel and Ethan Coen’s 1984 film, Blood Simple, is a neo-noir crime drama that challenges the conventions of the genre as a whole. When discussing film noir, it is important to understand the conventions that make up the sum of its parts. This includes sleazy, morally ambiguous characters, infidelity, sharp dialogue, and the femme fatale. Frances McDormand’s character, Abby, does not fit the typical role of a femme fatale. Whereas most femme fatales can be considered to be cold, calculating sociopath’s without a shred of remorse in their actions, the character of Abby’s biggest crime is of infidelity. Throughout the film, her character is shown to have a wide range of genuine emotions, which is absent in the femme fatales of the 1940s noir. In the final scene of the movie, Abby overpowers Loren in self defense and kills her attacker. The dark lighting and gruesome violence portrayed in this scene is one that at the time would fit in with a scene with John Rambo. This role reversal can be rooted within the confines of second wave feminism, which began in the 1960s, and challenged the meek housewife role that dominated society up until that point. Even the fatales of the 1940s reflect the housewife role, as their goals primarily focused on some sort of financial security and overall comfort. This drastically contrasts the goals of Abby; escaping with her lover, and survival. The heroic role Abby comes to take on reflect second wave feminist ideas, that it’s not just men that can fill these roles. It is not just John Rambo. It is also Abby.
ReplyDeleteBlood Simple (1984) is a neo-noir crime film created by the Coen Brothers, which incorporates many traditional elements of neo-noir films, but also features personal style unique to the directors. For instance, the film is extremely different in its portrayal of women in regards to the genre itself, even going as far as reversing the roles of power to the female lead. This is reflective of the society in which this film was created, as women were seen in a much different light in 1984 than they were in the 40’s. It is important to understand that classic neo-noir films often trivialized women, vilifying them through their sexuality. As such, they would often be killed off within the storyline, however Abby remains alive to the end. The effects of this cultural reversal can be seen in the final confrontation between Abby and Loren, as she emerges victorious despite facing a man.
ReplyDeleteTo begin, the Coen Brothers expertly utilize dark, moody lighting to cast a shadow over Abby’s apartment, thus ratcheting up the suspense in obviously deadly situation which has just presented itself. By shrouding her apartment in darkness, the fear of the unknown is brought out in the viewers, forcing them to sympathize with Abby’s situation. This is where Abby’s portrayal in Blood Simple is different than females in other films of the same genre, as Abby is shown as a sympathetic character as opposed to a villian who exploits men with her sexuality. As the scene progresses, Abby’s situation becomes more escapable, as she traps Loren by stabbing his hand as he attempts to open the windowsill. It is at this point he attempts to fire his gun through the wall, which create holes that emit piercing light, thus illuminating the dark room. It is this cutting light which represents Abby’s newfound hope, as Loren has now run out of ammo at this point and has presented Abby with a life-saving opportunity.
The Coen Brothers also manipulate the tension of the scene with cinematography, as with slow pacing they are able to torture the viewer in a way. Abby is presented with a very short window of time to make her moves, and yet she is often seen reacting very slowly to the situation in front of her. This is created through prolonged takes of short passages of time, making the viewer feel as if time is moving slower. When paired with the expected result of a woman in neo-noir film, the viewer is forced to believe that Abby’s slow responses will become her undoing.