The Coen Brothers – Masters of Movie Making

The Coen Brothers, referring to Joel and Ethan Coen, are extremely popular film makers with a devout cult following.  The two individual brothers are known collectively as the Coen Brothers because they always work on the same project, and are often interchangeable as both writer and director.

The Coen Brothers are masters of movie making, having won an academy award, and making a strange variety of films.  In a way, this is their strength, as a fan never knows what type of a movie they are going to get from the Coens.  What is even more amazing, is that these movies have done well all across genres.

For example, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Raising Arizona,” and “The Hudsucker Proxy,” are great screwball comedies that have caused audiences to roar with laughter.  Then on the opposite end of the spectrum are really dark films in the film noir or neo noir tradition such as “Miller’s Crossing,” “The Man Who Wasn’t There,” and “No Country for Old Men.” 

Though the most popular movies by the Coen Brothers are often the films that blend the hilarious and smart comedy with the extremely dark film noir view.  This unique blend of dark comedy, (or light hearted dark dramas?) is a very distinctive feel that the Coens are famous for.  Movies in this vein of film making include “Fargo,” “The Big Lebowski,” and “Barton Fink.”

Both brothers write, direct, edit, and produce their own movies, working in conjunction with one another in a partnership that has been wildly successful.   In fact, they are so much on the same page that many in film refer to them as “the two-headed director.”