Nowadays the Coen Brothers have cemented their place in cinema history with such films as NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, FARGO and THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, so it is fitting to at least go back to the movie that started it all, BLOOD SIMPLE, filmed in 1983 but not released until 1985.
A film-noir set in the Deep South, BLOOD SIMPLE focuses on a love triangle between Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya, COMMANDO), his wife Abby (Frances McDormand, FARGO, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING MISSOURI) and Marty’s bar employee Ray (John Getz, THE FLY) who is having an affair with Abby.
Marty recruits a private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh, BLADE RUNNER) to track the pair, but soon enough his feelings of jealousy and rage are manifesting themselves a little bit further….
Much of what was to come can be rooted in this film, which is one of the best thrillers of the 1980s, as well as being a showcase for many key talents, among them composer Carter Burwell (who scored other subsequent classic films as well as the Coen films) and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who went on to direct the first MEN IN BLACK film with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.
It remains a fine mix of performance and writing, with all the trademarks we have come to know and love about the Coen Brothers.