Once a week we’ll be taking underrated films and giving you reasons to watch. Each one is hand-picked, of a different genre, and easily accessed and enjoyed. Any number of Coen Brothers films could’ve made this selection, but for me there’s no greater overlooked Coen film than ‘A Serious Man’ (2009).
SYNOPSIS: Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern physics teacher, watches his life unravel over multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking meaning and answers amidst his turmoils, he seems to keep sinking.
Five reasons to watch one of the greatest films of the last decade:
1) Cosmic joke
Within a two-week period, a disgruntled student tries to bribe and then blackmail Larry, an anonymous rival sends nasty notes to his university’s tenure committee, his wife asks for a divorce, and his lawyer drops dead right in front of him. Each ordeal is fairly banal on its own. But Larry (and the audience) can’t help but wonder whether, taken together, they might indicate a cosmic source. If I started to lose you during that sentence then allow me to put you at ease – this film is hilarious despite the fact that it handles the biggest questions of our existence.
2) Yiddish prologue
One of many bold choices in the film is the opening prologue – a seemingly separate short story setting up the themes and tone of the film to follow – a Yiddish-language set-piece, somewhere in the Old Country. A husband announces to his wife that someone is coming over for soup. “God has cursed us,” she says. That man died three years earlier, so whoever’s visiting is surely a malicious spirit. When he arrives, the man laughs off the accusation, as does the husband: “I, of course, do not believe such things. I am a rational man.” But the wife’s not having it; she stabs him with an ice pick. Belief and its repercussions form the central focus of the film to follow. One interpretation of this scene holds that the husband and wife are Larry’s ancestors, and that Larry is being punished for their sin. But perhaps it’s not right to interpret the set piece so genealogically or even to assume that the couple did something wrong. What if the wife were actually a positive foil? Instead of sheepishly appealing to the logical impossibility of ghosts, as her husband does, or passively waiting to see what comes next, as Larry Gopnik later would, she takes matters into her own hands. “Good riddance to evil,” she says when the man walks out the door, bleeding. Maybe Larry would fare better if he had half of that gumption.
3) The cinematography
Roger Deakins is often cited as the greatest living director of photography, and for good reason too; just look at the films he has brought to life through his lens: ‘No Country for Old Men’, ‘Sicario’, ‘The Assassination of Jesse James’, ‘Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Fargo’, ‘Skyfall’, ‘Blade Runner 2049’, the list goes on. Any number of his collaborations with the Coen brothers could make this list, but in my opinion his work here is the most subtle and close-to-perfect of his career. The colour palette, composition, use of lighting and unique in-camera effects (namely the stoned bar-mitzvah sequence) are all handled with great care and attention, and clearly show a master of their craft.
4) Michael Stuhlbarg
The first time I saw ‘A Serious Man’ I was floored by the central performance. Who was this actor? Where did he come from? I continue to have the same reaction every single time I see Stuhlbarg in a film or TV show. He is without a doubt the greatest character actor working today. Need proof? Watch him in ‘Boardwalk Empire’, ‘Fargo: Series 3’, or ‘Call Me By Your Name’ – he steals the show in every one, no matter how large or small the role. His range from delicate to terrifying, compassionate to cold-hearted is mesmerising.
5) The ending
How do you finish a film about the uncertainties of life, of god’s existence, of objective reality and morality, and all manner of other questions? You show an event that leaves the answers up to the viewer. To my mind, there are very, very few films with as good an ending as ‘A Serious Man’. Without giving too much away, an apparent act of god (or not?) occurs after Larry makes a choice. The event will likely affect bystanders as well as those responsible for their own actions. To end a film ambiguously, but with two clearly-defined answers, and to competently illustrate the films themes and central concerns is a magical moment. I get chills just thinking about it.
TRIVIA
– The Coen Brothers stated that the opening scene was nothing more than a little short that they made up to get the audience in the proper mood, and that there is no meaning behind it. Whether that’s to believed or not is another matter.
– Most of the doorposts throughout the movie (including the Gopniks’ and Mrs. Samsky’s) have a small box attached to them. This is a mezuzah, a case containing passages from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-21), which Jews traditionally affix to the door frames of their houses as a constant reminder of God’s presence. A mezuzah also functions as a sign that a Jewish person occupies the house or works in the building onto which it is affixed, so in this movie, the frequent sight of mezuzahs on doorframes is one of many indications that most of the characters are Jewish.
– In his argument with the Columbia House records employee over the phone, Larry Gopnik repeatedly rejects the album Abraxas by Santana. Abraxas is a Gnostic term for God, particularly a God who encompasses all things from Creator of the Universe to the Devil, and an etymological root for “abracadabra”. It is thus implied that Larry Gopnik is vehemently rejecting mysticism, pantheism, and magic.
– Patton Oswalt auditioned for the role of Arthur Gopnik, and Marc Maron tested for the lead role (that would have been a very different film.
– The Coen Brothers’ original idea for the picture was as a short film about Danny’s stoned bar mitzvah and his meeting with Rabbi Marshak. All of the other content in the movie grew out of that sequence.