Blood Simple (1984)
A supreme gothic thriller made on a shoestring budget, but rich
in wit, intrigue, style, moodiness and suspense. The plot is
deliciously complex and rife with edgy misunderstandings.
A Texas bar owner, his bored wife, her bartender lover and a
sleazy private detective all become entangled in a hair-raising
web of murder and double-cross.
The initially sympathetic "other man" in the
love-triangle at the core of the plot is called upon to perform
unspeakable acts of violence; the nasty boo-hiss husband suffers a
demise so horrible it wins him our sympathy; and the femme fatale
ends up the nearest thing to an action hero.
Moreover, the film's voice-over narrator, a role normally
reserved for the protagonist-hero, turns out to be the real
villain of the piece - a self-styled private investigator who'll
do anything to support the pursuit of money and his own twisted
view of the world.
Walsh plays the part to perfection, giving us a
new archetype of the moral terrorist with a sick sense of humour
masquerading as an appreciation of a perverse universe.
Throughout this small group of characters circling each other
in the cold night of the desert, the Coen brothers produced a
benchmark film that would spawn other careers for the John Dahls
of this world.
The Coens - Joel (director) and Ethan (producer) - make it all
happen in an astonishing film-making debut.
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