The debut film by Joel and Ethan Coen, Blood Simple is a tense and thrilling story set amidst the seedy underworld of dive bars and killers for hire in Texas. Working from their own clever script, the Coens’ evoke a sense of eery macabre through the use of engaging cinematography and score. With performances that bring about empathy as well as contempt, Blood Simple is an accomplished exercise in genre filmmaking that remains compelling to the very end.
When Julian Marty discovers that one of his bartenders is sleeping with his wife, he hires a demented private investigator to murder the two of them in an act of twisted vengeance. Ray and Abby, the lovers, are then caught up in an intersecting web of violence and deceit which challenges not only their trust in one another, but also their capacity to survive against malevolent odds. Leaning heavily on the conventions of neo-noir, the film delivers a number of nail-biting sequences and turns in the narrative which amount finally to a climax that leaves no character untainted by violence.
The script is good for the most part, but the dialogue is a step behind the well conceived and executed plot. Though the characters stand out in certain moments, they could each do with a little more development. Despite this issue, all the cast perform admirably, especially Dan Hedaya as Julian and M. Emmet Walsh as Loren, the contract killer. Walsh’s characterisation is particularly well realised, making for a despicable and cunning villain.
The strength of the film is to be found mainly in various elements of it’s construction, like Carter Burwell’s sinister piano theme and Barry Sonnenfeld’s dynamic work with the camera. His tracking shots are particularly well placed, working seamlessly along with the editing (another duty shared by the Coen brothers under the pseudonym of Roderick Jaynes). Overall the film is a great triumph of stylistic verve in it’s capacity to present a gripping tale of vivid noir.
Blood Simple works best in the moments where it goes all out in placing the audience on the edge of their seats. While it is somewhat lacking in elements of dialogue that could have been better polished to develop it’s characters, the script still manages to propel itself in a steely fashion towards the showdown finale. Demonstrating their prowess and originality in the arena of feature filmmaking, the Coen’s debut is a dark cinematic work which leaves the viewer eager for more.
4/5
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