A Serious Man (2009)
In no uncertain terms, this is a ridiculously frustrating movie. Not because it’s bad or because of any sort of flaw—it’s simply because there are many foreseeable ways out for the main character, and he doesn’t deliver. But, as I, and anyone else who watches it, should keep in mind, there is almost no movie without conflict, especially A Serious Man.
A Serious Man is about a Jewish physics professor named Larry Gopnik who starts to see his life unravel before his very eyes, beginning with his wife’s demand for a divorce. After taking blow after blow in his personal and work life, Larry turns to his Jewish faith and his community for answers, but finds that he may find any at all.
What’s so frustrating (and possibly the point of the entire film) is that Larry doesn’t do almost anything that might truly help his situation, and yet pleads for solutions from everyone else. For the most part, he seeks guidance from his tight-knit Jewish community, such as the junior and senior rabbis, and his lawyer, which proves useless since they are as enlightened as he is, if not less so.
Nothing particularly exciting or climactic happens in the film, which leads me to believe that Larry’s quest for answers is indeed what drives it, and that perhaps the Coen brothers are trying to say that no one truly knows the solutions to life’s problems. Older, more-experienced people, such as rabbis, might be able to give you the equipment to figure out how to reverse your misfortune, you are the only one who can do it.
The meditative nature of the cinematography and the sound contributes to this. There’s little camera movement or trick photography, which slows the pace and the mood, and there’s so much silence. As far as I can remember, there’s almost no music, except within the scenes, and long pauses in dialogue, which makes it akin to the awkwardness of real life.
The acting in A Serious Man is superb, although maybe not the best part. Michael Stulbarg, who seems to be a relative newcomer, has a great soft-spokenness that fits Larry’s character. Fred Melamad plays Sy Ableman, Larry’s rival of sorts, with relish and adds humor to the movie with his character’s pretentiousness. There was no dull character anywhere in the movie, which probably had everything to do with the acting skills of the rest of the cast. (Well, and the writing of the Coen brothers).
I was also impressed by the settings and costumes. The movie was set in 1967, which means period clothing and sets, but nothing seemed out-of-place. I enjoyed the details they included, like the Hebrew lettering on the school bus and the wizard-like decorating in the senior rabbi’s office. What makes Coen movies so fun to watch is that they do always include those details, whether they get much screen time or not. They take the time to try to amuse us in any way possible.
I’m really liking this new kick that the Coen brothers have been going on. While True Grit seems be very much like their usual movies, A Serious Man and No Country For Old Men have much different attitudes. It seems like they’re focused less on the outcome of each film and more on the journey they take us on to get there. I’m excited to see what they’re going to turn out next.
