A Serious Man

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A Serious Man
File:Aseriousman.jpg
Directed byJoel Coen
Ethan Coen
Written byEthan Coen
Joel Coen
Produced byEthan Coen
Joel Coen
StarringMichael Stuhlbarg
Richard Kind
Sari Wagner Lennick
Fred Melamed
Aaron Wolff
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byRoderick Jaynes
Music byCarter Burwell
Production
companies
Distributed byFocus Features
Release date
October 2, 2009 (limited)
Running time
105 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7,000,000

A Serious Man is a feature film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It was released on October 2, 2009 in the United States.

Plot summary

The film opens with a short prologue, set in a European shtetl many years ago. A wife (Yelena Shmulenson) welcomes her husband (Allen Lewis Rickman) in from a blizzard. He explains that the wheel on his wagon was damaged, but that an elderly neighbor appeared to assist him. The wife scolds him for this, telling him the neighbor is dead and that he was actually helped by a wandering spirit, or “dybbuk”, which should be avoided at all costs. The husband dismisses the idea, just as the “dybbuk” (Fyvush Finkel) knocks loudly on their door. The husband invites him in, and the man appears healthy and jovial, but the wife remains fearful, and soon stabs their guest in the chest with an icepick. For a moment, he appears to be unharmed, until blood trickles down his chest. Whether he is actually a “dybbuk” is left deliberately unclear - the cast credits include a question mark to communicate this.

The narrative then moves to Minnesota, 1967. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a Jewish professor of physics, and a family man. His son Danny (Aaron Wolff) smokes marijuana, listens to Jefferson Airplane, watches F-Troop and lives in constant fear of a physically intimidating Hebrew school classmate named Mike (Jon Kaminski Jr.), to whom Danny owes twenty dollars for marijuana. Larry's daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is shrill and demanding, and possibly stealing money. His troubled brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, hounded by the police for his gambling problems. A Korean-born student, Clive (David Kang), attempts a cash bribe for a passing grade, which Larry dismisses, but retains throughout the film. Clive's family soon threatens a lawsuit, just as it is becoming clear that Larry’s tenure application is in danger of being rejected, due to some anonymous, defamatory letters received by the committee.

Furthermore, his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) is seeking a divorce. She wishes to be with family friend, and widower, Sy Ableman (Fred Melamed), who comforts Larry about it in an inappropriately avuncular fashion. At Judith and Sy's insistance, Larry and Arthur eventually move into a nearby motel, the “Jolly Roger”.

To cope with his undeserved streak of bad luck, Larry turns to the faith. The rabbis he speaks with are all, for various reasons, obtuse and unhelpful. One rabbi tells him a long and bizarre story of a Jewish dentist who discovers “Save me” written in Hebrew on the back of a gentile patient’s teeth, but is dismissive when Larry asks him what the story means.

Larry's spiritual crisis reaches a breaking point when he and Sy are involved in seemingly simultaneous car crashes miles apart. Larry is unharmed, but Sy is killed. Afterward, Larry suffers from increasingly violent and disturbing nightmares involving his brother, and later his neighbor, the seductive Mrs. Samsky (Amy Landecker).

The film’s climax takes place on the day of Danny’s bar mitzvah. The boy, stoned, struggles through the ceremony, but overcomes his intoxication enough to fool everyone in attendance. Larry appears proud and moved by what he sees.

In the haunting, ambiguous final scene, Larry decides to pass Clive after all, and his department head hints that he will earn his tenure. Just as things are looking up, his doctor calls, seemingly concerned about the results of a chest x-ray (seen at the beginning of the film), though the specifics are not revealed. Meanwhile, a massive tornado is approaching Danny’s school. As a teacher struggles to unlock a basement shelter, Mike and Danny stare at the oncoming twister, and the film ends.

Cast and characters

Open auditions for the roles of Danny and Sarah were held on May 4, 2008, at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, one of the scheduled shooting locations for the film. Open auditions for the role of Sarah were also held in June 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.

Production

Considerable attention was paid to the setting; it was important to the Coens to find a neighborhood of original-looking suburban rambler homes as they would have appeared in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, in the mid-1960s. Locations were scouted in nearby communities Edina, Richfield, Brooklyn Center, and Hopkins[1] before a suitable location was found in Bloomington.[2]

Location filming began on September 8, 2008, in Minnesota.

Long time collaborator Roger Deakins rejoined the Coen brothers as cinematographer, following his absence from Burn After Reading. This is the tenth film he has worked on with the Coen brothers.[3] Costume designer Mary Zophres returns for her ninth collaboration with the brothers.[3]

An office scene depicted in the film was shot at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. The film also used a set built in the school's library, as well as a small section of the 2nd floor science building hallway. The synagogue is the B'Nai Emet Synagogue in St. Louis Park.

The Coen brothers also shot some scenes in St. Olaf College's old science building because of its similar period architecture.[4][5]

Filming was also scheduled to occur on October 24, 2008, at Cooper's grocery store located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Filming wrapped on November 6, 2008, after 44 days, ahead of schedule and within budget.[6]

Time period

Although there are no overt references to the year in which the film is set, one of the sub-plots in the film involves a representative from the Columbia Record Club calling Gopnik at his office regarding non-payment for record albums that were sent to him. The record club representative attempts to explain to Gopnik how the club works and goes on to mention that the club's current monthly selections are Santana's Abraxas and Cosmo's Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival. These albums were released, respectively, in September and July 1970, presumably giving context to the time period.

Release

The film had a limited release on October 2, 2009, in the United States. The film has an MPAA rating R.[7] It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 12, 2009.[8] A trailer was released online on July 30, 2009.[9]

Reception

Reviews have been mostly positive, with some critics calling it the Coen brothers' most mature film to date. Roger Ebert and Variety's Todd McCarthy described the film as "the kind of picture you get to make after you've won an Oscar".[1] Claudia Puig of USA Today writes, "A Serious Man is a wonderfully odd, bleakly comic and thoroughly engrossing film. Underlying the grim humor are serious questions about faith, family, mortality and misfortune."[10] TIME critic Richard Corliss describes it as "disquieting" and "haunting."[11] Christy Lemire called it "the Coens' most thoughtful and personal film" and gave it three-and-a-half stars out of four.[12]

Not all critics agree, however. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern disliked the apparent misanthropy of the film, saying that "...their caricatures range from dislikable through despicable, with not a smidgeon of humanity to redeem them."[13] David Denby from The New Yorker faults Joel and Ethan Coen's direction; "A Serious Man, like Burn After Reading, is in their bleak, black, belittling mode, and it’s hell to sit through."[14]

The film currently holds an 85% 'Fresh' Rating of Rotten Tomatoes, based on 81 reviews.

References

  1. ^ http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/11525326.html
  2. ^ http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/27957494.html?elr=KArksUUUU
  3. ^ a b "Production Begins on the Coen's A Serious Man". Comingsoon.net. Retrieved September 9 2008. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ Henke, David (2008-08-19), "Coen brothers will use St. Olaf for movie", Northfield News
  5. ^ Gonnerman, David (2008-10-09), "St. Olaf gets 'Serious'", St. Olaf College News
  6. ^ "It's a wrap! Coen brothers' latest film is in the can". StarTribune.com. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  7. ^ "Focus Feature's release dates". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
  8. ^ "Oscar-winning Coens head home with "A Serious Man"". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  9. ^ "Check out the trailer for the Coens' A Serious Man". Onion AV Club. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
  10. ^ "'A Serious Man' is a seriously good departure for Coens". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  11. ^ "A Serious Man: The Coen Brothers' Jewish Question". TIME. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  12. ^ "Seriously funny troubles abound in `Serious Man'". Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  13. ^ "'A Serious Man'". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  14. ^ "Gods and Victims: "A Serious Man" and "Capitalism: A Love Story."". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-10-02.


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