Miller's Crossing (1990)
Country: US
Technical: col 115m
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Albert Finney
Synopsis:
During Prohibition the question of ethics among bootleggers becomes a thorny issue when the ruling Irish gang falls out with the Italians over a chiselling Jewish bookmaker.
Review:
The Coens' view of the gangster genre is more like Rome in the time of the Caesars, with Byrne's Irish 'consigliere' outsmarting all comers. That said, no detail of iconography or generic convention is left untouched by the great Coen highlighter pen, and the dialogue crackles with Chandleresque wordplay. The settings and sepia colour palette are carefully deployed, not least the eponymous woodland junction, and Carter Burwell's music adds a touch of gaelic mysticism. There are typically off-kilter moments, such as the chair on the hooter, and the post-traumatic screaming scene, plus a clear reference to their next film, Barton Fink, in the name of the hero's boarding house. Certainly, Gabriel Byrne would not be treated better by the movies than this.
Country: US
Technical: col 115m
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Albert Finney
Synopsis:
During Prohibition the question of ethics among bootleggers becomes a thorny issue when the ruling Irish gang falls out with the Italians over a chiselling Jewish bookmaker.
Review:
The Coens' view of the gangster genre is more like Rome in the time of the Caesars, with Byrne's Irish 'consigliere' outsmarting all comers. That said, no detail of iconography or generic convention is left untouched by the great Coen highlighter pen, and the dialogue crackles with Chandleresque wordplay. The settings and sepia colour palette are carefully deployed, not least the eponymous woodland junction, and Carter Burwell's music adds a touch of gaelic mysticism. There are typically off-kilter moments, such as the chair on the hooter, and the post-traumatic screaming scene, plus a clear reference to their next film, Barton Fink, in the name of the hero's boarding house. Certainly, Gabriel Byrne would not be treated better by the movies than this.
Country: US
Technical: col 115m
Director: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Albert Finney
Synopsis:
During Prohibition the question of ethics among bootleggers becomes a thorny issue when the ruling Irish gang falls out with the Italians over a chiselling Jewish bookmaker.
Review:
The Coens' view of the gangster genre is more like Rome in the time of the Caesars, with Byrne's Irish 'consigliere' outsmarting all comers. That said, no detail of iconography or generic convention is left untouched by the great Coen highlighter pen, and the dialogue crackles with Chandleresque wordplay. The settings and sepia colour palette are carefully deployed, not least the eponymous woodland junction, and Carter Burwell's music adds a touch of gaelic mysticism. There are typically off-kilter moments, such as the chair on the hooter, and the post-traumatic screaming scene, plus a clear reference to their next film, Barton Fink, in the name of the hero's boarding house. Certainly, Gabriel Byrne would not be treated better by the movies than this.