Blood Simple

Blood Simple is the Coen brothers’ most complex and “purest” film. I didn’t breathe for the last ten minutes. (13.07.2002)

When things go wrong... In a brutally straightforward way, the characters in Blood Simple come to the realisation that infidelity doesn’t pay and that problems with communication can have fatal consequences. The Coen brothers gnawed the conventions of film noir down to the marrow. They don’t spend a lot of time on setting up the plot or introducing the characters, about whom we know nothing except their names (and that Ray served in the military, which corresponds to his way of thinking). Thanks to this, the narrative, which is conveyed with the simplicity of an urban legend that people discuss among themselves, is open to a broad range of interpretations and, at the most basic level, we can enjoy how the film keeps us in suspense without having to deal with the psychology and social backgrounds of the helpless characters hounded by fate. Though this is a run-of-the-mill story of infidelity and revenge, it holds our attention not only thanks to its unique formalistic elements (camera approaches, unusual angles, work with depth of field), but also due to the fact that events develop in ways that are far from what we expect. Some twists come sooner than we would expect, while others don’t happen at all (a forgotten lighter doesn’t play the anticipated role) and events have very unexpected consequences due to the characters being uninformed (one could write long narrative analyses about the masterful creation of a plot based on what a character knows or thinks he knows). Despite its seeming simplicity, Blood Simple is an intoxicatingly well-thought-out thriller for knowledgeable viewers, who will appreciate the fact that the filmmakers don’t try to pull them out of the concept with cheap tricks. Instead of that, they opt for unexpected changes of mood (the bizarre dialogue about Marty’s anal-retentive nature, gleefully dark humour) and scenes that are suspenseful due to their duration (and the resulting anticipation of when “it” will happen) and end abruptly with an economical cut that smoothly transports us through time and space. Not only rhythmically balanced, original and unpredictable in its creation of tension, Blood Simple is an example of a mature debut by filmmakers who know what they want. The Coen brothers’ subsequent genre revisions, though funnier and more sophisticated in terms of narrative, are not as brutally simple in their logic or as cathartic in their simplicity. 85% (09.12.2015)

The opening monologue says, among other things, that “somethin' can all go wrong,” which is true. It is all the more surprising that absolutely nothing went wrong on this debut. (26.09.2008)

The Coens in full force. A dense thriller with a great atmosphere, good actors and a chilling ending that I haven't seen in a long time. The story may be over the top and very weird, but the craftsmanship is great. 80% (28.04.2013)

Ich habe gehofft, dass ich nach dem Schauen der idiotischen Kreationen von Pierre Richard im Großen Blonden lange keinen schlimmeren Film sehen würde. Und doch ist es passiert. Den Brüdern Coen bin ich nie so richtig auf den Geschmack gekommen. Ich erkenne die Qualitäten von Fargo und The Big Lebowski an, doch die anderen Streifen sind nichts wert. No Country for Old Men hatte wenigstens einen Triumph mit Bardem, doch Blood Simple hat überhaupt nichts. Schlimme Langeweile, ein blödes Drehbuch, eine langsame Kamera, schreckliche schauspielerische Leistungen mit M. Emmet Walsh an der Spitze und insgesamt ein stupider Film, der nichts bietet. Mit den Coen-Brüdern bin ich für lange Zeit fertig, vielleicht für immer. (04.01.2010)

The Coen brothers pulled off another great movie. True, I lowered my original rating by one star, but that was mostly because I'm getting spoiled these days and maybe I nitpick too much. Anyway, I did enjoy the film and I rank it among my favorite classics. (01.03.2018)