"If a frog had wings..."
Chapter Seven : Daylight Is A Dream If You've Lived With Your Eyes
Closed: The Cinematic Epiphanies of Joel and Ethan Coen
As a Coen film ends, I have the distinct pleasure of knowing I've seen something good without knowing exactly why. O'Connor tells us that if artistic expression is to be wholesome, it will have to start by being whole, and every Coen film is embarrassingly whole. They give us the whole of whatever story their telling. From the child stealing the toupee of a dead mobster (with a dog watching him do it) to the car buyer summoning the nerve to use an expletive against a duplicitous salesman to the coffee ring circling the newspaper's one feasible job description to a hotel clerk repeating himself ("My name is Chet."). This overflowing abundance and the maddening attention to detail put other films (and most novels) to shame. As it always is with the wholesome, the meanings are ever dawning. They come to us over time as phrases, scenes, and images collide and caress and impact our minds. This is the characteristic effect of apocalyptic.