Comments on: “Fixin’ to make a fire in the dark and the cold”: some notes on loving “No Country for Old Men” http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 23:01:09 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: poker hold up http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-457730 poker hold up Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:11:38 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-457730 <strong>poker hold up...</strong> configure predetermines Eveready dragonfly warbler ... poker hold up…

configure predetermines Eveready dragonfly warbler …

]]> By: Kyle http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241874 Kyle Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:19:03 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241874 Wasn't Moss killed by the Mexicans? Wasn’t Moss killed by the Mexicans?

]]> By: James P http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241863 James P Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:57:49 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241863 Thanks for the thoughtful review. I have to admit I'm one who was annoyed at the ending, feeling deceived that a different film had been 'tacked' onto the first, and the seeming pointlessness of the Woody character. Yet I can greatly appreciate the sentiment of the last 20 minutes when viewed in isolation, and now that I've re-read the dream text. I still wonder however, whether the two parts couldn't have been more seamlessly joined. I just don't think I was mentally prepared by the movie plot, for the ending. Thanks for the thoughtful review. I have to admit I’m one who was annoyed at the ending, feeling deceived that a different film had been ‘tacked’ onto the first, and the seeming pointlessness of the Woody character.

Yet I can greatly appreciate the sentiment of the last 20 minutes when viewed in isolation, and now that I’ve re-read the dream text.

I still wonder however, whether the two parts couldn’t have been more seamlessly joined. I just don’t think I was mentally prepared by the movie plot, for the ending.

]]> By: John http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241821 John Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:41:37 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-241821 Thank you. Really. That was the best review I have ever read for this brilliant, beautiful, fabulously done film. I was so happy for the Coen Brothers when they received the Oscar recognition they so deeply deserved. Thank you. Really. That was the best review I have ever read for this brilliant, beautiful, fabulously done film. I was so happy for the Coen Brothers when they received the Oscar recognition they so deeply deserved.

]]> By: owbert http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239891 owbert Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:26:39 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239891 hugo, to give you an idea of how dear i hold NCFOM: i have this huge urge to go through my entire movies-i-have-seen-and-rated list on my netflix account and demote nearly all the five-star-rated-movies to four stars, and subsequently do the same, and so fourth, with each of the star rating tier. yeah, that good. hugo, to give you an idea of how dear i hold NCFOM: i have this huge urge to go through my entire movies-i-have-seen-and-rated list on my netflix account and demote nearly all the five-star-rated-movies to four stars, and subsequently do the same, and so fourth, with each of the star rating tier.

yeah, that good.

]]> By: owbert http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239879 owbert Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:14:52 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239879 spot-on! i have been having a hard time trying to convey what the the recounting of the dream meant to not only friends, but myself as well. spot-on! i have been having a hard time trying to convey what the the recounting of
the dream meant to not only friends, but myself as well.

]]> By: mercy http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239335 mercy Sat, 23 Feb 2008 20:24:16 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-239335 Thank you for giving us such an inspiring piece.......I will certainly go see it. Thank you for giving us such an inspiring piece…….I will certainly go see it.

]]> By: Scotto http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-217911 Scotto Sat, 02 Feb 2008 08:04:44 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-217911 Thanks for the review. I just saw the film, and as a person into dreams, I came home and wanted to see if I could find the dream sequence on the web. I think this is a brilliant ending for the movie, and I agree with much of the praise expressed here. However, I think some big points have been missed. I think that the movie ends with a dream shows that our actions and motives are largely unconscious, both the "good" guys and the "bad". The first dream has his father giving him money, but he loses it. In other words, he fails to respect the value of money. Money is not intrinsically evil, lack of respect for money, carelessness, makes money evil. Then, we become delusional and seek evil ways to obtain it if we fail to appreciate it is our responsibility, much as it is our responsibility, in the second dream, to make sure we bring a fire in a horn if we are going to sleep in the cold of night. As shown in the second dream, the money game is cold. We take the lead from our fathers, if we are lucky, we have a father that lights a hopeful, warm, emotional path, and we are able to learn responsibility in a respectful environment. if we are not lucky, we have an cold father or no father at all, and the money game is played without human emotion, care, respect, responsibility, or justice. In this later case, we are prone to see ourselves as machines, with our fates made by blind fate, a flip of the coin, rather than created by our selves through the priority of the warm light of feeling and emotion and passing and receiving the torch from father to son. Thus, we are prone to place no value above brute survival and greed. "No Country for Old Men" seems to imply that old age forces a confrontation with our delusional perceptions about how much we have controlled our life, how much control we have had, and why we have chosen what we have chosen. We live in a delusion that it is "our country" as long as we are young and have not come to terms with life's unfairness and cruelty. As the movie suggests, what control and freedom we have had has been a gift more than our choice. The unconscious rules, but we do not begin to realize this without experience. We are lucky if we have lived on the side of light, it is a gift. It is a gift worth preserving, and that is our job as fathers of future generations to provide some light for young men. Ultimately, how much light we get, when death will come, that it is chosen as much by animalistic energy as by reason and fairness is a great mystery. As the horse ride implies, this growing awareness is a journey. The value of the Terminator is that the deadly painful fear and horror that he creates leads us to realize just how good we have in our own life. In a real sense, we couldn't truly live without his morose message. Evil shapes the form of the light we get. On the negative side, I found the film riddled with logical inconsistencies. For example, before I even knew there was a homing device in the sachel, I thought, why is Moss keeping the money in the same carrying case he found it in? If someone is looking for it, that is a dead give away. Further, if Anton has a homing device why would even wait to go to the trailer and why would he go in, since the money was already gone. Why didn't he use the detector then? Big problems!! Lastly, Moss was awfully slow to realize there was a homing device, wouldn't that be the first question you would ask once he found you and blew away the three Mexicans in the hotel??? Wouldn't you immediately get rid of that sachel? Thanks for the review. I just saw the film, and as a person into dreams, I came home and wanted to see if I could find the dream sequence on the web. I think this is a brilliant ending for the movie, and I agree with much of the praise expressed here. However, I think some big points have been missed.

I think that the movie ends with a dream shows that our actions and motives are largely unconscious, both the “good” guys and the “bad”. The first dream has his father giving him money, but he loses it. In other words, he fails to respect the value of money. Money is not intrinsically evil, lack of respect for money, carelessness, makes money evil. Then, we become delusional and seek evil ways to obtain it if we fail to appreciate it is our responsibility, much as it is our responsibility, in the second dream, to make sure we bring a fire in a horn if we are going to sleep in the cold of night.

As shown in the second dream, the money game is cold. We take the lead from our fathers, if we are lucky, we have a father that lights a hopeful, warm, emotional path, and we are able to learn responsibility in a respectful environment. if we are not lucky, we have an cold father or no father at all, and the money game is played without human emotion, care, respect, responsibility, or justice. In this later case, we are prone to see ourselves as machines, with our fates made by blind fate, a flip of the coin, rather than created by our selves through the priority of the warm light of feeling and emotion and passing and receiving the torch from father to son. Thus, we are prone to place no value above brute survival and greed.

“No Country for Old Men” seems to imply that old age forces a confrontation with our delusional perceptions about how much we have controlled our life, how much control we have had, and why we have chosen what we have chosen. We live in a delusion that it is “our country” as long as we are young and have not come to terms with life’s unfairness and cruelty. As the movie suggests, what control and freedom we have had has been a gift more than our choice. The unconscious rules, but we do not begin to realize this without experience. We are lucky if we have lived on the side of light, it is a gift. It is a gift worth preserving, and that is our job as fathers of future generations to provide some light for young men. Ultimately, how much light we get, when death will come, that it is chosen as much by animalistic energy as by reason and fairness is a great mystery. As the horse ride implies, this growing awareness is a journey. The value of the Terminator is that the deadly painful fear and horror that he creates leads us to realize just how good we have in our own life. In a real sense, we couldn’t truly live without his morose message. Evil shapes the form of the light we get.

On the negative side, I found the film riddled with logical inconsistencies. For example, before I even knew there was a homing device in the sachel, I thought, why is Moss keeping the money in the same carrying case he found it in? If someone is looking for it, that is a dead give away. Further, if Anton has a homing device why would even wait to go to the trailer and why would he go in, since the money was already gone. Why didn’t he use the detector then? Big problems!! Lastly, Moss was awfully slow to realize there was a homing device, wouldn’t that be the first question you would ask once he found you and blew away the three Mexicans in the hotel??? Wouldn’t you immediately get rid of that sachel?

]]> By: Shey LeRosen http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-206247 Shey LeRosen Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:29:44 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-206247 I've seen No Country four times and have been posting on the imdb message boards that it is one of the deepest movies ever made. Some people agree and others think I'm an idiot. I've also read the book but this is one of those very rare instances where, as happened with Fight Club, I liked the film adaptation better than the source material. Its also particularly demonstrative of the Coen brothers' talent because I've read every McCarthy novel and he is my favorite living author. All that being said, I absolutely agree that the ultimate message behind this very dark movie is one of light and hope. Someone stated in an earlier response that the light in the horn is the light of our lives burning and that it will eventually go out. That is an erroneous interpretation as the darkness in the dream is the darkness of death as Bell's dead father is there. The light in Bell's father's horn is a light in the afterlife. It isn't a light in this world. It is also important to note that the first dream in Bell's closing monologue was about Bell being a little boy and he and his father go into town. His father gives him some money but he says to his wife that he can't remember what he did with the money his father gave him. "Maybe I lost it," is exactly what he says. That ties into the fact that the entire movie and all of the deaths are fallout from the chase for a missing satchel with 2 million dollars in it. Yet Bell never gets caught up in the chase for this money. He is only trying to save Moss from getting killed. "Money is the root of all evil" is how the axiom goes and Bell isn't sucked into that evil. Therefor, he has a light waiting for him in his afterlife. It's important to consider that the movie is bookended by monologues from Bell. The opening monologue has him talking about how the world has become so violent and that to engage the world as it has become "you almost have to put your soul at risk, say 'O.K., I'll be part of this world." He only half becomes part of this world as he does try to help Moss stay alive but he also keeps his distance from the carnage that is taking place. The only reason the last line of the movie is Bell saying "And then I woke up" is because he wakes up from that night's sleep and from his dreams. It also fits into the overall brilliant direction of the Coens as the screen immediately cuts to black and the viewer can then wake up from the hypnotic experience of this masterpiece. Of course, that's all my own humble opinion. It is good to read that someone else was also left dumbfounded by their experience. I'm rooting for more movies of this caliber, that don't insult the viewer's intelligence, to be made. Therefor, every fan helps! Peace. I’ve seen No Country four times and have been posting on the imdb message boards that it is one of the deepest movies ever made. Some people agree and others think I’m an idiot. I’ve also read the book but this is one of those very rare instances where, as happened with Fight Club, I liked the film adaptation better than the source material. Its also particularly demonstrative of the Coen brothers’ talent because I’ve read every McCarthy novel and he is my favorite living author. All that being said, I absolutely agree that the ultimate message behind this very dark movie is one of light and hope. Someone stated in an earlier response that the light in the horn is the light of our lives burning and that it will eventually go out. That is an erroneous interpretation as the darkness in the dream is the darkness of death as Bell’s dead father is there. The light in Bell’s father’s horn is a light in the afterlife. It isn’t a light in this world. It is also important to note that the first dream in Bell’s closing monologue was about Bell being a little boy and he and his father go into town. His father gives him some money but he says to his wife that he can’t remember what he did with the money his father gave him. “Maybe I lost it,” is exactly what he says. That ties into the fact that the entire movie and all of the deaths are fallout from the chase for a missing satchel with 2 million dollars in it. Yet Bell never gets caught up in the chase for this money. He is only trying to save Moss from getting killed. “Money is the root of all evil” is how the axiom goes and Bell isn’t sucked into that evil. Therefor, he has a light waiting for him in his afterlife. It’s important to consider that the movie is bookended by monologues from Bell. The opening monologue has him talking about how the world has become so violent and that to engage the world as it has become “you almost have to put your soul at risk, say ‘O.K., I’ll be part of this world.” He only half becomes part of this world as he does try to help Moss stay alive but he also keeps his distance from the carnage that is taking place. The only reason the last line of the movie is Bell saying “And then I woke up” is because he wakes up from that night’s sleep and from his dreams. It also fits into the overall brilliant direction of the Coens as the screen immediately cuts to black and the viewer can then wake up from the hypnotic experience of this masterpiece.
Of course, that’s all my own humble opinion. It is good to read that someone else was also left dumbfounded by their experience. I’m rooting for more movies of this caliber, that don’t insult the viewer’s intelligence, to be made. Therefor, every fan helps! Peace.

]]> By: Karen http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-203779 Karen Fri, 18 Jan 2008 17:45:09 +0000 http://hugoschwyzer.net/2007/12/03/fixin-to-make-a-fire-in-the-dark-and-the-cold-some-notes-on-loving-no-country-for-old-men/#comment-203779 Hugo, thanks for the reviecw. I saw this movie, then Atonement, then Sweeny Todd and then Juno all in that order over the holidays. I don't see movies like I used too and have become quite selective. Most to me are only dollar worthy and I much prefer reading as I think Hollywood tends to botch good literature. I appreciate the Coen brothers work and also McCarthy's novels. I think the carnage of the movie was so unsettling to me that I felt emotionally drained and numb, so when it came to the subtle ending I wasn't listening as well and missed the point of the end as you write above. I thought it well done, but violence, even when there is a point to it, is just so hard to watch. Atonement on the other hand packed a whopper of an emotional punch at the end. The story lead up to the ending. Unfortunately, it's marketed as a love story (chick flick), which I think is quiet misleading as the love story is not the cenral point of the movie at all. I never pay much attention to trailers anymore as they are too misleading and I am selective about reviews for the same reason. I did appreciate your review above...Well done. Hugo, thanks for the reviecw. I saw this movie, then Atonement, then Sweeny Todd and then Juno all in that order over the holidays. I don’t see movies like I used too and have become quite selective. Most to me are only dollar worthy and I much prefer reading as I think Hollywood tends to botch good literature. I appreciate the Coen brothers work and also McCarthy’s novels. I think the carnage of the movie was so unsettling to me that I felt emotionally drained and numb, so when it came to the subtle ending I wasn’t listening as well and missed the point of the end as you write above. I thought it well done, but violence, even when there is a point to it, is just so hard to watch. Atonement on the other hand packed a whopper of an emotional punch at the end. The story lead up to the ending. Unfortunately, it’s marketed as a love story (chick flick), which I think is quiet misleading as the love story is not the cenral point of the movie at all. I never pay much attention to trailers anymore as they are too misleading and I am selective about reviews for the same reason. I did appreciate your review above…Well done.

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