Blood Simple: Director’s Cut, 1984.
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Starring John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams and M. Emmet Walsh.
SYNOPSIS:
A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.
Released nearly 30 years ago, this DVD re-release of the Coen brothers’ debut film Blood Simple is as fresh and rewarding a watch as when first viewed. If you haven’t seen it already, then now is the perfect opportunity to do so.
Like its title suggests, Blood Simple is a simple and bloody story but a familiar one; a jealous husband hires a man to kill his wife and her lover for $10,000 but things do not go to plan, and by the end no one is safe. It’s classic film noir and there’s nothing wrong with that. What makes this a superior ‘modern noir’ is that the Coens know their film has its root firmly grounded in noir and aren’t afraid to pay homage to that fact. A femme fatale; dark, shadowy room; a gun for hire; the foreboding sense of death at every corner; double crossers, and of course plenty of death.
The cinematography and use of shadow and light from future Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld is excellent considering the low budget this film was made for; it never looks cheap and remains true to its style throughout. Moreover, the use of humour in the film helps shifts Blood Simple from a mere homage of film noir bur rather to a filmmaker’s vision of the genre. The film’s comic tone often as dark as the night where bodies are buried and murders are committed.
In the cannon of the Coens filmography, this debut feature still remains one of their best efforts. If it were not for Blood Simple, then perhaps their modern masterpiece that is No Country for Old Men would not have been the film it was, for here they executed a basic story without the star power or budget and delivered a magnificent film at the first attempt and yet their best work was still to come.
Blood Simple is one of the most impressive debut features of the 1980s and is a highly recommended purchase on DVD.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Rohan Morbey – follow me on Twitter.
Originally published April 15, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
