Anton Chigurh is a scary villain for many reasons, but the scariest might just be his inevitability.
In 2007, America was exhausted; two failed wars and a collapsing economy were taking its toll, and there was a sense that the world was slipping out of control. Into that void walked a quiet assassin with a bolt pistol and a bad bowl cut.
This video traces how he came to exist in Joel and Ethan Coen’s NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, a product of the strange inspirations that drove the celebrated filmmaking duo as well as actor Javier Bardem, whose performance belongs in the same conversation as Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and Heath Ledger’s Joker.
This clip is taken from THE DIRECTORS SERIES’ Patreon archives, an ongoing collection of in-depth, feature-length video essays on the filmmakers who shaped cinema. Patreon supporters get early access to every new video, written companion pieces and the complete DIRECTORS SERIES library– all ad-free.
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