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Blood Simple. is a 1984 neo-noir crime film written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film's title derives from the Dashiell Hammett novel Red Harvest, in which "blood simple" is a term to describe the addled, fearful mindset of people after a prolonged immersion in violent situations.[1]
It was the directorial debut of the Coens and the first major film of cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who later became a noted director, as well as the feature film debut of Joel Coen's wife Frances McDormand, who subsequently starred in many of his features.
In 2001, a "Director's cut" DVD was released. It ranked #98 on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills. The film also placed #73 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.
Plot
Julian Marty (Dan Hedaya), the owner of a Texas bar, suspects his wife Abby (Frances McDormand) is having an affair with one of his bartenders, Ray (John Getz). Marty hires private detective Loren Visser (M. Emmet Walsh) to take photos of Ray and Abby in bed at a local motel. The morning after their tryst, Marty makes a menacing phone call to them, making it clear he is aware of their relationship.
The following day, Ray confronts Marty and quits his job. Marty threatens Ray's life and advises him to not trust Abby. Marty then hires Visser to kill the couple while he takes a fishing trip to Corpus Christi to establish an alibi. Visser breaks into Ray's home, steals Abby's gun, and photographs the sleeping couple through the bedroom window. Later, he presents doctored photos of their corpses to Marty when collecting his $10,000 fee. He then shoots Marty with Abby's gun in a double cross, leaving the gun at the scene to frame Abby for Marty's murder.
Later that evening, Ray returns to the bar and, finding a seemingly dead Marty and Abby's gun, assumes Abby murdered her husband. He decides to cover up the murder, cleaning up the blood and disposing of evidence in a backyard incinerator. Ray drives to a remote field and digs a hole to dispose of Marty's body, but discovers that Marty is still alive. He throws Marty in the hole and buries him alive. Afterward, Ray calls Abby and she thanks him for calling her in the morning, but he misinterprets this as her gratitude for his role in Marty's murder.
Visser burns the doctored photos but realizes one is missing, having been locked in the bar's safe by Marty. Visser also realizes that he left his cigarette lighter in Marty's office. Meanwhile, Ray visits Abby and tells her "I cleaned up your mess," not realizing that she does not know what Ray is talking about. Ray assumes Abby is being coy, and they begin to argue. They are interrupted by a telephone call from Visser, who says nothing. Abby assumes that Marty is calling her and tells Ray. However, Ray assumes Abby is lying and storms out.
Confused by Ray's behavior, Abby goes to the bar to find it ransacked; Visser had been trying to break into the safe, but was interrupted by Abby's arrival. Observing the scene, Abby now thinks that Ray killed Marty because of a money dispute. She accuses him of this the next time they meet, but he explains that he found her gun at the bar and that he buried Marty alive. Ray returns once more to the bar and opens the safe, finding Visser's faked photo. He realizes he is being followed as he leaves for Abby's apartment.
When Abby arrives home that night, she turns on a light and finds Ray looking out the large window. He tells Abby to turn off the light because someone is watching them from across the street. Abby thinks Ray is threatening her, and leaves the light on. Visser is on a nearby roof with a rifle and, seeing Ray in the window, shoots him dead. Realizing Ray was right, Abby knocks out the light. She hides in the bathroom just as Visser arrives. Visser goes to the bathroom to kill Abby, who is not there. Reaching out the window, he opens the window to the next apartment, but Abby slams it down on his wrist and drives a knife through his hand. Visser shoots holes through the wall, punches through, and removes the knife. Abby retreats and waits behind the bathroom door, holding a gun.
As Visser is about to emerge, she fires through the door, hitting Visser. "I'm not afraid of you, Marty," Abby says. Visser, lying on the bathroom floor, mortally wounded, suddenly bursts into laughter. He says: "Well, ma'am, if I see 'im, I'll sure give 'im the message."
Cast
- John Getz as Ray
- Frances McDormand as Abby
- Dan Hedaya as Julian Marty
- M. Emmet Walsh as Loren Visser
- Samm-Art Williams as Meurice
- Deborah Neumann as Debra
- Holly Hunter as Helene Trend (voice only, uncredited)
Reception
The film currently holds a 95% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Director's Cut" and home media
The film was released on VHS tape in 1995 with a 99-minute running time, and, after the film had been re-released theatrically in 1998 (premiering at the Austin Film Festival on October 3) as a "Director's Cut" with a 96-minute running time, this version was released on DVD in 2001. This shorter version was released again on DVD in 2008 by MGM.
Unusual for such an exercise, the "Director's Cut" is some three minutes shorter than the original 1985 theatrical release. The Coens reduced the running time with tighter editing, shortening some shots and removing others altogether. In addition, they resolved long-standing rights issues with the music: the original theatrical version of the film made prominent use of The Four Tops' "It's the Same Old Song"; it had been replaced with Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer" for the 1995 U.S. home video edition on VHS. The "director's cut" reinstated the Four Tops track as the Coens had always intended.
The 2001 DVD release features several spoofs of DVD 'special features'. One is an introduction to the film by fictional film historian "Mortimer Young", who claims that the Director's Cut removes some of "the boring bits" and adds other parts; this was also included in the theatrical release of the Director's Cut.
It also includes an audio commentary by "Kenneth Loring", the fictional artistic director of the equally fictional "Forever Young Films". Loring offers several entirely spurious "facts": for example, he claims that the scene with Ray and Abby driving in the rain, talking about Marty, was acted out in reverse as well as upside down, to synch the headlights of passing the car just as certain lines were said (he claims that filming the scene backwards and upside down was the logical choice to get the timing right, and that the actors are wearing hair spray to keep their hair pointing "down"). Elsewhere in the commentary, he claims that, in scenes with both dialogue and music, the actors simply mouth the words and record them in post-production, so they won't interfere with the music; that Marty's dog is animatronic; that the sweat on various actors is "movie sweat", gathered from the flanks of Palomino horses; that Fred Astaire and Rosemary Clooney were at one time intended for the film; and that a fly buzzing about is not real, but the product of computer generated imagery. "Loring" is voiced by actor Jim Piddock, using a script written by the Coen brothers.
The 2008 MGM release is a barebones DVD edition of the 96-minute "Director's Cut", billed as Blood Simple: Director's Cut with no commentary or extras.
Soundtrack
The score to Blood Simple is written by Carter Burwell, the first of his collaborations with the Coen Brothers; he went on to write scores for all of their films. Blood Simple. was also the first feature film score for Burwell, and he became a much-in-demand composer in Hollywood.
The score is a mix of solo piano and electronic ambient sounds. One track, "Monkey Chant" is based on "Kecak", the "Ramayana Monkey Chant" of Bali.
Selections from Burwell's score were released on an album in 1987, along with selections from the Coen's next film, Raising Arizona.
Unusual for such an exercise, the "Director's Cut" is some three minutes shorter than the original 1985 theatrical release. The Coens reduced the running time with tighter editing, shortening some shots and removing others altogether. In addition, they resolved long-standing rights issues with the music: the original theatrical version of the film made prominent use of The Four Tops' "It's the Same Old Song"; it had been replaced with Neil Diamond's "I'm a Believer" for the 1995 U.S. home video edition on VHS. The "director's cut" reinstated the Four Tops track as the Coens had always intended.
The 2001 DVD release features several spoofs of DVD 'special features'. One is an introduction to the film by fictional film historian "Mortimer Young", who claims that the Director's Cut removes some of "the boring bits" and adds other parts; this was also included in the theatrical release of the Director's Cut.
It also includes an audio commentary by "Kenneth Loring", the fictional artistic director of the equally fictional "Forever Young Films". Loring offers several entirely spurious "facts": for example, he claims that the scene with Ray and Abby driving in the rain, talking about Marty, was acted out in reverse as well as upside down, to synch the headlights of passing the car just as certain lines were said (he claims that filming the scene backwards and upside down was the logical choice to get the timing right, and that the actors are wearing hair spray to keep their hair pointing "down"). Elsewhere in the commentary, he claims that, in scenes with both dialogue and music, the actors simply mouth the words and record them in post-production, so they won't interfere with the music; that Marty's dog is animatronic; that the sweat on various actors is "movie sweat", gathered from the flanks of Palomino horses; that Fred Astaire and Rosemary Clooney were at one time intended for the film; and that a fly buzzing about is not real, but the product of computer generated imagery. "Loring" is voiced by actor Jim Piddock, using a script written by the Coen brothers.
The 2008 MGM release is a barebones DVD edition of the 96-minute "Director's Cut", billed as Blood Simple: Director's Cut with no commentary or extras.
Soundtrack
The score to Blood Simple is written by Carter Burwell, the first of his collaborations with the Coen Brothers; he went on to write scores for all of their films. Blood Simple. was also the first feature film score for Burwell, and he became a much-in-demand composer in Hollywood.
The score is a mix of solo piano and electronic ambient sounds. One track, "Monkey Chant" is based on "Kecak", the "Ramayana Monkey Chant" of Bali.
Selections from Burwell's score were released on an album in 1987, along with selections from the Coen's next film, Raising Arizona.
- "Crash and Burn" – (2:40)
- "Blood Simple" – (3:33)
- "Chain Gang" – (4:47)
- "The March" – (3:34)
- "Monkey Chant" – (1:04)
- "The Shooting" – (2:52)
- "Blood Simpler" – (1:22)
- Other songs not on the CD
- "It's the Same Old Song" performed by The Four Tops
- "Louie Louie" performed by Toots & the Maytals
- "The Lady in Red" performed by Xavier Cugat and his Orchestra
- "Rogaciano"
- "He'll Have to Go" performed by Joan Black
- "El Sueno" performed by Johnny Ventura
- "Anahi" performed by Maria Luisa Buchino and her Llameros
- "Sweet Dreams" performed by Patsy Cline
Remake
In December 2009, Zhang Yimou released a loose remake of the film as a comedy. The film, titled A Simple Noodle Story (known internationally as A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop), is set in a Chinese noodle shop in a desert and revolves around the restaurant owner's plan to murder his adulterous wife and her lover.[3]
Above Extracts Taken From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Simple
More Info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086979/
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