The meaning of the film is displayed in the first few seconds: “The wicked flee when none pursueth”. The True Grit which is admired is not only of the fearless marshal who classes the villain but mainly of the 14-year-old girl, which has already understood how to deal with the world that deprived her of her father, asking for the murderer’s punishment.
A classic western created the masters Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, with an excellent cast, and a good story.
My rating: 08/10
It looks like a comedy but it is bitter. The surface may make you laugh but, if you want to see a film of Ethan and Joel Coen you do not go to see a nice comedy, do you? Well, down in the essence of it, in my opinion, it becomes more depressing than “No country for old men“. It is “no country for young men” either. This is the meaning of the film.
There are two stories in that movie: one before the initial titles, a five minutes story and the main film after. Both stories have something in common: an individual, sane, sensible, logical, facing an irrational world around it. A world that has its own standards, logic (or lack of it) and decides, despite of his desire, effort and will, what happens next.
The title, is used by different individuals in the film: the main character and its opponent. They both claim to be “serious”, but one of them is not: what does such a title offer anyway? What does any title offer??
The second story makes an elaborate approach to the concept of religion and its inability to provide a relief to the troubled individual: all the wisdom that once could south the soul now is gone… All the suffering that produces through the rituals it forces to children that are obliged to follow it, is more depressing than ever. Because, these rituals are deprived of their real meaning.
My rating: 06/10 (because I am fed up with pessimistic movies!!!)
10000movies's Blog 