The Coen brothers movie Joel Coen called “pretty damn bad”
Some movies are fortunate enough to boast two genius directors to their credits, and the works of the Coen brothers always have two excellent minds at work rather than just one, making their films some of the greatest moments of cinema of the last four decades or so.
Throughout their amazing careers, the Coen brothers have delivered several masterpieces, including the likes of Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski and No Country for Old Men, directing tales of comedy and drama in equal measure and examining the culture of the American south and the American west.
But like any great directors, the Coen brothers had to begin somewhere, and their first foray into their future careers all started with the 1984 independent neo-noir crime film Blood Simple, starring John Getz, frequent collaborator Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya and M. Emmet Walsh.
It tells the story of a Texan bartender who finds himself embroiled in a strange murder plot when his employer discovers he is having an affair with his wife. The boss hires a private eye to murder the new couple, but the investigator has a motive of his own. Blood Simple is well-regarded amongst cinema fans across the world.
However, Joel Coen still does not seem to like his movie, even though he seems to have enjoyed making it. He once pointed out that even though the experience of making Blood Simple was “positive”, the final product is still actually “pretty damn bad” in his eyes.
In an interview with Stephen Lowenstein for the book My First Movie: Twenty Celebrated Directors Talk About Their First Film, Cohen noted (via IndieWire), “On the other hand, it’s all confused with the actual process of making the movie and finishing the movie which, by and large, was a positive experience.”
He added, “You never get entirely divorced from it that way. So, I don’t know. It’s a movie that I have a certain affection for. But I think it’s pretty damn bad!” Perhaps Coen feels that both he and his brother hadn’t quite mastered their style on Blood Simple, which is understandable considering it was their first effort.
Still, the chance to make a feature-length film of any kind or quality is an experience that any budding filmmaker can’t forget, and even though Coen looks back on his debut with some twinges of embarrassment, it was certainly a worthwhile moment in his career that would see him labelled one of the best directors of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.
Check out the trailer below.
