The “genius” director Joel Coen hates with a passion: “I just don’t like his fucking movies”
Whenever a high-profile directing duo splits up and starts making movies on their own, it doesn’t take long before one of them is singled out as the weaker of the two. It can even happen to one of the greatest pairings of all time, as fans and detractors of the Coen brothers have discovered.
Joel has only helmed one feature without his younger sibling, but The Tragedy of Macbeth was an impressive calling card for his talents as an individual auteur, with the Shakespearean drama winning widespread acclaim and three Academy Award nominations.
Meanwhile, Ethan hasn’t been quite as fortunate. He’s been more prolific, directing the documentary, Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind, along with the black comedies Drive-Away Dolls and Honey Don’t!, but neither of his narrative films met the expectations expected from one half of the inimitable Coens.
That’s the way it’s always been, though, because whenever one becomes two, they’re inevitably pitted against each other, whether they like it or not. Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme was deemed superior to Benny’s The Smashing Machine in most quarters, and folks deciding which half is better has been happening since the days of Powell and Pressburger going their separate ways.
It seems inevitable that the Coens will reunite eventually, and when they do, it’ll be one of the hottest tickets in town. For the last four decades, they’ve become synonymous with idiosyncratic, offbeat capers that have elevated them into the pantheon of modern greats, which doesn’t mean that either of them are obligated to adore some of the other filmmakers who reside in a similar stratosphere.
During an appearance on the Team Deakins podcast hosted by their famed collaborator, Roger Deakins, Joel cited Akira Kurosawa, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, and John Ford as influences, which are hardly left-field choices when they’re recognised as four of the finest directors in the history of cinema.
However, one trailblazer who altered the complexion of Hollywood by making one of the best and most influential movies of all time on their very first attempt didn’t make the cut, with the Coen brother revealing that he’s no fan of Orson Welles. “Yeah, I know he is a genius,” Joel conceded. “But I just don’t like his fucking movies!”
You can recognise how important Citizen Kane is without fawning over it, just like it’s not against the law to watch The Magnificent Ambersons, The Lady from Shanghai, or Touch of Evil and wonder what all the fuss is about. Welles remains one of the industry’s sharpest and most ambitious minds ever, but he doesn’t have to be everyone’s cup of tea.
He isn’t Joel Coen’s preferred beverage, that’s for sure, and it goes to show that the modern era’s top-tier directors aren’t always beholden to the legends that came before.
