Blood Simple. (1984)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

18 enero 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Frase comercial:

Breaking up is hard

Plot:

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

Plot Keywords:

Crime Gone Awry | Adultery | Cow | Film Noir | Ceiling Fan

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Comentarios de los usuarios:

A great early Cohen film where the claustrophobic heat and tension seep from the screen

Cast

John Getz	...	Ray
Frances McDormand	...	Abby
Dan Hedaya	...	Julian Marty
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Loren Visser
Samm-Art Williams	...	Meurice
Deborah Neumann	...	Debra
Raquel Gavia	...	Landlady
Van Brooks	...	Man from Lubbock
Señor Marco	...	Mr. Garcia
William Creamer	...	Old Cracker
Loren Bivens	...	Strip-Bar Exhorter
Bob McAdams	...	Strip-Bar Exhorter
Shannon Sedwick	...	Stripper
Nancy Finger	...	Girl on Overlook
William Preston Robertson	...	Radio Evangelist (voice)

También conocida como:

Sangre fácil (Spain) [es]
Simplemente sangre (Argentina) [es]

Duración:

99 min | 94 min (director's cut)

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital (re-release) | Ultra Stereo

Clasificación:

Australia:R | South Korea:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:16 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Foxton Entertainment

Trivialidades:

Holly Hunter had auditioned for the role of Abby, but turned it down because she was performing a play in New York at the same time. So she encouraged her roommate Frances McDormand to go and audition for the role.

Goofs:

Continuity: When we first see Abby's revolver in her purse, it is a detective-style gun with an enclosed hammer and no cocking lever. For the rest of the movie, it is a standard revolver with a cocking lever - a completely different gun.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Private Detective Visser: [narrating] The world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, 'n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else... that's the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an' down here... you're on your own.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Shooting 'Miller's Crossing': A Conversation with Barry Sonnenfeld (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

El Sueno

A great early Cohen film where the claustrophobic heat and tension seep from the screen

Abby is cheating on husband Marty with his employee Ray. Unbeknownst to them, Marty has had the pair followed and caught in the act by an odious private detective. With Marty rejected he turns to the detective with an offer of money to kill the cheating lovers and dispose of the bodies. The detective accepts and, with Marty out of town to ensure an alibi, the plan seems so clear and simple to execute. However, where blood is involved, nothing ever runs smoothly or simple.

Watching No Country for Old Men recently put me in mind of Blood Simple and gave me an excuse to watch it again for the first time in about a decade. I was glad that I did because, although it is very slimmed down, all the themes and standards that continue with the Cohen brothers down the years. The film is a modern noir-ish crime thriller with a contained set of circumstances bringing death and ruin to all involved. The story is engaging but it does have holes within it but they are not serious enough to affect the flow. What carries it through everything though is the visual style and feel given to the film by the Cohen's. From the opening sequence in the car to the ever present roar of the incinerator to the sweating, cackling presence of the detective, the sparse dialogue just doesn't matter because of the delivery. As with No Country, you can feel the oppressive heat and tension in each scene and it makes for a satisfying film.

The cast play to this heat and tension with contained but tense performances. The standout is Walsh, whose sweaty moral void is the heart of the film. Hedaya is almost as good in a smaller role. The two "lead" characters suffer a little from being less interesting but nevertheless both Getz and McDormand are good. Blood Simple is a tight and short film with limited dialogue and little in the way of quick action. However what it does have is a wonderful sense of Texas and crime. The slow pace adds to the claustrophobic feel of heat, which in turns adds to the tension and the constant presence of death in the air. Amazing to think the Cohen brothers started getting it so right so early in their careers.