Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

See Also

See Also in This Set

Academy Awards

Film in the United States

Independent films

Jewish Americans

Sundance Film Festival

The 1990s in America

Coen brothers

by Carolyn Anderson

Identification American film writer/producer/director team

During the 1990’s, the Coen brothers brought a quirky, literate, ironic, and often shocking sensibility to their unique versions of American genre films, especially the screwball comedy and the film noir.

The sons of an academic couple, Joel and Ethan Coen were raised in a Jewish suburb of Minneapolis. At an early age, the brothers developed an interest in popular culture and in making their own versions of Hollywood movies. After graduating from the alternative high school/college at Simon’s Rock, the pair attended New York University, where Joel studied film and Ethan philosophy. Several years of apprentice film work preceded their startling, self-financed debut feature, Blood Simple (1984), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The filmmaking duo Ethan (left) and Joel Coen, who directed the thriller Fargo, laugh as they pose at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival.

ph_Coen.jpg

(AP/Wide World Photos)

In the 1990’s, a decade characterized by its big-budget sequels, the Coens released five features, typically produced on small budgets, always based on their highly original screenplays (and their explicit storyboards): Miller’s Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996), and The Big Lebowski (1998). The Coens set their films in various regions of the United States, often in past eras: Miller’s Crossing follows the gang wars and corrupt politics of the 1920’s; Barton Fink explores a mind-numbing 1941 Hollywood studio system; and The Hudsucker Proxy satirizes the corporate world of 1958 New York City. Two of the Coens’ many unforgettable characters, the perpetually stoned “Dude” (Jeff Bridges) and his bowling buddy, Vietnam veteran Walter (John Goodman), move through 1990’s Los Angeles locked into 1960’s attitudes in The Big Lebowski. Although set in the 1990’s, Fargo evokes an earlier time of innocence in the character of Marge (Frances McDormand), the pregnant, practical, and optimistic policewoman faced with a series of hideous murders.

The most expensive production, featuring the biggest Hollywood name (Paul Newman), The Hudsucker Proxy was their least successful film, critically and financially, while the modestly made Fargo was their greatest commercial and critical success, winning Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Actress (for McDormand, who is married to Joel Coen).

The brothers share writing credits and, although Ethan is credited as producer and Joel as director, they share these responsibilities and also coedit, under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes. Added to the family atmosphere are regular crew and cast members (John Turturo, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi). In many respects, the Coen brothers continue the practice they began as boys: working together, having fun, and making their own versions of Hollywood genre films. Perhaps the best example of their ability to combine pulp fiction and philosophy, macabre violence and clever dialogue, in ways both derivative and unique is Miller’s Crossing, one of the best films of the 1990’s.

Impact

The Coen brothers have demonstrated the viability of creating low-budget Hollywood films that possess the originality and autonomy of the best independent cinema, while capitalizing on the distribution potential of major studios.

Further Reading

1 

Allen, William Rodney, ed. The Coen Brothers: Interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006.

2 

Palmer, R. Barton. Joel and Ethan Coen. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

3 

Robson, Eddie. Coen Brothers. London: Virgin Books, 2003.

Citation Types

Type
Format
MLA 9th
Anderson, Carolyn. "Coen Brothers." The 1990s in America, edited by Milton Berman, Salem Press, 2009. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=1990_1128.
APA 7th
Anderson, C. (2009). Coen brothers. In M. Berman (Ed.), The 1990s in America. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
Anderson, Carolyn. "Coen Brothers." Edited by Milton Berman. The 1990s in America. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2009. Accessed October 22, 2025. online.salempress.com.