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Released by: Universal
Released on: 2/9/2010
Director: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cast: Michael Stuhlberg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed, Sari Lennick, Aaron Wolff, Jessica McManus,
Year: 2009
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The Movie:
Recently (at the time of this writing at least) nominated for Best Picture in the 2010 Academy Awards, The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man is set in a Minneapolis suburb in 1967. Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) enjoys his simple life. He works as a college physics professor who is currently under review by the tenure committee but is hopeful about his chances there. His world comes crashing down around him, sort of, when he comes home one day and his wife, Judith (Sari Lennick), sits him down and forces him to have 'the talk.' She's no longer interested in him and has fallen in love with an older, portlier widower named Sy Abelman (Fred Melamed) who is insistent that the pair have a 'gett' performed so that he and she can remarry within their Jewish faith.
Complicating matters further is the presence of his brother, Arthur (Richard Kind), a well meaning and socially awkward middle aged man who has to constantly drain his cyst much to the dismay of Larry's daughter, Sarah (Jessica McManus), a teenager who is constantly at war with her thieving pot head brother, Danny (Aaron Wolff), whose bar mitzvah is right around the corner. Adding insult to injury is a neighbor who may or may not be an anti-Semite and a Korean exchange student who is trying to bribe his way through Larry's class with the help of his pushy father. Larry and Arthur see no choice but to move into the nearby Jolly Roger hotel, so that Larry will be out of Judith's hair but close enough to fix the TV antenna for Danny when he wants to watch F-Troop, hoping only that he'll be able to finally book an appointment with the senior rabbi who he's sure will offer him some sort of sage advice that will help him see through the fog his life has become.
Shot and edited by Roger Deakins this is a film so layered and well put together that you can't help but want to see it a second time immediately after you've finished it the first time. From the odd but intriguing and somehow wholly appropriate prologue to the completely ambiguous ending, this turns out to be a film that offers its comedy from a very uncomfortable place. This isn't the absurdist humor of The Big Lebowski here, it's more the type of film where you're laughing the situations and the characters because you don't really know what else to do. What Larry goes through physically, socially and spiritually is horrible by anyone's standards and as we watch him wrestle with the morality of his situation, sometimes more successfully than others, we don't laugh at him or with him but because it's sometimes human instinct to laugh at inappropriate times. Consider this film a one hundred minute inappropriate time and go with it, don't try to understand why it's funny and just appreciate the fact that it is, even if it's almost always at Larry's expense.
That said, the sometimes exaggerated circumstances do mix well with the quirky late sixties settings and social mores and the strange Jewish sense of humor that laces the film offers plenty of opportunity for giggles, but even here, the whole thing is underneath the thumb of Larry's truly shitty life. The film has a message to it, a fairly simple one that's spelled out a couple of times, a prime example being Larry's ever expanding record collection, growing, along with his debt, simply because he did nothing to stop it. But this is a film that, when it ends, offers no answers and maybe that's the point. The Coens don't tend to explain these things and much of this picture is quite rightfully left open to interpretation but the simplicity of it all has to count for something. It's a film that talks about rules and faith and the coexistence (or lack thereof) of the two and it's a film that parallels the Biblical book of Job and it's a film that serves as a sort of spiritual Newton's Law but it's not a film that spells things out for the viewer or a film that wraps anything at all up with a nice, tidy bow.
The film is anchored with fantastic performances all around. There's not a bad actor in the bunch here and while most of the cast is made up of unknowns or relative unknowns, everyone who appears in front of the camera does great work here. There's a strange style to the whole thing, some great editing, excellent use of sound and a very rhythmic pacing to it all. On a technical level the film is a strong one. The content won't appeal to everyone, it's far too obtuse, but it's a ridiculously thought provoking film in many ways and one of the best things that the Coens have ever had their names attached to.
Video/Audio/Extras:
A Serious Man looks great in this 1.85.1 1080p AVC encoded anamorphic widescreen high definition transfer. There's a lot of great detail in the textures of the clothes and sets used in the film and while this isn't the most colorful film you'll ever see, the transfer really does a fine job of replicating the subdued look that the Coen's were going for here. The colors lean heavily towards earth tones, with a lot of oranges and browns and greens used, while much of the locations used are on the drab side so don't expect the colors to pop that often (though there are times where they do) - the film just isn't meant to look like that. Skin tones are perfectly natural though and black levels are nice and strong. Some of the scenes that take place outside have had their colors bleached a fair bit, but this was obviously done on purpose. There aren't any problems with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement nor is there any print damage to note. All in all, this is a fine looking transfer of some pristine, if odd looking, source material.
The English language DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is, like the video transfer, excellent for what it is. This isn't a film filled with action or adventure, it's almost entirely dialogue based, but the few instances that do call for heavier surround activity, such as the car crash, definitely get it. The Jefferson Airplane track, used throughout the film sounds nice and punchy while plenty of ambient and background noise keeps things sounding interesting. Subtitles are provided in English SDH, French and Spanish while Spanish and French language Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound tracks are also supplied.
The primary extras come in the form of two featurettes, the first of which is Becoming Serious (17:04) in which the Coen Brothers talk about what and who inspired them to write this film, who some of the characters are based on, and what they were getting at with this story. They also touch on the film's odd prologue. Interviews with the cast and producer deliver a bit of information about various characters as well. It's vague enough to let you make up your own mind about much of the picture's meaning but at the same time it spills enough information to at least point you in the right direction. The second featurette is Creating 1967 (13:43) and it allows production designer Jess Gonchor to explain what went into recreating the era in which the film takes place by using different Minnesota locations and by paying close attention to details in regards to fashions, furniture, cars and the like. It's quite interesting.
Rounding out the extras are some animated menus, chapter selection, and a short segment entitled Hebrew And Yiddish For Goys (2:14) that translates some of the Jewish vernacular used throughout the movie. If your Blu-ray player is connected to the internet and able to take advantage of Blu-ray Live capability built into the disc, you'll also be able to access some additional content.
The Final Word:
As thought provoking as it is amusing, A Serious Man will touch a nerve with anyone who has ever wrestled with the notions of faith and religion without ever preaching or brow beating. Often times hilarious and always incredibly well acted, it'll make you laugh and it'll make you think and, more than likely, it'll leave you scratching your head but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Universal's Blu-ray release looks and sounds great and if it's a bit light one extras, the quality of the film more than makes up for that.