No Country for Old Men (2007) - Sheriff Bell's dreams (Tommy Lee Jones)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ย. 2011
- Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name.
Dream #1
The first one I don't remember too well, but it was about meeting him in town, somewheres, and he give me some money. I think I lost it.
Dream #2
Second one, it was like we was both back in older times. And I was a-horseback, going through the mountains of a night. Going through this pass in the mountains. It was cold, and there was snow on the ground. And he rode past me and kept on going, never said nothing going by, just rode on past. He had his blanket wrapped around him and his head down. When he rode past, I seen he was carrying fire in a horn, the way people used to do, and I... I could see the horn from the light inside of it, 'bout the color of the moon. And, in the dream, I knew that he was going on ahead. He was fixin' to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and cold. And I knew that whenever I got there, he'd be there. And then I woke up. - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
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His dream monologue is word for word from the book's final paragraph. Tommy Lee Jones delivered it 110%
The is is legit the most faithful book-to-movie adaptations ever made
Is the book a good read, is it better then the movie.
double-o G what I adore about the Cohen brother's films is that they speak to the 'reality' of life with all of it's unpredictability chaos, and uncertainty. The lead in this Tommy Lee Jones, is no closer to finding the truth as when the film began. Fargo Blood simple, and this, best speak to the brother's ability to create real life scenarios, which however outlandish, still speak to a human truth. under duress and panic we make silly decisions. Plans go awry, and random violence is 'random.' For want of a better term. That for me is what makes most of, not all, the Cohen brother's films special. This soon to retire detective didn't even touch the sides of figuring out what was actually going on and is just living a mundane day drinking his coffee and pondering if there is any 'meaning' in his life, or meaning to life at all.
@@patriceaqa288 A Serious Man is also great at addressing this as well. One of my favorites from the Coens
@@jacksonkirke7331 True that's a brilliant film
0:13 "maybe I'll go riding" He was still thinking of the dream with his father.
Beautiful and haunting little touch.
I would have never realized that. That's beautiful thank you for mentioning this.
Blessed are those that can consider the thought of going riding... they just go to the barn and saddle up
Indeed. And hoping he could relive it with his wife; even some sad memories are strangely satisfying.
Wow
“I knew that when I got there…he’d be there.”
What a final line. Even through all the life he has lived and even being an old man now, he still yearns for the comfort his father once gave him. We are all eventually truly alone.
Agree to disagree. The dream seemed a message that his father is still with him, he even says "I know I'll see him again". Beautifully written.
@@cdb5001 I don't think that at all. His father rode past him in the dream, which would explain that he may have been with him momentarily, but eventually left him alone once again. Compare this to his birth -- his father was there (presumably) when he was born, yet left him in death later in life.
He comments that "...in a sense, he's the younger man..." His father may have died much younger than TLJ, allowing him to experience much more "life" than his father did, roughly 20 years more. However, when he begins the 2nd dream, his father still rides beside him, as if he were there before his son, providing fatherly assurance that he will be safe.
Once TLJ can "stand on his own" so-to-speak, his father rides past him. He rode into the dark and cold long before TLJ can reach it so that he can pave the way with light and warmth, much like a father does for their sons/daughters. I think it shows that even in death, while TLJ may be older by 20 years, his father still has much more wisdom, and will always be wiser, seeing that he has been there far longer than TLJ. No matter how old you may get, you will always be your father's son.
@@Psychy nice, I can get behind that too. I like both interpretations.
It seems to me that his dreams are about resolving his father's life and eventual death, and how he is following in his father's footsteps. Growing old is often accompanied by a growing sense of one's own mortality. He sees his father's passing as a sacrifice he made so he could go and prepare a place of comfort in a cold, dark place for his son, who comes after him. It is a spark of hope in what was an otherwise hard life. He can make that sacrifice too because he understands it, and his own death becomes symbolic of something bigger. He is coming to terms with his own impending death.
Apparently it was common for elder Native Americans to ride ahead when travelling in the snow at night because they knew the land better. They would carry embers from the fire inside an animal horn with them. So he was taking comfort with the fact that he’ll be with his father again and will no longer have to try to make sense of a world he no longer understands. I read that on another comment so excuse the plagiarism lol
In the opening scene sheriff Bell reflects on his worldview. He mentions how the old-timers used to not wear guns, and how that is difficult to understand for many. He feels as if the times have changed. He longs for a time where morale and reason existed, a time where things made sense. He mentions the recent murder of a 14-year old girl, whom the murderer killed simply because he wanted to kill someone. Bell struggles to make sense of the rationality of it, there was no incentive to kill, like jealousy, money or even hate. Bell can't recognize this world represented by chaos and disorder, and he looks back in time with nostalgia, thinking of clear contradictions that made sense to him, like good and bad, right or wrong, and feels as though they can no longer apply to the world he has now grown old in. There is no salvation in getting old for him, as he can only see himself growing increasingly distant from the reality of the world he inhabits.
The constantly sounded wind in the background represents the equally constant passing of time. The wind is always there, and Bell can't find shelter from it, he keeps growing older and he can't escape the reality that no salvation has occured to him, not in the form of God, and not in any other forms. The wind will "move him on", just like it did to his father and everyone else who has walked the earth.
When Bell meets with Ellis, Ellis tells him the story of how Uncle Mac back in time was shot cold-blooded in his doorway in front of his wife, by a group of indians, seemingly for no reason. Bell hearing this, realizes that the "old times" he so glorifies, maybe never actually existed, since the senselessness of the killing corresponds with the senselessness that he now finds in the world.
Now knowing that this world offers no redemption, Bell subconsciously realizes that his only chance of finding redemption is in death.
That is exactly what Bell's second dream is about. He dreams that his father rides ahead of him (into death) with a light, a light representing the hope of a better world, and his dad representing the good old values, that Bell can no longer find in this world and that never really existed elsewhere than in his own mind, but which he can only hope will exist in the world where his dad is now waiting for him.
Thank you! You took my words from my mouth! This is exactly the way I interpreted. I always get a knot down my throat when watching this scene. Makes me wonder if I'm in the same train as Ed Tom here. All the things I "knew" for certain, the values , the "good" old times. Were they really there?
Excellent take. But, despite this hope of a world which makes sense to him, where his father is, he realizes that’s likely just a dream. Which is why the last words of the movie are “then I woke up”.
No country for old men implies that once old age hits, your surroundings become murky, things you thought you knew and understood well seem to change, but in reality it's the same as ever, it was always chaotic. The elderlies can't keep up with how the world around them is rotating, hence the movie title. Your take very much the same as my dad and I stand by it
@@explosion5022 I hope you get old enough to feel it.
@@explosion5022 I don't think we can't keep up, I think it's the realization that all that we were keeping up with was meaningless. The world is a broken place, and if a good man lives long enough he'll find himself looking at the world and wondering why he ever wasted that time on it.
In an earlier scene where Llewellyn is at the hotel hiding with the money there's a painting on the wall in his room of two horsemen in the mountains looking off into the distance.
Yeah, like that meant anything.
@@coryarnold3369 It didn't AND it did. That's the brilliance of it.
cory arnold If it was described in Cormac’s book or was chosen by the Cohen bros it likely did have meaning.
@@StufiBuy If your home creaked or popped last night as you went to bed,it likely had GREAT meaning.
cory arnold *Mise-en-scène*
You do know there’s a difference between life and movies, right? I mean, you do understand these are actors, on a set, portraying fictional characters in a fictional story, correct? Everything is storyboarded, sets are scouted, props are chosen, actors audition, etc. I guess I should break you the good news: Josh Brolin is still alive, yay! Javier Bardem no longer dons a pageboy, yay! You can stop checking under your bed for Anton Chigurh as he’s a fictional character, yay!
Now your up to speed with a 4 year old. Attaboy, better late than never!
I feel this film has the most natural dialogue I've ever heard. That is actually how people speak. In most films people seem overly clever or witty but in this film they seem so natural.
Syed Arham Ali 8bp lol there isn’t a dumb character in this whole movie, just because they don’t use The Queen’s English doesn’t make them unintelligent
@Reunite The British Empire Holy shit. You guys are both morons. Getting into a bigoted argument over the OP's comment on the brilliant use of naturalistic language in the movie/novel. Reunite the British Empire: You're an ignorant racist. Ali: having a regional dialect or using improper grammar doesn't make you unintelligent or indicate a lack of education. Both of you are absolute idiots.
Reunite The British Empire mate you know the slave trade is over in America right it ended about 200 years ago but do you know were slavey is still takeing place some Muslim countrys are still doing it what about your book the Quran yea you love talking about morals so let’s go see the morals in you’re lovely book what about the one were you can and should marry a child when they turn 5 and you can have sex when she turns 9 or how if someone talks down to Islam they shal have there right hand and left foot cut of then walked out in to the dessert to die of how we should cut thieves hands of or how woman are gust men’s property and they should be covered up or how if someone is gay we should kill them or how we should kill infidels yea lovely morals that’s sarcasm
Joshua Sanders agreed but they both did make some points but one thing you can’t be racist to a religion a religion isn’t a race Muslims can be white black asian eny thing so there was no racism because Islam isn’t a race
@@iamevil8582 Reunite the British Empire said "You're an inbred and violent race" so I'm pretty sure he was talking about middle-eastern people and not the religion of Islam. Also Ali said he was an atheist.
Rest in Peace
Cormac McCarthy
1933-2023
Shit I had no idea he was gone. RIP. Brilliant writer with a deep understanding of the world.
He got to see how many people loved his art. Not every artist dies with such knowledge.
Great life!! RIP ❤️🙏🏻
How Tommy Lee Jones didn't win the Oscar for this is beyond me.
When I was a younger man, and felt myself to be immortal, I probably wouldn't have understood. Now, in the eighth decade of my life, it's all too clear. Brilliant, compelling, earthy performances from both Jones and Harper. Her almost imperceptible indications of compassion and understanding are as good as Jones' struggle with the emotions inside himself. This is acting, in the best sense. Very special.
Keith Higgins well said
I notice almost imperceptible indications of irritation and disappointment. But perhaps my analysis is biased by my preconceived interpretation of the ending’s meaning.
See, I take the dream to be a metaphor for ‘passing the torch’. The first dream is only to highlight that he fears his ability to handle responsibility- he lost the money. And so instead of meeting his father in the second dream, he hangs back for the cold to consume him. He fears the responsibility of carrying his father’s torch. Because, while an active relationship with the world (like Moss) might bring its benefits, it forces the world to respond to you, and so it might increase the likelihood that your life will be terminated. Bell knows this, which is why he doesn’t stir up a confrontation with Chigur in the hotel room. But, he feels latently guilty about his cowardice, and justifiably so. His failure to confront Chigur ultimately lead to the death of Moss’s wife, which could have been averted had he acted in that moment.
In the end, everything comes down to a coin toss. And none of us have enough information to know which way it is going to go. We can either act, or not, and the outcome might be good or bad, and you just don’t know. But not only in retreating from the world do you not secure safety, you actively fail to decrease the probability of your demise-exemplified when Carla Jean refuses to call Chigur’s coin toss, and unknowingly guarantees her death in that moment.
If you choose the path of inaction, your death will come when it comes, and you cannot run from it. Although Moss may have also died, he was the only one to influence the world around him for the better, by injuring Chigur.
Ultimately it comes down to the choice of victim or predator. If you do nothing, you are a victim of fate. If you engage with the world, it can go either way, but it may very well go in your favour, and you have to take the gamble for that eventuality to actualise.
Or you can end up like Bell, and be a tired, washed-up old man, ridden with guilt, and apologising to his irritated wife for his refusal to carry the torch. And he IS apologising, as much to himself and his father as he is her, whether he is consciously aware of it or not.
But it’s okay I suppose, because he can live out the rest of his meaningless existence pontificating on his failure to adapt to and confront chaos, while desperately searching for something to consume the time he has left, which keeps ticking away until his inevitable end.
Moss never did get the money, as Bell never did get Chigur, but only one of them affected the world around them, for better or worse; only one of them dared to gamble, and for that reason we see Moss in his last moment cheerily flirting with a poolside girl: the epitome of a man with a clear conscience and a positively charged state of being. Whereas Bell’s final note is a soliloque to his unconscious realisation that he will die a coward: a victim to both his fate and to the entropy which erodes us all. But his personal tragedy is that he didn’t even dare to try and fight it off.
Indeed
Brilliantly articulated by you, mate.
So are you still alive?
That ticking clock in the background is so eerie and brilliant
+matthew woodall Bergman
Eerie that you can't stop time.....no matter how you feel, where you are, or what you do.....Father Time is always counting the second to your demise.
Where is this clock?
+Popcorn Kernel probably out of frame
goldenboyx92 Thank you. That was the quickest reaction I have ever got on TH-cam. I didn't know what the hell they were talking about.
"What you got is nothing new. You can't stop what's coming. That's called vanity. " Best line in the show because it's true.
loved that scene with his friend, I found it a better ending than this one.
@@klisk2 that was his uncle
@@klisk2 I've found both complement accordingly.
At the begginig, he yearns for the past, times were things were "civilized".
Uncle story breaks the spell to him, that this unreasonable violence has existed since the olden times.
The final scene is the conclusion of this idea: They were no better times, only the nostalgia he kept for them. He was chasing for those better times, until he "woke up", realising they were never there to begin with.
It's a movie, not a show.
The book of Ecclesiastes in a nutshell.
My dad is still alive (in the next room lol) and this scene always makes me miss him. I know I’m gonna wake up in tears when I’m an older man and having dreams about my father being the younger man. Dreading the day I lose my pop.
I hope your father is still with you (April 2021) and will be for a long time to come.
I lost mine 2 months ago...
@@mrcactuar8515 I'm sorry.
My dad is turning 70 soon and my mom is 58. Im starting to have an existential crisis about losing them.
@@andromedaiscoming185 Thanks. He was 62, died from pneumonia and a bit of medical negligency.
First time watching this: "Wtf? That's it?"
Second time watching this: "Holy shit. This is a masterpiece."
Im at the "wtf thats it?" Stage. Better rewatch
@@dirkthedaring5131 You should. Great film.
agree
I’m still at WTF.
Coen bros specialty
"Then I woke up"
Perhaps the best final four lines of a film I've heard
an amazing ending for one of the best movies of the decade, it's kinda depressing too...
a
Clockwork Orange, American Psycho, There will be blood and Se7en. Very nice movie taste, man.
A favorite of mine is "Fuck."
@Prism Man: Eyes wide shut?
When he says "and then i woke up", It seems like he's awakening from the dream of a world rid of violence and vices. After seeing all the deaths throughout the movie that he couldn't stop all he does is give up on the dream and rememberance of better days back in his old days because there never was any "better days". He can finally retire from being sheriff since he now realizes that he can't change the way the world works. His time has passed, hence the name "No Country for Old Men".
Well i still fool myself that world isnt that horrified
Imagine being a police officer. You make that a career because you believe you can bring hope into this cold, inhospitable, violent world.
But in the end that’s just a dream. It’s time to wake the fuck up.
I always thought him saying “then I woke up” meant more that as much as he believed that the dream meant something and he perhaps might meet his father in the afterworld , the fact that he “woke up” meant that maybe the dream didn’t mean anything and there isn’t anything waiting for us. I thought it was more of a nihilistic statement and he seemed bothered in the end
Trying to change the way the world works or blaming yourself for its failure well, that’s vanity…
I see it as waking from the false hope that you're going to be taken care of. There will be no fire. Just dark and cold.
My father passed away 14 years ago. I only dreamed him once after he passed away. He was walking off into a snow flurry , eventually the snow became so thick, that I couldn't see him no longer. That was the only time I saw him in a dream. He was the best father anyone could ever ask for. Dreams are strange things.
That's beautiful. I dream of my late grandmother and grandfather often, unfortunately I can only remember very small bits and pieces of said dreams but they are happy ones and I always wake up feeling consoled.
He is waiting on you to join him in the snow...trust me.
It takes a dialogue like Tommy Lee Jones' at the end of this movie to really make us appreciate how movies can help us to understand our dreams a lot better. Especially dreams of our deceased loved ones, speaking from my own personal experience too.
I used to have a recurring dream about my dad making me eat glass. I'm very jealous of people who have fathers that they love.
"in all that dark, and all that cold"
His story paints a beautiful picture
Thank Cormac McCarthy
That’s due to McCarthys literal poetic writing style
he refers to the universe - not just earth - but he loses is faith in life after death after he "woke up" . He is more stressed than ever - and worrying about dying and being gone forever
Right. You can actually vidualize his dream and then that last line is just crushing if you think about it.
"I could see the horn from the fire inside it, 'bout the color of the moon."
I loved the ending. The world turns, you cant contain the darkness. You can only continue the journey. I felt the 2nd dream was his realization his own mortality. The darkness (or beyond) is unknown & scary to him. Yet he knows that if he just continues forward he'll meet his father again. Waiting for him, protecting him from the dark. Then he wakes up. The clock counts down and he's aware, he'll die one day. He can't stop the evil of this world. He can only keep moving forward & one day see his father again. I felt it was beautiful.
Yes its like his father is waiting for him now he is old and retired. Really good.
Exactly how I felt. And if u look at his life as a law enforcement officer that is exactly his job, to keep the piece, to intact justice. When it’s so dark and so cold that the ones you love or wish to help end up too far from u to help. All you can do is push on, it feels empty, like you are a quitter a lot like the ending of this movie made some feel. But that’s kind of the idea I think.
Personal viewer Acceptance, not a Disney ending for everybody.
Brilliant synopsis.
no, he almost died in his sleep look at his face as he's telling his dream he was near death but he woke up!
The main theme of the film is getting older and weaker, and seeing the world as a harsher place.
Rest in Peace, Cormac McCarthy. I hope whenever I get there, you'll be there.
He'll be there in the outer darkness with fire made of the moon.
One of my favorite scenes in a movie. It's so naturally delivered by Tommy, and so haunting. The abrupt ending after he finishes talking feels perfect to me. The Cohens are masterful storytellers.
Right. Tick-tock...
*Cormac McCarthy
Yea. Its my fav too. "I woke up."
@lias902 You're right. The Cohen brothers did a masterful job of putting his story to screen, especially that final scene.
I thought this scene for sure would have gotten Tommy Lee Jones an Oscar nomination.
It probably went over most of the voters heads. I'll be honest, the first time i saw the ending, i was 14 at the time and i didnt understand the meaning of it either. So it was great when i saw it again a little later, and i absolutely loved his final speech
Nick Jasper It didn't help him that he was not the primary focus for most of the movie. And Javier Bardem's performance put the Best Supporting Actor category on lockdown. He should have been nominated alongside Bardem, but the committee hates to nominate two people from the same movie in the same category.
Nick Jasper can you explain what he is saying? please
Thirunavukkarasu PB I’m pretty sure that the dream is about an afterlife, heaven, etc. and by saying he woke up, he’s realizing that the afterlife isn’t real. Or at least that’s what it seems like to me, he’s lost his religion
You got to be kidding me
this scene made absolutely no sense to me until my father died
Phillip D. Lee Yes, that changed it for me, too
I watched this movie for the first time only a week after my dad died.
my father passed a few years before this came out, when i was still a boy. i think you're right in that that kind of loss helps you more clearly see the spiritual nature of what's being described here. time outlasts us all.
Not having a father, this scene only made sense to me after having my son.
I saw it with my dad.
2 years ago, in january my son was born. In april my dad died. Cancer. Pancreas. Fought it for an exact year. He was the best proctologist in the caribbean. Patients even came from the mainland to see him. Puerto rico. He saved thousands of lives in his lifetime. Thousands. We had to hire a pro unit to shred all patient’s records-a room full of them. He was there when my son arrived and got to enjoy him a couple of months before he finally became too ill and weak. The worst experience in my life and one of the worst things any human can witness.
Probably the most perfect ending of any movie I've ever seen in my 61 years. I watch this clip from time to time, and weep nearly every time. It's just sublime.
My Dad and I were movie buddies. We would take turn choosing the movie. I chose this one before he passed. I couldn't have picked a better ending with my movie buddy.
I have seen countless better endings than this wtf lmaooo
@@Josh-py9rq To each his own. I prefer endings that are quiet, understated, ambiguous, and as I stated in my original comment, sublime. This ending suited this movie perfectly. Other movies demand different styles of conclusions. For you, loud rock music with explosions (Top Gun Maverick, perhaps) would probably be your first choice. Not making a judgement here.
Completely agree. Gives me chills every time I watch it. Scene for scene my favorite movie of all time
@@Josh-py9rqso like ... independence day?
Something in this scene that most people miss is the clock ticking in the background. Even after Bell stops talking, the clock keeps ticking....
Time waits for no one!
No matter who you are, or what you believe, your clock is ticking. As is mine. You will get old, unless you meet with an accident, disease, etc. You will die. The world you know will pass. You will find yourself wondering where it went. The day will come you will feel lost and alone in this world. You'll yearn for "the good ol' days", but in truth, they weren't always good. And all the while, the clock keeps ticking. You really don't notice it until you're older. I didn't until I hit my mid-50's. Now that clock is ticking so loud, I can barely hear anything else.
When Jesus is your savior & friend, you can rest in the knowledge that He exists outside of time, and you will be with Him for eternity, in a place He has prepared especially for you. Who knows the number of every hair on your head, and have saved every one of your tears in a bottle. So that ticking clock doesn't have to bother you anymore.
@@littlemoccasin5678
Thanks. I know Christ is Lord. I know where I'm going when this life ends. I'm just saying, I'm nearing my end. I'm at peace with that.
Knowing it's near has a way of grabbing your attention!
“You can’t stop what’s coming, it ain’t all waiting on you, that’s vanity”
@@littlemoccasin5678 I don't think there is salvation, we just continue on forever until one side wins
I wish you well. Take care. Try to do what you love at least one time a day. We’re all in the same boat. Hang in there…
Lost my father earlier this year. He used to always wear those plaid button shirts like the one Tommy Lee Jones is wearing. This scene fucks me up.
+Jononutoob
Well if it consoles you at all, the way I read this ending was that TLJ's father is "fixin to make a fire in all that dark, all that cold", and when he got there he'd be there. I took it as meaning his father is gone, but eventually, when he goes too, he will find him again.
(also sorry for your loss and I hope I didn't hurt you anymore)
Sorry for your loss, man.
lost my dad 2 years ago also, hasn't hit me yet. peace brothe
''I knew that whenever I got there he'd be there...''
Me too...I`m gonna join him one day down by the creek...gramma and granddad will be there too.take care my friend.
Everyone thinks of the coin flip scene when they think of this movie, but this scene by far and away is not only my favourite scene, but one of my favourite endings ever. Sticks with me to this day.
ted the commenter i totally agree.
Just like when people mention the curb scene from American history X each time the movie pops in a conversation...while the dinner scene is much more powerfull instead.
This ending makes you think about life. Every time i watch this scene it seems like time is frozen...just listening to Tommy Lee Jones.
Ed Tom doesnt know the exact meaning of the dream...we as a viewer also dont quite get it. But we do share the same feeling. A feeling of sadness but we cant really explain why. Beautiful film.
Ditto, this is the scene I think about the most. As I get older, and people in my life pass me on the trail, I think about it more and more.
Chighur is described differently in the book physically and I can’t get past that. TL Jones was perfectly cast , the scene was perfect because of him and the McCarthy script.
The scene with Ellis is my favorite, with this one being a close second. Barry Corbin’s 5 minutes on screen was fantastic. The way he told the story of his uncle’s murder; masterful!
Try watching se7en. I think that was the greatest ending to any movie ever
The book dives deeper into Sheriff Bell’s life. There’s a scene in the novel where Sheriff Bell tells a story to his uncle about the bronze star he received and how he was depicted as a war hero even though he knew he didn’t deserve it. He confesses to his uncle what actually happened during that battle and it’s haunted him his entire life. Sheriff Bell wants to do good. He wants to make up for what happened during that battle, so when he can’t save Moss and Chigurh gets away with it all, it’s devastating for Bell. It’s that feeling of not being enough and not being able to do good even though you’re desperately trying to. His life has past him by and it makes him think, “Did I do enough?” He doesn’t believe he has. It’s tragic.
I 100% believe that reading the novel before watching the film made this scene much more gut wrenching. With that being said, I also believe that you don’t even need to see the rest of the film or read the novel to enjoy this scene. The pain, sadness, fear and regret in his face is enough for anyone to understand. Tommy Lee Jones killed this scene. I think about Sheriff Bell a lot.
Of all the explanations this one has meant the most to me... this is my interpretation as well.
Well that one scene puts a whole different spin on the film and this ending. Of course everyone has regrets in life but signalling that this guy has it worse than many adds a lot more weight to the ending. As is (from my memory of the film) the entire 'no country for old men' aspect of the film is a bit throwaway. It's juxtaposed with the mad goings on of the rest of the film but it's hardly the key thread of the piece and making it the grand ending just made the film feel rather flat to me.
Makes me think that there never were better or worse times in the past, nor there will be in the future. There's just times. This movie makes me realize about the realism and harshness of life on itself.
I have thought about reading the book for years, but after reading your post I intend to do just that.
I dream of my father often.
I miss you dad.
@QuIgYx you're the prime definition of 'edginess'.
Im sure he was a great man. Sorry for ur loss.
@@enescurobert7725 is that the only comeback people think of when someone says something distasteful? Oooooo edgy
Yeah me too. It really sucks.
@@enescurobert7725 let me guess. It was something sexual?
"…and then I woke up." - Roll Credits
Goosebumps. All over.
This movie is essentially as perfect to a whole story as you can get. What it's really about is this man here trying to find his place in this world. He dreams of other worlds that either used to exist or are made up entirely as an escape and he always wakes up to the same nightmare; not that we all have to die but that we can't even die the way we want. Chigur characterizes the ugliness of death that seems to survive and thrive in this world and men of good nature like Llewelyn who get mixed up in it, have no chance at all to survive. This is TLJ's dilemma in this movie. It really is astonishingly brilliant. I wish my dad was still alive to have seen it. He would have loved it.
+Marky Mark yeah man one of the biggest (and easiest) mistakes the viewer can do is see this as Llewelyn's story - as him as the main character. That's why he dies so quickly and if you want more out of it then you'll feel grossly dissatisfied. It's kind of a good bad and ugly kind of thing. But make no mistake, it's all about the ugliness of the world and how TLJ's character tries to find a place of comfort or purpose in it all. Like I said, brilliant!
When my grandfather died, I had a succession of dreams where he got weaker and weaker. When you love someone, your mind has a hard time processing what happened.
korlu01 It almost feels like T. L. J. is being filmed in his normal everyday life. Incredible, deserved an Oscar 110%
I wouldn't say Llewellyn is really "good". He's likable, and has good qualities, but he still takes 2 million in drug money from a crime scene.
I think Chigurgh is more a personification of fate. He hunts people down not because he likes killing but because he feels compelled to. The coin toss scene really sold that for me. But death is not a bad interpretation either. I doubt anyone other than Cormac McCarthy or the Coen Brothers could say for sure (and even they probably couldn't; such is the nature of literature)
I'm not even sure the Coen brothers know exactly who Chigurgh is.
I was fortunate enough to see this absolute masterpiece in the theater. Flawless movie, and I don’t say that often.
Looking at the way he's just barely keeping it together at all by the end of it really just sticks the landing. Especially when you see his wife staring almost as if she is just politely listening to any old story. Meanwhile, he's looking down the barrel of failure just before retirement, which resulted in death of good young people, and the ghosts he carries with him to his own grave, which draws nearer and nearer. His dad--probably the first painful loss in his life, likely the man for whom he modeled his life and who inspired him to become a lawman in the first place--is waiting for him in all that dark, and cold. So are the people he couldn't help. Anyone who has died and will die because of the man he couldn't catch while under his jurisdiction, he feels personally responsible for. They're all waiting for him in the darkness, the cold. Their light practically extinguished under the moonlight. One day he'll see them, and he won't wake up.
Napalm In The Morning you smell good
brilliant analysis.
Beautifully said, but he's a lawman, and he knows he can't save the world. He can't save everybody. He can try, and he did. What law and training prepares you for a freak of nature like Anton Chigurh? He wants to leave, he wants to go join his father, certain that there's light and comfort and companionship waiting for him in that other kind of darkness. He wants to leave because it's no country for old men.
That is not at all how I see the wife’s staring I’m kinda shocked u got that from her stare
The wife is listening very intently
This movie reverberates. The ending really adds the final impactful chord.
This comment respects vertebrates. Their entrails really want a trustful spinal cord.
@@lunakid12 Just wanted to let you know how fucking hilarious this comment is
This ending is so clever, every time I see it I understand a little more about ed's feelings, about regret, about missing the old days, about feeling overmatched. This movie is truly a masterpiece.
Loosing my dad at ten I can tell you. No matter who I meet and what I experience, the thought of him meeting him again is so overwhelming.
you'll see him again in this life or the other trust me my man.
he lives on in you, you two are tied together spiritually forever
Losing.
The ticking of the clock in the background keeps getting louder in this scene, just as in life as you get older.
How you deal with this ending reveals how much life you've experienced.
I didn't understand this at 23. At 37.this hits hard.
I just watched this at age 23 and loved it.. I gotta rewatch it
It is universal, works anytime, means it is forever good
At 28 now, time and the shortness of life is starting to rear its head in my mind.
Life is ultimately ephemeral and transitory. Feels like a pressure but also a reminder to enjoy it.
I'm 21...im just speechless 😶 and scared by what he just said... Because..I know very well what he is feeling.. ( when I was younger I get several dreams of my dad dying in pain) I love my dad very much and he game me birth in his 40 s I was the last of the family..Almost all his sons despite him now because he was himself.. But sometimes you calm yourself down when you get old.. And I think he made me discover the world at his right state... Always make me remember..to get right straight with my life and.. Someday I will die.. And it will cut to black 🖤 nothing.. ☠ No paradise no hell.. Just life in here.. He is 64 years old now.. And I know someday he will die... Sometimes he said he will kill himself nicely because he don't want to get too old to appreciate his life. I respect his choice but sometimes.. I feel this fear.. And sadness you can't heard from Tommy Lee Jones
One of the best endings to any film ever. Just stop and think for once. It is the very best ending.
4 years later, you're still so very right.
Very fine. Comparable with Once Upon a Time in America, Casino, Heat, Unforgiven, Casablanca, Dirty Harry, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Treasures of the Sierra Madre and The Wages of Fear ( 1953 ). All great endings to motion pictures.
La Haine
I feel such a deep melancholy in this ending. It's beautiful, and it makes me sad how some people assume the ending is bad. The ending is exactly what it needed to be. Not full on despair, but not undeserved hope too. Straight down the middle, death holds a light for us and may be the only light we have to look forward to after this cold, miserable, vague life. But a light is a light, and it holds a fire to warm us if we make it there.
Agree so much. I try to realize not everyone has my background which obviously informs my present. But the emotional satisfaction of this ending is almost even too much for me. I am moved every time by its depth and brevity.
Rest well in Peace Mr. McCarthy. Such a stellar Writter...
one of the most remarkable ÉVER
be that underlined
and bolded
Don't tell me this is how I find out...
Dammit. This is how I find out.
After reading McCarthy's Blood Meridian, I thought to myself that I would kill to write like that.
Love this ending. It's not about plot. It simply speaks to experience. Life, death, hope, sorrow, fear...none of this is neat or carefully constructed. You don't know when you'll be hit by the unexpected...that's why it's unexpected. But you try to deal with it all the same. Violence and justice...two sides of a coin. And enlightenment...something we might not even recognize.
This film's style has more in common with 2001: A Space Odyssey than it does with most modern thrillers. It communicates it's meaning not by expositing it directly to you, but by letting you vicariously live through the experience.
Bravo.
it does also sort of tie in to the plot hehe added bonus
If only they spent more time with this Sheriff so that I actually cared about any of this
@@Johnnysmithy24 no kidding. With a guy like Tommy Lee Jones one would THINK he would have at least had SOME bearing on the plot but we didn't get that here. Here he's treated like some inconsequential extra when the first thirty minutes implied that he'd actually be doing shit in the movie.
@@jeremyallen492 Yeah this is why I didn’t have a very good response when I first saw the movie. I was upset that the main character was killed off camera, and having this be the ending scene felt weird cause I didn’t care about this sheriff, since he barely did anything
One of my favorite things about the Coen brothers is the way they conclude their movies...I'm always satisfied with the way they wrap things up. The endings always leave me with such a sobering feeling that lingers within me for at least the rest of the day.
tahwaggin Or their endings can be wide open and full of possibility...an age of enlightenment...like the one they had in France!
Right??
Like True Grit "I suppose by now the cowlick is gone from his hair. I guess time just catches up with us".
They always have super thought provoking finals lines.
Thank Cormac McCarthy for this ending, not the Coen brothers
Very late but I highly recommend a movie they actually star in called Brothers Nest, its ending is...wow. It’s an underrated gem.
Ending of true grit was masterful.
Everyone talks about the significance of the cold weather dream, but I feel like most people miss the significance of the first dream, where he lost the money his dad gave him.
I feel an overwhelming surge of sadness when he finishes with "...and then I woke up."
I can relate to Ed Tom.
My father passed away before i was born, and every time i look at his picture i still have the feeling that he is older then me...while i am 11 years older now then he ever was.
A beautiful ending.
You're the old man now
One of the best endings in movie history.
Yes again
Whit Denton along with HEAT
Yes, but lets not forget Sixth Sense.
are you kidding me
One of the best troll comment in history xD
I think the dreams are an escape from the feeling of danger that now an old, vulnerable man, realizing is living in a dangerous time.
The sense of safety a good father brings…
His uncle Ellis, told him a story to show how its not a dangerous time. It's always been dangerous times, and him thinking he can stop what's coming is vanity
I'm 53, and I yearn for the comfort my father provided just by being there. My father passed at the age of 83 a few years ago. Growing up we had not a worry in the world because of him. We could always count on him to make everything ok.
The dream reminds me of how reliable my father was.
I wish I had a father like that.
one of my all time favorite movie endings. no glory no music. just a downer of an ending. I get this feeling too when I sit and ponder on a dream I just had. too realistic and like life itself
If you want a downer of an ending to a movie then check out Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer. More grim than this by a mile. Bitter and ugly.
It seems like a neutral downer. Nothing to devastating, just life going on. Despite the sheriff's failure, he still has loved ones to depend on.
Watched this movie at least 10 times before never paid to much attention to the end. I lost my dad this year and burst into tears after listening to the dream. Love you dad, hope you're waiting for me when I get there.
dicky chunder
TMI. Buckle up and show a little damn pride.
@d R
Pride has nothing to do with whether or not you (or anyone) thinks they're "better or worse than anyone else."
You clearly have terrible low self esteem or are very young. Or both.
Conrgats on your new TH-cam account. You must be very proud:)
My father's favourite movie of all time.
This January it'll be 14 years since he passed away. I keep coming back to this very scene time and time again just to hear, "I knew that whenever I got there, he'd be there."
Rest in peace old man (1946-2010) gone but never forgotten.
R.I.P. Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023)
"And then i woke up..." *black screen shortly after*
Let me tell you. Easily. EASILY one of the greatest cinema moments in the last 20 years and it's only clear after I watched this movie 3 times.
The dreams he describes are exactly how mine go: images, impressions, no narrative, no logical sequence, but powerful emotions...brilliant.
Watched this with my mother for the first time when I was 17. When Tommy Lee Jones’ character tells his wife of the dream involving his father and the film ended almost abruptly, she turned to me and asked, “That dream, what did it mean?” To which I was pretty much clueless, but she responded fast as anything, “It’s about life, son.”
And I think she was right.
She wasn't. It's about death.
@@cockoffgewgle4993 But when you get down to it, isn't life about death anyways, Cockoff?
that is the most surface level and unoriginal explanation I've ever heard.
@@cockoffgewgle4993life and death are two sides of the same coin not even being smart or witty here
Tommy Lee Jones is one of the greatest actors of our time. This movie is nothing short of a masterpiece also.
She sitting their like "I don't understand how the seahawks didn't run the ball"
Same about the 49ers. No country for Colin Kapernick.
Dude this had me rolling.
😂😂😂😂
Shut up idiot
Like you in English class.
The look on Tess Harper's face after, "Then I woke up", completes this magnificent scene.
That blank stare.
Not blank. There's wise compassion in her eyes
Yes it's a beautiful older woman's look. She's not sentimental or acting, just listening, because she knows her husband is suffering.
she has no clue what she just heard. she's shone throughout the movie to be a dull, unsympathetic person.
@@plasticweapon I think she's just salty. Doesn't put up with any foolishness. I get what you mean but I think her and Ed Tom being antagonistic towards one another makes sense with the setting like theyre both both no bullshit type people
Had a dream kind of like this about my best friend that died last year. No great revelations, just that he was there, barely acknowledged me, just playing video games like we always did together when he was alive. Hopefully he’ll still be there when I catch up eventually.
Here's to you, Cormac.
He's so natural and believable in everything that he does, that people seem to forget that this is one of the finest actors who ever lived.
She’s a good wife, listens attentively and doesn’t interrupt at all. If the story has any silver lining at all, it’s that they look a happy couple and the bowl cut freak didn’t get ‘em.
The older you get, this scene begins to make more sense.
One of the deepest endings to a film of all time.
I watch this at least once a week. I just retired from policing and it means so much that people can't understand
Your safe now!🙏 Celebrate & thank you🌅❣️
Off the beat my friend. You’ve done your job.
I retire in one year
We understand sir, thank you for your service and protection
Its a movie about death. Notice all the different ways it depicts death. Shows it happen, or it alludes to it, or shows the aftermath...or even just a subtle indication that it happened. That last dream symbolized both he and his dad heading into the afterlife. Dad obviously went first. All that "dark and cold", this means death in the afterlife realm. And the fact that he knew his dad would be waiting there for him with the fire, it is something of comfort. So he was basically saying that his understanding of death is that he will reunite with his family in the hereafter and everything will be okay. It was the final character expressing death as something not having already happened or happening now, but something that he will experience in the future.
This movie is basically about the meaninglessness of life and how immaterial values and sense of order actually is.
then i woke up
I don't know why this scene has stuck with me so much ever since this movie came out. Powerful stuff.
I always loved the everyday feeling of this scene, the clock dutifully ticking away in the back, and the room stale with a lifetime together. I recall moments like this in my grandparents home and of my parent's as they got older. There is something unsettling about the reality of this scene.
I get where you're coming from, very relatable. The ordinariness of it, so powerful, particularly when juxtaposed against the extraordinary and jarring violence of Chigur and his world which we've just been witness to. Story writing and film making at it's best.
My dad passed when I was fourteen. I have dreamt plenty that I’d meet him and he’d be alive and well, but before I could greet him, I’d wake up.
Possibly one of the most misunderstood endings out there. I've heard many people dismiss this movie because of it, which is really a shame. People need to stop expecting every ending to be tied up in a nice little bow. Endings that make you think respect the audience's intelligence in being able put the pieces together. People who don't have the patience for that are people I don't have patience for.
cof cof Sopranos cof cof
The ending scene is precisely why I loved this movie and Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy so much.I know the book this is based on is not a part of the trilogy but it fits in really well as a neat little 'side piece' with the other three in terms of setting and tone. I love the ending because it tells us that life does not get wrapped up perfectly or in little neat packages. Shit happens and you don't know why, you'll never know. People are cold and uncaring and there is no answer and there never has been. You ask people and God for the answers and there's no reply because they can't give you one to make sense of the wreckage of life in the first place. The ending of this movie, the entire book (which is also fantastic) and the Border Trilogy are examples of a master writer at the very top of his form who truly makes you ponder the meaning of your very existence and holds a mirror to things that most people would normally strike out of your hands and into the dust. McCarthy makes you sit back and think long and hard on the relationship of life to life, and life to death and the randomness that strikes us in both. So few writers out there these days can accomplish something as masterful as McCarthy is capable of, and the Cohen brothers perfectly executed it on the big screen. People that don't want to examine endings like this and who dismiss them are those that I find myself bypassing for better, stranger company.
in the first dream is about losing his dad's respect...or he think he lost his respect. He has to find him again in that darkness to get it back
chris brooks I don't agree. I'll write a reply later on.
I think it's more simpler than that. Ed Tom losing his dad's money is analogous to him losing sight and capture of Anton Chigurh. The dream just teases him now as he can't forgive himself for that failure. It's a haunting predicament considering that his Uncle Ellis told him that dwelling on past failings only makes it worse, but appears that Ed Tom is condemned to repeat his regret every time he goes to bed.
That ending floored me when I first watched it. He's one the only people in the movies that willingly make themselves look vulnerable. This movie ending with "then I woke up" raises so many questions. Brilliant.
One of the most brilliantly understated performances ever. TLJ really captured the dark, melancholic yet beautiful poetry of Cormac Mcarthy’s words like no other actor has. Not to mention the amazing look of sadness that he’s able to convey just through his eyes throughout the film. One of the best performances I’ve ever seen.
Agreed. Bardem got a lot of rightful attention. And TLJ was the same level of perfect even if it was a different type of perfect.
My father passed away in a plane crash back in ‘98 when I was a few months old, maybe one day I’ll get to meet him
I always found this scene beautifully tragic, it may seem to have some kind of deep message, but to me the message is simple. In times of dire need we look towards the ones we love (the father) and when we slowly realize these people are no longer around (he rode ahead) some of us cannot cope ("I woke up"). The man misses his father......
To me, "I woke up" means he discovered the grim truth that the reason his father died at the age he did is because that's the implied limit set by the world he lives in. His father is young in his dreams because that's how he died, and he explains that he's 20 years past that age. He sees his father, young, riding forward on his horse. But him? All he can do now is stand still. Because of his age, he's "overmatched" as he explained earlier in the movie. Hence the title, "No Country For Old Men"
+Jesus Christ where's your father by the way?
+Jesus Christ master Kenobi, is that you ?
+Matthew Williams He lived. Unless he's a shapeshifter he's semitic.
+Denis Kreynin Right, but I think what's also implied here is the endurance of the human spirit...This to me, is the other side of the coin. There's an old man who's living this "country" and he has sort of become a philosopher to it.
There's also that human effect that McCarthy always puts into his books. Cormac is huge on the human spirit and his father was carrying that fire for both of them to be warm. There is no denial of what he is saying. He's saying that his father is waiting for him in the afterlife and that's what makes this touching.
He may have been overmatched, as you put it, but he's looking forward to seeing his father more, and couldn't care less if he died tomorrow because of it.
I still come back to this scene every few months. Unbelievably good movie.
The dream symbolism and sound design aside, I love the chemistry between them. The "Maybe I'll help out here." "Hmm. Better not." is so easy and direct. They remind me of my grandparents.
Truly, one of the best endings in movie history.
and ' prisoners' and 'the grey' and 'book of eli': check em out if u havent
***** Interesting parallel to The Grey in that his father features in the last scene as well, also in his mind.
+ShaunFriedman Prisoners too!! Oh my gosh what an ending!!
Yeah no horrible ending tom just sitting there no bad ending good movie bad ending though
How is this considered one of the best endings lmao it’s just an old guy talking about a boring ass dream. I swear anything passes for great cinema these days
Two words. Cormac McCarthy. His boss are great. And in each novel there is always a certain narrative or character that does this same reflection or yearning for nostalgia to try and find themselves and understand the world around them. They feel mortality for the first time and they discover it through different journeys. If you haven't already read the trilogy of Cormac McCarthy starting with All the Pretty Horses.
The Road was so fucked up but so good. That said I shouldn't have read it in middle school
You dont have to be old to understand this scene, you just have to lose your father. My own passed away over a year ago and i've felt this overwhelming sensation of being on my own ever since. like my fate is now truly in my hands and no one elses anymore, until one day i pass on all i can to my own childrem, if i'm so lucky
As someone who just lost their Dad, this is beautiful.
One of, if not the, best scenes ever
Truly one of the best endings to a film and book I've ever witnessed. Its a beautiful way to sum up the conflict in the movie. He knows that when he gets to the end, everything will make sense, he'll be safe, and in good company. Then he wakes up.
RIP the Great American Author
I love the imagery of "carrying the fire" here. Fathers and sons and carrying the fire is a huge theme in The Road, too. It just feels like there's something... kind of mystical about that turn of phrase, if that makes any sense? Like something mysterious and ancient. This book and The Road both just give me chills no matter how many times I read them. And Tommy Lee Jones' delivery here is the way this paragraph is meant to be. 10000% perfect imo.
I felt exactly the same way, well put.
Prometheus gave humans fire and it set us apart from all other living things. He was subjected to eternal torture for doing it.
Without a doubt fire is mystical. It can warm a home and destroy it. It represents light and safety in a cold and cruel world. A man carrying the light is akin to good fighting against chaos. At least for me :P
Long story short. I agree with you.
Excellent take. I noted that in the road too. To me, with or without religious implication, both works and their imagery of fathers and sons carrying the fire in a world that appears to have gone to hell reminds me inescapably of the first chapter of the Gospel of John where it states “the lights shines in the darkness…and the darkness has not overcome it”
But for McCarthy that’s more of an open question of possibility than a clear assertion, at least as I read him.
"The flames sawed in the wind and the embers paled and deepened and paled and deepened like the bloodbeat of some living thing eviscerate upon the ground before them and they watched the fire which does contain within it something of men themselves inasmuch as they are less without it and are divided from their origins and are exiles. For each fire is all fires, and the first fire and the last ever to be."
Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy
"mysterious and ancient" yup, i agree with that.
The best stories linger. Not only in the world of the film after the camera has shut off, but in the mind of the viewer. In John Truby's novel, he encourages writers never to tie your narrative up in a neat little bow and call it a day when you type the end. Story is not a sequence of events that come and go but something that leaves an impact.
30 people aren't carrying the fire
We are the good guys still. We would never eat anyone. We carry the fire.
I see what you did there lol
I never made that connection before. "Carrying the fire" was a phrase used in Cormac Kccarthy's other novel, The Road
Ah a reference from The Road in another Cormac McCarthy story. Nice 🤘😎
The Road. Awesome comment
Best book adaption of all time. I can’t read the book without hearing his voice on that final monologue. Such a great movie
It's so strange and amazing how when I younger and saw this movie, I never understood what these scenes were about and how important they meant to me or the plot of the film. In fact I always thought they were boring and they bloated the movie with dialogue. But now, me being older and understanding the world a bit more, these scenes have become more or less my favorite scenes in the film.
being a old bachelor at 56. I could of only wished. to have such a wife who looks at me at the breakfast table with loving eyes towards me after many years. of marriage. And tell her my dreams /night mares and she saying she will be nice commenting on them.
Hear hear
A 36 year old bachelor who's never been in love, I already know that feeling.
@@GreenRiver72, really? Never? Me too, man.
I’m a 20-year old bachelor, I have no chance at a relationship. Girls around my age are into the bad boys.
@@edmontonboy99 Means they'll have short relationships. Time is a gift.
Jesus Christ is there any scene in this doesn’t give me chills?! What a film
RIP Cormac McCarthy. He’s gone on ahead.
One of the best emotional endings I’ve ever seen to a movie. Hits you with a feeling you can hardly describe but somehow remember fondly sort of like the feeling of describing a dream
Absolutely brilliant ending!
Took me over a year to appreciate this ending. Such an eerie movie. A masterpiece.
I went to this movie with my father. I was a teenager so I enjoyed bits of it but not this bit. I absolutely get it now. I miss my dad.
"Fixing to make a fire in all that cold and dark" is the part that really sticks with me.
I love the detail of the clock continuing to tick even after the scene has seemed to have ended, and the screen fades to black. So many wonderful details. Love this movie.
When I was younger and watching this scene, it made no sense to me whatsoever and now I’m 24, my dad passed away now and this scene holds so much meaning to me. I can’t wait to meet you at the campfire Dad I know you’ll be waiting to keep us warm ❤️
Its crazy how this woman is in my fav movie and my fav tv show (brba)
Dad died about three weeks ago. This scene hits even harder now.