Movie Review: A Serious Man

We are all very serious men and women. We contemplate our lives; every choice we make, every decision. And we always wonder what the consequences of making that choice will be down the road. We wonder about what purpose it serves and what meaning it will have in the grand scheme of things. We may all say that we are not serious men and women, but we really are. We want that sense of finality; that sense of resolution and knowing the truth about ourselves. That way, our lives will seem to go by a lot easier because we will have all the answers and know where our lives will go eventually. This part of ourselves is what the Coen Brothers have chosen to explore in their new film A Serious Man, the story of a Jewish professor (played by Michael Stuhlbarg) beset with all kinds of dilemmas both of a personal and professional nature. But by no means is A Serious Man a serious drama. It is indeed the most personal film the Coen Brothers have ever made because for the first time ever, the audience is able to gain insight into the world these famous directors grew up with. And what they present to the audience is not only a black comedic study of what it was like living in a Jewish suburban home during the 1960's, but also a thorough examination of how the Jewish community attempts to interpret the meaning of life and the consequences of making choices.

There are two terrific bookend scenes that start and conclude the film which I think summarize the evolution of Jewish thought regarding the meaning of life, or at least how the Coens interpret said Jewish thought. The beginning of the movie takes place inside a Jewish peasant house and is spoken entirely in Yiddish. The writing in this sequence is almost Tarantino-esque as the dialogue keeps building up towards the arrival of a strange visitor who may or may not be a demonic spirit coming to cause trouble for the Jewish husband and wife. When the visitor arrives, the conversation shifts to the notion of hospitality and how the wife is very suspicious of the visitor being a demonic spirit so much so that she stabs him with a knife. Nothing happens at first, which leads us to believe that the visitor is really a ghost of some sort. But then blood slowly trickles from his chest, to which he then stands up and walks out of the house ranting in Yiddish of how inhospitable the family was so much so that he puts a curse on them. The scene ends with the man and wife concluding that because they had eliminated the evil spirit, their lives would greatly improve from now on. I think this scene represents the kind of ancient Jewish rhetoric that used to be a source of tradition and custom in many Jewish families. It illustrates the idea of how Jewish families believed in the presence of good and evil spirits along with the idea of hospitality and following ritual to the letter of the law. If they did that successfully, then life would be much easier without any reason for worry. And this is what the Coens seem to be mocking throughout the course of the film, which is why it serves as a terrific beginning to what is meant to be both an allegorical and autobiographical film.

Fast forward many years to Larry Gopnik (the Jewish professor) and what we have here is the Coens offering a loose adaptation of the Book of Job. I say loose because it really is an adaptation of the Book of Job with the original sentiments of a Coen screenplay. Gopnik is a man who seems to have everything; a wonderful job, a beautiful family, a nice house. He has everything much like Job did in the Bible. And then one day God, or in this case the Coens, decide to take everything away from poor Mr. Gopnik. It begins when an Asian student seemingly offers Gopnik a bribe in order to get a passing grade. Gopnik calls him out on it, the Asian student says he didn't do it so he sues Gopnik for character defamation. It only gets better for the professor. His wife falls in love with Sy Adleman, the nicest and gentlest man in the neighborhood. As a result, she asks him for a divorce and even asks him to move to a local motel so Sy could move into the house. Not to mention he has the wonderful Uncle Arthur (played by Richard Kind) inventing his explanation for the universe and always taking a little too much time in the bathroom. So basically the Coens have everything unravel for the Jewish professor, which leads him to go searching for answers from various rabbis and always leaving feeling unsatisfied. But with Sy Adleman telling him how everything is going to be fine, Gopnik should really have nothing to worry about.

And in essence, that is the point of the entire film. The Coens are arguing that we cannot possibly know all the answers to everything in life. So what do we do? We look to what God told Job in the Bible. "Who then is he that can stand before me? Who has given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine." A literal translation...we cannot know everything that God knows. Everything that happens happens because God wants it to happen. And therefore, the key to happiness in life is to accept the way God has made things and to not question what it all means or why things are the way they are. The Coens' response to that....still why? And this is what affects the character of Larry Gopnik throughout the course of the film. The performance of Michael Stuhlbarg is one of great tension and fear; so great at highlighting the insecurities of the character to the point where making a choice is very uncomfortable for him. The cinematography of Roger Deakins is full of Dutch angles and slanted high-angle shots that make the film seem like a horror movie. The writing of the Coens is so full of not only comedic intelligence but also a profound understanding of the Jewish lifestyle. In fact, they are keen to point out that the easiest way for Jews to cope with their lives is through their sense of humor, their bluntness, and their vast ability to attempt to find the quickest solution to the most complicated of problems. This is what Gopnik attempts to do throughout the entire film. He tries to find a physical answer to why his life sucks. And the answer is so simple that he cannot see it. He is blinded to it and this is what seems to trouble the Coens immensely not just with this film but within their entire body of work. This film allows for all the nihilism and existentialism in their other films to now be judged from a new perspective, which is one of silent anger and vast confusion. The ending of A Serious Man is so rich and complex but it is also so simple. We want to know what happens to Larry. We want to know what happens when the tornado hits at the end of the film. Yes, there is a tornado! And we want to know these things in the same way we wanted to know if Tony Soprano lived or died. But the twisted joke involved is indicated in the abrupt ending of the film. We always want to know why. But the key to happiness is not knowing why. The Coens seem dissatisfied with this conclusion, as I'm sure most people will be by the ending of the film. But...what can you do? As Sy Adleman says in the film, everything is going to be fine.

Lenny's Grade: A