How suspense is created in 'No Country For Old Men'

No Country For Old Men
Joel & Ethan Coen

The film 'No Country For Old men' was produced, directed and written by the Coen brother. The film is a very well devised thriller; it created tension from start to finish. it left the audience with a remarkable sense of anxiety and uncertainty for the character and what was going to happen next.

From the beggining the credits of the film helped to create suspense, as they were introduced in silence leading into a voice over, with shots of different locations of where the film was set in the background. The voice over was a narrative, it introduces a mysterious unexplained plot.

From this it leads into the first murder, the suspense in this scene is created as the camera focused on the police officer in the foreground as he spoke on the phone, and as the criminal in handcuffs sat in the background - this image is slightly blurred, the camera then slowly starts to focus on the criminal as he manipulates his handcuffs to the front of his body in order to kill the officer. This image is still not fully focused so the audience doesn't pay too much attention to the actions happening in the background. The police officers is then strangled to death and the murderer departs with a clear conscience, without anyone knowing about the crime he had just committed, this also helps to create tension as it shows just how sly this character is and puts the audience at an unease for the other characters in the film. this suspense is continued through the rest of the murders, each one leaves the audience in shock and gripping onto their seats. After each killing the murderer disappears leaving the audience unaware of when he will reappear again.

Other ways suspense was created in the Coen brother's film is the build up to event which happen in the film. For instance, when Llewelyn - the 'Goody' in the film played by Josh Brolin, is about to open the truck door the windows are hidden by dust. This creates tension as the audience does not know what will be awaiting him inside the truck, additional tension is created by the truck being surrounded by dead bodies who have been murdered, and therfore the audience wonders whether the muderer or more bodies could be inside.

Parallel editing is used to show events in two locations both reaching for the same point, at the same moment in time within the film. This type of editing creates a very dramatic suspense, it puts the audience at the edge of their seat, questioning if the 'Hero' or the 'Villian' will win.

Overall the Coen brothers created a very successful thriller, it left me on the edge of my seat, and anxious for the charaters.