The Coen brothers’debut,Blood

Simple, is a blueprint for most of

their films. Here’s how they did it

WORDS IAN NATHAN

IN THE BLOOD

“HOW MANY YEARS is it now?” asks

M. Emmet Walsh, who memorably portrayed

Blood Simple’s private eye Loren Visser, fi rst of

many villainous windbags to crop up in the fi lms

of Joel and Ethan Coen. Thirty-three years have

passed since this keenly plotted tale of vengeful

husbands, cheating partners and corpse disposal

proclaimed a singular cinematic voice with two

brains. Indeed, the three-minute tighter

Directors’ Cut could easily be their latest release.

Not only does it contains most of their

hallmarks, it also defi ned the attitude that has

served the Coen brothers well since...

PREPARATION WAS EVERYTHING...

The Coens took a leaf out of the book of their

friend and sometime colleague Sam Raimi, who

had raised money for The Evil Dead, by going

door-to-door among the dentists and wealthy

middle-class of suburban Minneapolis. The Coens

did so lugging a projector and ersatz trailer they

had made over a weekend with cinematographer

Barry Sonnenfeld and his cousin Kenny. It took

a dispiriting year to land the money, their parents’

wealthy circle not easily swayed by talk of James

M. Cain, whose dark American crime thrillers

like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double