Hi Karel, I can’t say I’m familiar with “Inside Llewelyn”.

I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of NCFOM’s ending – it’s not typical of what audiences, particularly those of Hollywood movies, expect. Incidentally, I found the lack of non-diegetic sound save Bell’s discovery of Llewelyn’s death with one, long drawn note to be interesting and very un-Hollywood-like as well.

True Grit was more convention, however, I actually found myself befuddled to find meaning by the outcome there. I’ve read John Truby’s take on it and can’t say I see it quite the same way (if I recall correctly, his interpretation was about paying debts – that each of the characters have a debt to pay and Mattie, having a strong moral code, is unable to pay hers to Rooster at the end which makes it somewhat tragic).

Any particular take on that to enlighten with? I’m not sure if you already posted thoughts on it before or not.

Thank you Jim, for your considered reply.

Here is where the Coen Brothers appeal to an audience that wants ‘different’.

Confusion is not what the mainstream audience wants at the end of a movie. But the brothers don’t care about that. We’ve had a terrific journey up to this point and the ending offers an emotion we know very well from The Real World – exactly what most people try to escape in cinema.

We do look at movies more than once. The masses don’t. This movie was made for the fans. True Grit’s story approach was more conventional and broke into mainstream territory.

I wonder what “Inside Llewellyn” has to offer. Have you read it yet?

As for No Country For Old Men, here’s my take (it took me a while to come to this and when I did, I enjoyed the movie all the more because it’s ingenious).

There’s no doubt Llewelyn is the protagonist of the story – he’s the one who’s driving it forward. But, much like Atticus in To Kill a Mockingbird, he’s not the main character.

This is the point where most will choose to throw vegetables at me with the firm belief that the main character and the protagonist are one in the same – but the functions really don’t have to be, especially if they’re done with purpose and intent.

No Country With Old Men begins with a voice over from Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. This is the character who we’re experiencing the story through, even though we follow Llewelyn for a good portion and get what we suppose is a subjective view of the story through him. Or do we?

When Llewelyn’s death happens off-screen, it’s jolting and, I admit, it gave me pause…. as did the ending which left a great many equally confused. But if we go back and look at the story and how it’s structured, it’s through Bell’s eyes that we learn of Llewelyn’s demise.

Why did the author and filmmakers make this decision and what were their intentions?

The answer rests within the confusing ending where a bewildered Bell is left contemplating and within the story’s title, No Country For Old Men.

The brilliance in this is that we are left feeling EXACTLY the same way Bell does at the end of the movie – confused. We’re confused because he’s confused. He’s seeking closure, to make sense of what has transpired, just as we are because we EXPECT that from stories (for the most part).

As the story seemingly abruptly ends, we’re genuinely experiencing exactly what the main character is, just as the author (and filmmakers) most likely intended. Time has moved on and the days of old are long gone. Where Bell lives now is in a violent land, one of which he can no longer make sense of. It truly is no country for old men.

Had we experienced the demise of Llewelyn first-hand, subjectively, we would have been robbed Bell’s experiencing it – and, in a way, it is a big perspective switch since we’ve been invested in Llewelyn’s journey up until that point… but it’s the perspective shift to Bell that ultimately provides the story with its meaning (and title).

Does it work? Some would argue not fair, nope, broke the rules, etc. But for myself, one day it just “clicked” and made all the more sense and I was suddenly able to find meaning in what was otherwise a confusing ending.