The Coen Brothers by Ronald Bergan

Author:Ronald Bergan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcade Publishing
Published: 2016-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

56 Parodies Lost

The Hudsucker Proxy was the Coens’ most expensive film and their only box-office disaster. “In a weird kind of way, Hudsucker is almost an exception to the other movies we have made. It was almost calculated to prove what people thought about our previous movies . . . Hudsucker truly is a comment on the genres it draws from. It is very self-conscious, which is not the case with, say, Miller’s Crossing. It shows you how hard it is to second-guess these things. If we’d had to predict in the abstract which would be the more successful, Fargo or Hudsucker, we would have certainly bet on Hudsucker. Fargo seemed like a very obscure regional exercise. In fact, Hudsucker made less than any other film we’ve released, and Fargo made the most. It’s just very, very hard to predict, but you have to try, because you have to make some sort of estimation to justify the money you’re going to spend.”

No matter how brilliant The Hudsucker Proxy is technically and conceptually, the movie cannot help but suffer from being a too self-conscious pastiche. The Coens have tried to butter their toast on both sides, and ended up with neither. Those who know their 1930s and 1940s screwball and/or fantasy comedies consider that Howard Hawks, Frank Capra, and Preston Sturges, to whom palpable allusions are made, did it better. Those for whom the references mean nothing lose an essential component in the appreciation of the film. The Coens, therefore, lost their audience.

57 Third Sighting

Joel and Frances, with their newly adopted baby Pedro, and Ethan have arrived at the Edinburgh Festival in August 1995. The brothers have come to be interviewed on stage by Mark Cousins, the director of the festival. They made sure that they flew in (standard class) some days before the interview, so they could do a bit of touring in Scotland. They rented a car with a kiddie seat, and off they went.

They’re now back in Edinburgh, and Joel and Ethan are waiting in the bar of the huge MGM cinema drinking a few Becks beers with Mark Cousins, who is dressed like Norville Barnes in a 1940s suit, dickey, suspenders, and bow tie. They are amused, flattered, and impressed by this gesture, although they seldom go overboard emotionally. I knock back a beer and listen to Joel telling Mark that he and Frances love Scotland so much that they are seriously considering buying a house there.

The staff of the cinema had arranged to close off the small bar to all but invited guests. However, a few young Coenheads have managed to find their way into the bar and are welcomed in by the brothers, who answer their questions politely. A little while later, on stage, they are pretty relaxed, but talk more easily about the technical aspects of making The Hudsucker Proxy than about plot development, social or political themes, and character motivation.

We’re now around a long table at the restaurant in the ultramodern Point Hotel. Frances and Pedro have joined us.

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