A Serious Man (2009)

A black comedy drama centered on Larry Gopnik, a Midwestern professor who watches his life unravel through multiple sudden incidents. Though seeking for meaning and answers he seems to stay stalled.

Directors:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers:

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

Stars:

Michael Stuhlbarg, Richard Kind, Fred Melamed

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Stuhlbarg	...	Larry Gopnik
Richard Kind	...	Uncle Arthur
Fred Melamed	...	Sy Ableman
Sari Lennick	...	Judith Gopnik
Aaron Wolff	...	Danny Gopnik
Jessica McManus	...	Sarah Gopnik
Peter Breitmayer	...	Mr. Brandt
Brent Braunschweig	...	Mitch Brandt
David Kang	...	Clive Park
Benjamin Portnoe	...	Danny's Reefer Buddy
Jack Swiler	...	Boy on Bus
Andrew S. Lentz	...	Cursing Boy on Bus
Jon Kaminski Jr.	...	Mike Fagle
Ari Hoptman	...	Arlen Finkle
Alan Mandell	...	Rabbi Marshak

Storyline

Bloomington, Minnesota, 1967: Jewish physics lecturer Larry Gopnik is a serious and a very put-upon man. His daughter is stealing from him to save up for a nose job, his pot-head son, who gets stoned at his own bar-mitzvah, only wants him round to fix the TV aerial and his useless brother Arthur is an unwelcome house guest. But both Arthur and Larry get turfed out into a motel when Larry's wife Judy, who wants a divorce, moves her lover, Sy, into the house and even after Sy's death in a car crash they are still there. With lawyers' bills mounting for his divorce, Arthur's criminal court appearances and a land feud with a neighbour Larry is tempted to take the bribe offered by a student to give him an illegal exam pass mark. And the rabbis he visits for advice only dole out platitudes. Still God moves in mysterious - and not always pleasant - ways, as Larry and his family will find out.

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | house | bribe | professor | car crash | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, some sexuality/nudity and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English Yiddish Hebrew

Release Date:

20 November 2009 (UK)

Also Known As:

Un hombre serio

Filming Locations:

Uptown Vision Clinic, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£321,114 (UK) (20 November 2009)

Gross:

$9,190,525 (USA) (1 January 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Focus Features, StudioCanal, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the movie, three of the characters go to a restaurant called "Embers". Embers is a restaurant chain started in Minneapolis in 1956.

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Goofs

While sitting on the couch drinking tea with Mrs. Samsky, Larry's hand can be seen holding the glass at various positions (higher and lower) as the scenes change.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Shtetl Husband: What a marvel... what a marvel.

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Crazy Credits

Fyvush Finkel's character is listed as "Dybbuk?".

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Connections

Featured in The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Dem Milners Trern"
Written by Mark Warschafsky (as Mark Warshavsky)
Performed by Sidor Belarsky
Courtesy of Isabel Belarsky

User Reviews

Absolute masterpiece

Yes, it's not for everyone. A strong grasp of both Jewish tradition and quantum physics would do the potential viewer well in getting the absolute most out of the film. But, as someone who is by no means an expert in either area, this one hit me on quite a base level in its unflinching and very true-to-life depiction of a man's life coming apart at the seams and all the existential angst that ensues. The wonderful thing is, A Serious Man is not only deeply resonant and moving, but quite hilarious as well- in that dark, dark way that may be just a little too dark for some.

The Coens have always caught some flack for their supposed misanthropic elitism; or, in other words, what has been seen by some critics as a sort of contemptuous mocking of the characters they depict on screen, the two directors never fully granting their filming creations emotional sympathy. If it was previously easy to debunk this claim, it is now, with A Serious Man, a piece of cake. Has there been a performance in recent years more gut-wrenchingly honest and genuinely pathos-exuding than Michael Stuhlbarg here as protagonist Larry Gopnik? That the narrative thrust of the film is essentially centered around all the horrifying and humiliating events that befall Gopnik does not necessarily mean that the Coens thumb their noses down at this character. If we take into consideration the personal nature of the film (set in a time and place very much like when/where they grew up, and populated by characters probably not unlike those they knew), then it comes as no surprise that A Serious Man is the most studied and 'serious' Coen brothers film to date.

Simply in terms of sheer film-making craft, this is the Coens, and certainly cinematographer Roger Deakins, at the peak of their respective crafts. The recreation of a late 60's heavily Jewish Midwestern locale is pitch-perfect (minus a few very small anachronisms). Not a scene feels wasted, not a shot superfluous; the picture is beautifully symmetric in structure and full of little rhymes and rhythms and repetitions, plenty striking and quasi-iconic images (Stuhlbarg on the roof as pictured on the DVD and promotional poster being one of many), and lots of likely soon-to-be classic dialogue infused with both the Coens' trademark deadpan humor (a la The Big Lebowski) as well as the film's broader thematic concerns.

Then there's the ending, or perhaps as some would say, lack thereof. Not unlike the ambiguous note that No Country For Old Men went out on, the final moments of A Serious Man will probably leave many angered, many confused, and many disappointed. But I don't think there was any other way to close such a film, one largely concerned, as it is, with all the great uncertainties that plague life-- what more appropriate way to end it than with the greatest cinematic uncertainty of all? The final shot is, I think, one of the most haunting in cinema history. I've seen the film three times in the theater, each time leaving awestruck and emotionally drained as the various events of the film, its haunting score and its devastating philosophical implications swirl around my head.

A Serious Man, then, is truly a serious film, with the (black) humor only arising naturally from the utter tragic unfair-ness of life as seen through the protagonist's eyes, and not forced on the situations irreverently as in a lot of films. Given the uncompromisingly bleak nature of the film, perhaps it's best summed up by an old and rather cliché platitude (not unlike the one the film somewhat ironically opens with): When you feel like crying, laugh instead.