Blood Simple

Blood Simple is easy to write-off as a calling card film. In fact, that's exactly what critic J. Hoberman of the Village Voice said in 1984, praising the film's style while dismissing it as a whole for being nothing more than a cinematic resume. He's right, of course, in recognizing the Coen brothers' ambition to kick-start their careers, raising money from private investors (a model their friend Sam Raimi used to finance The Evil Dead) and shooting their low-budget noir thriller on the cheap in hopes of attracting some Hollywood attention. But dismissing the result of their efforts was a miscalculation as Blood Simple established a template that took the Coens all the way to the top of their profession.

If that's just a resume, it's one hell of a good one!

Ray and Abby (John Getz & Frances McDormand) are having an affair. To complicate the situation, Abby's husband, Marty (Dan Hedaya), is Ray's boss at a neon-soaked Texas honky-tonk. After Marty learns about their relationship from a private investigator (M. Emmet Walsh), he hires the same sleazy character to finish them both off. But, as in any good noir, the devil is in the details. And soon the dirty deals and double-crossing lead to the theft of $10,000, a missing dead body and a roadside burial to cover it all up.

Blood Simple is obviously noir inspired from head-to-toe. But it also incorporates some horror movie tropes (jump scares and plenty of blood) along with a showy visual style often underlining that aforementioned Sam Raimi connection. Cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld even uses the patented demonic "shaky cam" - a camera stuck on a two-by-four - to great effect in one scene. But those noir clichés are filtered through the Coens unique sensibility and dark humor, resulting in a film that retains that nihilistic edge but has a bit of fun while doing it.

What Blood Simple does lack, and probably inspired Hoberman's droll review, are fully evolved characters. The script simply doesn't provide much insight or inspire much sympathy, particularly in the case of Ray who serves as a rather bland everyman (yes, I recognize the irony there). But the Coen's eye for casting usually serves to fill in the blanks, as it does here with M. Emmet Walsh, who the filmmakers wrote the role for specifically. The actor's rumpled, rancid performance is on par with Orson Welles in the equally dark Touch of Evil and provides Blood Simple with an anti-heroic anchor that pulls you into the comfortably dark shadows where a guy will do anything...if the price is right

There's a reason why collectors hope their favorite films wind up as part of the Criterion Collection someday; and Blood Simple is a perfect example. The new 4K restored transfer is magnificently lush and details. And while he extras here aren't anything new - interviews, commentary, trailers - but they're all taken to the next level. Most impressive is the live commentary with Sonnenfeld and the Coens, which cuts between the filmmakers discussing various highlights (it runs just over an hour) using a Telestrator to point out various technical tricks and gaffes. Self-deprecating but addictively informative, this is how every commentary track should look going forward!

Next come a trio of lushly produced interviews with Frances McDormand, M. Emmet Walsh and composer Carter Burwell, each running about 30 minutes. The Coen's themselves return for another sit-down with author Dave Eggers who leads them through the genesis of the film, the challenges during the shoot and the nearly impossible odds of getting it released. More anecdotal and in-depth in terms of the filmmakers' philosophies (or lack thereof), it covers the Coens and their film from every angle.

Also presented in its entirety is the investor trailer, which was produced to secure funding (again, another Raimi innovation), the theatrical and re-release trailers plus liner notes by novelist and critic Nathaniel Rich.