Joel and Ethan Coen have built a long and illustrious career by reinventing how stories are told. They certainly have a postmodern sensibility and have never shied away from breaking established cinematic codes. The writers/directors have worked in nearly every genre from film noir and screwball comedy, to the Western and black comedy, and when it comes to the weirdest scenes in Coen Brothers movies, there's plenty to choose from.
Their signature style is to both work within the confines of a genre, and break the genre’s rules. Think about the typical John Wayne hero in a standard Western: male, macho, middle-aged. Now think about a Coen Brothers Western hero, like the one from True Grit: a 13-year-old female. This creative flexibility allows the Coens the ability to explore a lot of strange places.
Some of the weirdest Coen Brothers movies involve blurring the line between reality and fantasy. Some of these lines are easy to spot, like the surrealist dream sequences in The Big Lebowski. Other times, viewers are left wondering what's real and what's imaginary, like in Barton Fink.The brothers' unique style of filmmaking makes it okay to ask, “WTF?” Most of their movies are meant to be odd. Weird Coen Brothers moments make their canon unlike that of any other filmmakers.
Make your voice heard, vote up the truly weirdest of the weird Coen Brothers scenes below.
This dream sequence from The Big Lebowski is a stoner's delight. The Busby Berkeley inspired surrealist piece even has Saddam Hussein as a bowling alley attendant.
Perhaps the most iconic scene from any Coen Brothers movie, it takes a minute for Officer Gunderson (Frances McDormand) and the audience to figure out what Gaear (Peter Stormare) is doing with that wood chipper. But once we see that white-socked foot sticking out of the top, and blood spewing out of the front, it all makes perfect sense... at least for the odd cinematic world of the Coen Brothers.
H.I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) has kidnapped a baby and now, of course, needs diapers. With pantyhose over his face, the man races through a supermarket, then through a neighborhood with a package of Huggies nestled under his arm. The pursuit is odd and hilarious all at once, a signature blend the Coen Brothers perfect in this sequence.
We know Anton Chigurh is one bad dude. However, we don't see that he is the face of evil until the moment when he puts the fear of the devil himself into this poor convenience store owner, for really no good reason at all.
The Coen Brothers have no problem turning one of the biggest movie stars in cinema history into a total dweeb. This scene from Burn After Reading gives viewers a look at gym rat Chad, and all his horrific dance moves. The unbelievable part is that Chad is totally oblivious to what a dimwitted tool he is.
