For a parallel, consider the closing scene of “Burn After Reading,” in which J.K. Simmons’ CIA Superior is briefed by David Rasche’s officer Palmer DeBakey Smith on the disaster of ineptitude that makes up the movie’s story. “What did we learn, Palmer?” Simmons’ character asks. “I don’t know, sir,” Palmer responds. “I don’t f**king know either. I guess we learned not to do it again,” Simmons exasperatedly concludes. The players are paid off, or left to rot in favor of a government cover-up, and life returns to normal.
There’s also the question of fate versus free will that defines Macbeth and his wife’s pursuit of power. The first part of the witches’ prophecy—Macbeth becoming Thane of Cawdor—comes true through no direct action of his own. Would he have eventually become king if he and Lady Macbeth were patient, or was murder always part of the deal? If he’d risen through less violent means, would his reign have been longer? More productive? Or was it destined to work out this way?
The question of fate, and whether supernatural forces dictate our lives, is another frequent Coen brothers theme. In the final frames of “A Serious Man,” Michael Stuhlbarg’s long-suffering math professor Larry Gopnik finally caves and accepts a bribe from a student after a series of tragic, financially-strapping incidents, as a tornado touches down outside his son’s school. Were Larry’s trials a divine test? Is the tornado punishment for giving up his ethical principles, or just the latest bad break in a series of them?
“No Country for Old Men” has a more decisive take. When Anton Chigurh tells Carla Jean Moss to call his coin toss, determining whether or not he’ll kill her, she refuses. “The coin don’t have no say,” she tells him, “It’s just you.” Her response visibly unnerves Chigurh. The man clearly gets perverse joy from killing, but the coin toss allows him moral distance. He can tell himself that it’s the universe determining his victims’ deaths, not him. Carla Jean’s statement puts responsibility squarely in his court. Maybe fate has no role in what happens to us, and we are simply the products of our own choices.
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