Starring: John Getz, Frances McDormand, Dan Hedaya, M Emmet Walsh
Director: Joel Coen
Category: III
The film: With the Coen brothers' critically acclaimed The Man Who Wasn't There due to make its way into Hong Kong cinemas on February 28, now is a good time to work your way through their back catalogue of eight collaborations. And what better place to start than Blood Simple, the film that kick-started their careers in 1984. Joel Coen had worked previously on Sam Raimi's Evil Dead (1982) as an assistant editor, but the brothers came together for this moody thriller - Joel being credited as 'director' and Ethan with just about everything else. Sleazy Texas bar owner Marty (Dan Hedaya) hires even sleazier private eye Visser (M Emmet Walsh) to rub out his wife Abby (Frances McDormand), who's been having an affair with barman Ray (John Getz). And so it goes, around and around and around. Everyone wants something from everyone else, and what follows is a grubby tale of despair and deception. The Coens established their reputation as film-makers with an odd view of the world with Blood Simple, but it owes as much to the performances of the actors - the eternally crumpled Walsh in particular - than any innovative camera angles, scene set-ups or smart dialogue. History has since shown the pair to be masters of drawing such performances from the people they hire.
The extras: The wide-screen format adds to the film-noir feel, but apart from that and a bit of commentary and production notes, there's not a lot of extras.
The verdict: The Coen brothers have a legion of fans and win more over to their quirky talents with each film they produce. Not much to note in the way of extras, more a film to own for its own sake. Even though it is a remarkable first-up effort, Blood Simple still manages to scream that bigger and better things were on the way.