No Country For Old Men (What makes it suspenseful?)

No Country For Old Men is a crime thriller film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin.

It's about a young Texan man who

fortuitously found a fortune in a desert and delivers it. However, he came across to a situation that lead him in the killer's hands. The movie quoted that is a "cat-and-mouse" drama. Later on the film, Tommy Lee Jones joins the film and tries to investigate the crime.

We were given the chance to watch this movie by our Media teacher to help us define the word suspense and the elements in creating this. Our task was to look for at least three examples of a suspenseful moment whilst watching the film, then list notes of what makes it suspenseful.

My first example would be the scene when the Josh Brolin went to the desert during nightime to check the dead bodies with a track of heroine. He was looking around the dead bodies and the tracks then suddenly he glanced back to his car and there was already another car parked beside it. Then three man came out of the car in silhouette searching his car. This scene was suspenseful for me because of the mise-en-scene which includes the dark lighting and the open empty space. Also, the silence of the surrounding adds to the tension and the shadows that was shown after he glanced back to his car.

The second example would be the scene when Josh Brolin checked in a room in a hotel and he was trying to reach for the money from the previous room while killer Javier Bardem was slowly opening the door. It was suspenseful because of the use of editing which is the cross cut. Again the empty and silence surrounding helps creates tension.

My third example would be the scene when the man changed hotels and found a detector inside the suitcase. He then had an instinct of the arriving of the killer in that hotel, so he turned off the light to see if someone will walk pass his room. It was suspenseful for me because of the use of dark lighting and the shadow of someone going back and forth outside his room.

This film of No Country For Old Men is a good example of a thriller movie because of its dramatic actions. It was lacking of sound effects, the silence of the mise-en-scene was mostly use in this film which i think is very effective as it makes the audience jumps off their seats whenever an unexpected scene occurs. The dark lighting and the setting also adds to this effect. The dark lighting creates an enigmatic effect and the open empty setting illustrate isolation and being helpless which clearly helps the movie in creating the 'thrill' towards the audience.