Paranoia in Blood Simple (1984)
Paranoia in Blood Simple (1984)
CW: Heavy Spoilers for Blood Simple (1984)
[Seriously, watch this movie before reading any of this. But I think also that Blood Simple is kind of built in a way where it is basically impossible to spoil anything that happens, because a lot of is centres around how it develops more than anything. This is just kind of summing up a lot of how I feel about that movie and the utter perplexity of it.]
Blood Simple operates on this simple premise of basically taking this idea of a crime that goes out without a hitch but then subverts it by showing these additional complications. The trailer's tagline comes from Alfred Hitchcock who states that "It is very difficult, very painful, and it takes a very, very long time to kill someone." which does kind of sum up one of the main threads of the movie. It's a film about what happens when you try to get close to someone, try to kill them, but then it's by people who totally underestimate the requirements of what needs to be done, and instead focuses on this very human feeling of being put in these anxiety-ridden circumstances and the sudden but logical ways in which people respond to it.
It's one of those movies where it's compelling even when it's totally perplexing and confusing, yet like there's such a perverse joy in being able to follow through with the logic of this movie. Really, this movie works so much because it's fundamentally a movie about paranoia, incomplete information, and the sort of nightmare situations that inspire from it, both where it's utterly creepy and frightening but at the same time also very darkly funny in terms of how it tells it's story. But at the same time that's what makes this movie so entertaining and like whether or not I understand it or am totally befuddled by it. Paradoxically, the more I watched this film, the more I got what was going on and the more perplexed I got when I finally understood what was going on, and I think this really is a testament to just how successful it is with showing how people react to it. It's fascinating in terms of its juxtaposition and how it shows people behaving.
But what's so fascinating about this movie is that it's really about the paranoia of relationships, infidelity, and this whole idea of people keeping things out of your grasp. Every character in this movie, in some way, operates on a logic where they're kept out of the tune with things. Drastic attempts to get into the tune with it culminate in speculative paranoia, stalking, and a sleazy business man hiring an even sleazier private detective to do his dirty work for him, he doesn't really ask questions about why just that he gets the job done. But Abby and Ray definitely are planning on doing things outside of Marty's view. Ray asks Marty for his wages even when he's dating Abby. Later Marty comes to Ray's house, tries to kidnap Abby and assaults her before getting beaten up himself, and figures out most definitely that Abby is cheating on him with Ray. Then Ray hires a detective to kill the two, the detective complies and gives him some doctored photos which convinces him that the job is done, before he's shot and presumably killed by the detective. Then Ray comes in again to confront Marty about his wages, again, only to discover that he's slumped on his chair with a bullet wound in his chest.
Also, I think the horror movie like elements in this really stand out. Something this movie really seems to get at are just these very primordial fears of what if you were in an insanely stressful situation and something went wrong. What if you left something at the scene of a crime? What if the dead person you're burying wasn't really dead? What if you were stalked by someone who turns out to be a total stranger? What if you really did leave your windbreaker at the scene of the crime? Things like that really stick out about this movie and I do like how the perplexity of the situation often does lend itself towards utter creepiness in terms of what it depicts. Not that this is really a horror film. It is as much a horror film in the same way that it would be a comedy film. It's the incisive intersection of these elements within this crime story that really work with this movie.
But what's more is that a lot of the stupid actions either come from characters who act impulsively or who wind up panicking under these extremely stressful situations. So many little details in this movie are just so fascinating. For example, in the scene where Ray buries Marty alive, Marty points his gun him and repeatedly pulls the trigger onto an empty chamber. Ray does not snatch the gun out of his hands, so much as he just gently eases his hand in and takes it off of him, which Marty doesn't really show that much resistance to. A quick, blink-and-you'll-miss-it reveal near the beginning of the movie shows how Visser loses his cigarette lighter where he just places it down without thinking much of it. Much later in the film this becomes such a crucial plot element as he determines to cover all his tracks with the crime, so the location of the cigarette lighter becomes extremely speculative to him. His search for it leads to the climax of the film, which is like one of the most stupid, ill-judged decisions imaginable, yet like it makes sense that he would do this.
All the performances in this movie work so well though, and something that I really love is just how much of a culminative impact this movie has and how you can tell all these contradictions are going through peoples' heads at any given moment, and also the shifts in perspective that occur. Or how characters can wind up doing so based off of mostly speculative but also uncorroborated evidence about what's going on. Abby becomes terrified of Ray but then Ray winds up reassuring her over and over again that things will be alright, but then also his protective behaviour does wind up feeling way more erratic and like he's imposing on Abby. Visser himself seems to think these thoughts and then some but also what's strange is how he is a total stranger to Ray and Abby, and what we get is this voyeuristic gaze into these two peoples' lives that they just do not have the slightest clue about.
The way this movie culminates is just so strange because after burying Marty, it sort of takes on this no man's land territory where the threats become way more speculative. Ray suspects that somebody is after both him and Abby, yet Abby does not get what's going on, and Ray's panicked behaviour makes Abby think that he's somehow up to some quite nefarious. Meanwhile Ray's behaviour is inspired by this protective urge to "cover" for Abby's alleged crimes. Fundamentally it's a film about paranoia and what's strange is how a large thrust of the plot is about speculative anxiety but at the same time it also seems to enjoy undercutting it by suggesting other details, that things just don't add up. That's kind of the fun of this movie, but yeah. Conversations seem to cut off before crucial information is revealed but then often it shows us why they do not focus on that. What's left are these contradictions where characters are placed in inexplicable situations and they come to these conclusions, however wrong they are, that most logically fills in the inexplicable. Marty seems to come back from the dead to Abby in a dream at one point, informing him that Ray is going to get her next, but then Ray only really finished the job that Visser did.
Also I really love the visual design of this movie. Lot of mileage goes into the shadow and lighting but I think what also works is the kinetic camerawork at play. A burial scene takes place and the camera pans over from a car into this long field, only illuminated by the car's headlights. One of the earliest scenes in the bar has this camera which pushes in on a counter-top, there's a passed-out drunk lying on top of it, then the camera moves up as if it's moving over the person. Particularly effective is a scene where someone shoots through a wall multiple times and we see the light beaming through into the other, darkened, room. But what's more is that I love how it teases us with these little details like if you really pay attention to this movie it does keep you in tune with every single thing that's going on. Even little things like how actions are performed very swiftly or just very leisurely, or indeed something that I think this film is very fascinated with which is the "freeze" response, of characters just standing there in terror, before suddenly bursting into impulsive action. What's left is just the undercurrent of human behaviour and how perplexing it all is, and I feel that's what's so fascinating about this movie. Even if you are so in-tune with the finer details, it's the emotional element of this movie that really works and what makes this movie work so well.
Ending of this movie is also just totally sudden and unconventional but I like that it just seems to tell the story that it needs to and it just ends. Ray suspects that someone is watching him, but Abby insists to him that there's nothing going on, only for Ray to be shot and killed by Visser with a sniper rifle. She doesn't rush out of her way though. She takes a bit of time to piece together what happened before she suddenly leaps away from another sniper shot. Visser rushes over to the apartment to kill Abby but then Abby gets the drop on him, stabs him through the hand and then shoots him. But there is something so memorable just about Visser's final moments where he starts laughing, then seems kind of serene then perplexed and befuddled, with the focus diverting onto this water droplet that builds before dripping, presumably, on his face. After all of that you just sit there and you just kind of have to take in everything that went on and I think it all weirdly works in terms of its culminative impact. It's just the unpredicted elements about it, literally nothing seems to go to plan, but like I think Visser is someone who seems to work on this suicidal impulse. That droplet of water upon Visser's death really feels like the last statement on that regard.
I think what's so compelling about this movie is the feelings that it conjures up. Upon writing this piece one of the main things that I seemed to feel is that it's just really anxiety-inducing, weird and downright creepy at points. Like I would compulsively write a paragraph of this movie and sink into a shallow breath. But it's also filled to the brim with macabre humour and also just showing the underlying absurdity of it all that it does just seem to bounce off of itself like nothing else. Really, I think Blood Simple is one of the best thrillers out there because it is a real rollercoaster of a ride that goes through all these different emotions and it totally works for what it is. Simultaneously it's incredibly funny, creepy, anxiety-ridden and just outright beautifully composed in terms of its chaotic string of mishaps that kicks off, and it all just works seamlessly together. It's just such a thrill watching this movie. Yeah, I kind of had to write this piece largely because I was just thinking "I have to piece together to myself what the hell happened in this film." That's the hallmark of a masterpiece, honestly. This is stunning for a debut feature but like it already does contain everything great about the Coen Brothers' work.
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