Lives and Work of the Coen Brothers

Ethan and Joel Coen (From left to right)

After researching into the lives of the Coen brothers, i was interested to find that their passion for film making had not been influenced by their parents. Their father studied in London to achieve a qualification in economics and their mother became a professor of art history and even then Joel mentions that he never once remembers his mother taking them to an art museum.
Joel and Ethan were not always as close as they are today. Joel has said that the three years difference in age was really what initially pushed them apart, however it was only after leaving school that they really got to know each other. They began mowing lawns for pocket money after Joel had suggest they bought a Super-8 camera to experiment with their own reproduction of old movies.
Evidently Joel went to study film at the New York University in 1977 where as Ethan went to Princeton University to study Philosophy however he has described his attitude to the course as 'casual' as he never really knew what he wanted to do. While Joel had graduated and began looking for work, Ethan had moved to New York working as a typist which taught him key skills for his writing career.
During this time, the brothers re-ignited their creative partnership and began writing scripts for other people which implanted the possibility of creating their own movies. The first being 'Blood Simple' in 1984.

In terms of their work, its endless and ongoing, therefore it would be very difficult to discuss everything they have done.
In general terms the Coen brothers are known for growing up around filmmaking by soaking up all the information they possibly could, generally from the television right from the early stages of their career. On a whole Eddie Robson, Author of 'Coen Brothers' has said that 'they appear puzzled by the existence of critics and bemused by any attempt at an intellectual reading of their work.' They feel that journalists do nothing other than create a certain amount of words to fill a space.
There are also a few correlations that i have picked up after watching a variety of their films. Firstly many of their films tend to include the same actors, i feel this puts across a close and personal relationship within their career, reinforcing the aspect of a family project.
Secondly Eddie Robson has also mentioned that the original music of all their movies, up to 2003, are all written by Carter Burwell, 'whether on his own or in collaboration with others'.
Lastly Ethan Coen has said that they 'tend to do period stuff' which is why their first 9 films have been set in the twentieth century and of course situated in their home country, America. Again reinforcing my above statement of a close family nit community.