Ethan Coen Doesn’t “Want To Make Movies Anymore,” According To Coen Brothers Collaborator Carter Burwell
In news that is sure to send cinephiles sinking to their knees, shouting “No!” to the heavens, writer-directorEthan Coenappears to be done making movies…for now, at least.
Let’s all take a deep breath and try to process this rationally. The news comes thirdhand from a reliable source: specifically, composerCarter Burwell, a frequent collaborator of Ethan and his brother,Joel Coen’s, whose long filmmaking partnership together has produced such modern classics asFargoandNo Country for Old Men, to name but two.
Now, we have some clarification about what led Ethan to sit outThe Tragedy ofMacbeth, his brother’s latest film, which isgoing black-and-whitelikeThe Man Who Wasn’t There. Is the younger Coen done making movies forever? Based on Burwell’s comments, it sounds like Ethan is taking a break, not necessarily retiring. This aligns with previous comments that Coen himself has made about “giving movies a rest” so he could focus on plays and other projects.
On an episode of theScore podcastthis week (courtesy ofIndiewire), Burwell spoke about what led to an “amicable” split, of sorts, between the Coen Brothers forThe Tragedy of Macbeth:
“Ethan has written and produced on his own I know, but this is the first time Joel is directing on his own. Ethan just didn’t want to make movies anymore. Ethan seems very happy doing what he’s doing, and I’m not sure what Joel will do after this. They also have a ton of scripts they’ve written together that are sitting on various shelves. I hope maybe they get back to those. I’ve read some of those, and they are great. We are all at an age where we just don’t know… we could all retire. It’s a wonderfully unpredictable business.”
The Tragedy of Ethan’s Sabbatical
We already knew well before this that Joel would be flying solo in the director’s chair forThe Tragedy of Macbeth, which is set to make its world premiere on the opening night of the New York Film Festival in September. It’s precisely this knowledge that may have left some fans scratching their heads, wondering what could have possibly possessed Ethan to pass on the film, particularly when it features a Shakespearean match-up between heavyweightsDenzel WashingtonandFrances McDormand.
It’s worth noting that Joel Coen received sole credit for directing the brothers' films from their debut,Blood Simple, in 1984, all the way up untilThe Ladykillersin 2004. This was because of the Director’s Guild of America (DGA) and its rules against shared directing credits, which are only allowed if they come from an “established duo.”
Remarkably, it took the Coen Brothers a full two decades to establish themselves as a duo in the DGA’s sight. Ethan was always listed as a producer, and the Coens have long shared editing credits for their films under the pseudonymRoderick Jaynes, but it was only afterNo Country for Old Menthat they started sharing directorial credit.
Just today,No Country for Old Menmade my list ofall-time favorite movieshere on /Film.Inside Llewyn Daviswas also onJeremy Matthai’s list. I’m willing to bet there are many readers out there who would count one or more Coen Brothers movies among their own personal favorites.
It sounds like Ethan Coen is simply doing what Quentin Tarantino has done and pivoting to another storytelling medium for the time being. With any luck, his departure from moviemaking will not last forever. Here’s hoping he’ll be back in the saddle soon, filming another great revisionist Western or neo-noir film.
