The Coen Brothers and the Comedy of Democracy (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781498555180)

Both critically and commercially successful filmmakers, the Coen brothers have written, produced, and directed numerous acclaimed films over the past three decades. Sara MacDonald and Barry Craig demonstrate that their comedies, in particular, which are often dismissed as mere entertainments, actually present substantial philosophic and political arguments. They examine five of the Coen brothers' comedies: Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou, and Hail Caesar!. In those works, they discover insightful engagements with such ideas as questions of human freedom, the relationship of reason to religion, and the nature of liberal democracy in the American regime. They demonstrate how sometimes explicitly, but generally implicitly, the Coens draw on thinkers such as Homer, Plato, Dante, and Hegel, while simultaneously presenting popular entertainment.

Author: Sara MacDonald, Barry Craig
ISBN-10: 1498555187
ISBN-13: 9781498555180
Publisher: Lexington Books
Language: English
Published: 01/12/2021
Pages: 132
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.45lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.31d