Folksiness

The Cohen Brothers have created two great movies with “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men.” One thing that the brothers keep common between the two films is the folksiness and that the folksy people are not really prepared for the times that are changing. In both films the folksy town people are truly unprepared to interact with the non-folksy people. The townsfolk get swindled, murdered, and outplayed by the outside people. The folksy people are at a mismatch. The times are changing and it seems that they are not going to be part of it. “No Country for Old Men”’s title literally says it. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell also shows this in his progressive weariness as he tries to track down Luellen Moss and Anton Chigurh. And at the end Sheriff Bell comes to the realization that he is outmatched and no longer part of the times and he retires. In “Fargo” Sheriff Marge Gunderson also slowly comes to this realization as well. She does very good detective work but she always seems to be one step behind the pair of killers. And then at the end she is left there saying, “I don’t understand why anyone would do something like that for just a bit of money. I just can’t understand it.” Both these movies have the theme that the folksiness is just a bit behind the times and cannot keep up.