Mamet master class
The memo is a good distillation of Mamet’s altogether straightforward thoughts on the nature of drama, for those of you too poor to buy (or too honest to steal) copies of Writing in Restaurants, Some Freaks, Three Uses of the Knife or On Directing Film.
Nota Bene
For my readers who enjoy crappy puns and entertainment-related jokes, I now tweet a lot more regularly than I used to.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 11
So, things are pretty bad now for Larry. His wife is divorcing him, she’s cut off his money, she’s thrown him out of his house. His kids barely notice he’s gone, he’s got to pay for his wife’s lover’s funeral and his brother’s criminal trial. But, as bad-off as Larry is, his brother, who is like Larry’s dark reflection, is worse. He’s still got his cyst, and, as he explains in a tearful (empty) poolside confession, Larry is a lucky, wealthy man compared to him: he’s got a wife, a family, a job. Arthur has nothing, and now he’s going to go to jail for solicitation and sodomy. Larry never "did anything," and now he’s in danger of losing everything. Arthur, on the other hand, apparently "did" a great deal, none of which Larry knew anything about, and never had anything, and on top of it faces imprisonment. Larry counsels Arthur with a bromide no wiser, nor more foolish, than the advice he’s been given by the rabbis. "Sometimes you have to help yourself," he says, but, of course, that’s exactly what Larry has not done — he’s let everyone walk all over him.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 10
Larry takes the lesson of the goy’s teeth to heart — in his own way. He decides he’s going to "help others," starting with his nude-sunbathing neighbor Mrs. Samsky. Mrs. Samsky either is, or is not, a lonely, sexually frustrated housewife. Larry’s motivations toward her aren’t so hard to read: he’s sick of being "good," he’s going to get back at Judith for what he believes she’s done to him. On her end, Mrs. Samsky seems pliable and ready to go. So ready to go, in fact, that she tires quickly of Larry’s stammered words, preferring to get on with the business of getting high.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 9
Sy Abelman, Larry’s romantic rival, is dead. Rabbi Nachtner, he of the goy’s teeth, delivers the eulogy. Larry sits by himself, a few rows back from his estranged wife Judith. The kids are not in evidence. I can’t imagine they were keen to attend. Larry, on the other hand, is paying for the service, so he might as well be there.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 8
Having received no comfort or perspective from "the first rabbi," Larry now seeks them from his divorce lawyer, whose character’s name is "Divorce Lawyer." He tries, half-heartedly, to repeat the "look at the parking lot" wisdom he’s received from Rabbi Scott, but is utterly unconvincing and folds at the slightest expression of doubt from his lawyer. What’s more, he proceeds to argue the case from Judith’s point-of-view, echoing the previous kitchen-table scene almost word for word, except backwards. Larry, given the opportunity to nail his wife’s ass (as the refrain from the Coens’ earlier divorce comedy Intolerable Cruelty puts it), instead sides with the aggressor, hog-tying the lawyer’s ability to act — he defeats himself.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 7
So Larry has been thrown out of his own house by his wife Judith. In a rare moment of bonding with Danny, he stops in to ask for his son’s stereo to use at the Jolly Roger (Larry is apparently a music lover). Danny, although he never says anything as sentimental as "Gee dad, tough break, getting thrown out of the house," nevertheless generously hands over his record player, a machine which has great significance to him — it’s how he listens to his Torah recordings for his bar mitzvah, and it’s also how he listens to rock-n-roll, now that his radio has been confiscated. This is, as far as I can tell, the only moment of tenderness between father and son in the movie. On the other hand, neither Danny nor Larry’s daughter Sarah seem to care one whit about their family falling to pieces — Larry’s departure carries less weight in the household than Arthur monopolizing the bathroom.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 6
Enter Arlen Finkle.
Arlen Finkle is a co-worker of Larry’s and head of the college tenure committee. What does Arlen want? Arlen wants to assure Larry that, despite the fact that there have been several letters sent to the tenure committee defaming Larry, his tenure is in no way hanging in the balance and he should by no means worry about anything. Arlen, like Sy Abelman, is an indelible character, acted to perfection in an incredible brief performance by an actor I’ve never heard of before. The grain and detail brought to his overwhelmingly ineffective reassurances to Larry is breathtaking.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 5
Larry is back at work. He’s got a message from Sy Abelman, the man whom his wife is leaving him for: "Let’s have a nice talk." Clive, his student who wants a new mid-term grade, has come in again. Larry holds up the envelope full of cash and indirectly accuses Clive of bribing him. Clive remains opaque, while at the same time seeming to know what’s in the envelope. "Actions have consequences," says Larry, but Clive isn’t entirely with him. "Yes, often" is the best he can do. This sends Larry into a frenzy: all actions, he says, have consequences — not just in physics, but morally. This is an important insight into Larry’s mind: to him, life makes sense only when actions have consequences. Things don’t just "happen" for no reason, an envelope full of money doesn’t just appear on his desk for no reason. Clive either did, or did not, try to bribe Larry. Based on the evidence, it seems clear that he did, but there’s nothing Larry can do to prove it, and Clive doesn’t give him an inch. As I’ve mentioned before, Larry is being tested here. If Clive did not leave the money on Larry’s desk, who did? Did Hashem? An envelope full of money seems well within the realm of the possible, given some of the events that eventually transpire in this movie. The notion that actions always have consequences will have a special resonance in the closing moments of the movie, especially regarding this envelope of money.
Coen Bros: A Serious Man part 4
We’ve met Larry Gopnik and his son Danny and are acquainted with their problems. What’s the story at Larry’s house?