Blood simple

This stylish, low-budget, neo-noir thriller was the Coen brothers compelling debut feature and one of the most successful American independent features ever made. In the heart of Texas, a seedy private detective is asked by a spurned bar owner to murder his wife and her boyfriend. Having collected his fee, the private eye decides to make some variations to the murder contract. At this point the plot contorts into a blackly comic, serpentine web of misunderstandings, betrayals and counter betrayals where greed and fear trap the characters in a bloody nightmare of escalating terror. Arguably the most influential take on film noir since ‘Chinatown’, ‘Blood Simple’ established the Coen brother’s trademark style—engaging narrative, inventive direction, offbeat humour and the juxtaposition of grim violence with moments of sublime, sometimes surreal, human behavior. Barry Sonnenfeld’s innovatiove cinematography, (also seen in the Coens’ later films ‘Rasing Arizona’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing’) adds to this distinctive mix.