| The Man Who Wasn't There | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joel Coen[1][a] |
| Written by |
|
| Produced by | Ethan Coen[1] |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | Carter Burwell |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | USA Films (United States) Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom)[2] |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 116 minutes[3] |
| Countries | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $18.9 million[4] |
The Man Who Wasn't There is a 2001neo-noircrime film written, directed, produced and co-edited byJoel and Ethan Coen. It starsBilly Bob Thornton,Frances McDormand,Michael Badalucco,Richard Jenkins,Scarlett Johansson,Jon Polito,Tony Shalhoub, andJames Gandolfini. The film is set in 1949 and tells the story of Ed Crane, a withdrawn barber who leads an ordinary life in a smallCalifornia town with his wife, who he suspects is having an affair with her boss. Crane's situation changes when a stranger comes to the barbershop and offers him the opportunity to join him as a partner in a promising new business, in exchange for an investment of ten thousand dollars. Drawn to the idea, Crane plans to blackmail his wife's lover for the money.
The film is inblack-and-white and employs voiceover narration, honoring classicfilm noir. It differs by includingclassical music, setting the plot in a small town, and featuring a protagonist from outside the criminal underworld.[5] The Coens began developing the idea from a 1940s haircut poster they saw while filmingThe Hudsucker Proxy.[6] The plot was influenced byJames M. Cain's crime novels, primarilyDouble Indemnity,The Postman Always Rings Twice, andMildred Pierce.[7] Aesthetically,The Man Who Wasn't There was inspired by films from the 1940s and 1950s—includingShadow of a Doubt—along with science fiction films and documentaries of the period.[8]
The film premiered and participated in the official selection at the2001 Cannes Film Festival, where Joel Coen won the award forbest director.[9] Its theatrical response was lukewarm, although it was well-received by film critics, who praised Roger Deakins' cinematography and the performances, especially Thornton's.[10] Media critics inThe Guardian, theBBC, andThe Austin Chronicle referred to it as one of the best films of the year.[11][12][13] TheNational Board of Review included it among itstop ten films of the year and awarded Thorntonbest actor.[14] Deakins received a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Cinematography and the film achieved multiple nominations and awards from other organizations.[15]
In 1949Santa Rosa, California, Ed Crane is a quiet barber working in his brother-in-law Frank’s barbershop. His wife Doris, a bookkeeper, struggles with a drinking problem, and their marriage is strained. One day, a customer named Creighton Tolliver tells Ed about an investment opportunity in a new technology calleddry cleaning. Tolliver persuades Ed to invest $10,000, but Ed, desperate for money, decides to blackmail Doris's boss, "Big Dave" Brewster, whom he suspects of having an affair with her. Ed anonymously demands money from Brewster, who embezzles funds from his department store to meet the blackmail demands.
However, Brewster soon uncovers the scheme and confronts Ed. After Tolliver implicates Ed in the plan, Brewster beats him to death. In a desperate attempt to protect himself, Ed fatally stabs Brewster with a cigar knife in self-defense. Despite this, the police discover discrepancies in the store’s financial records and arrest Doris, suspecting her of both embezzling the money and murdering Brewster.
Ed hires Freddy Riedenschneider, aSacramentodefense attorney, who arrives in town and immediately starts living lavishly on the defense fund Doris’s family raised by mortgaging the barbershop. On the day of Doris’s trial, she is found dead, having hanged herself in her jail cell. It is later revealed that Doris was pregnant when she died, though she and Ed had not been intimate for years. Ed’s world unravels further as Frank, now deeply in debt and consumed by grief, turns to alcohol.
Amid the chaos, Ed begins spending time with Rachel "Birdy" Abundas, a teenage girl and friend of the family, listening to her play the piano. Ed fantasizes about launching her musical career and becoming her manager, but his dreams are crushed when a music teacher bluntly informs him that Birdy has no talent. On the way home, Birdy makes an overt sexual advance toward Ed, causing him to lose control of his car and crash.
Ed wakes up in the hospital to find himself arrested for murder. Tolliver’s body, beaten and found with Ed’s investment contract, leads the police to believe that Ed coerced Doris into embezzling the money and murdered Tolliver when he discovered the scheme. With no resources left, Ed mortgages his house to hire Riedenschneider for his defense. However, during Riedenschneider’s opening statement, Frank attacks Ed in a fit of rage, and the judge declares a mistrial. With his defense in shambles, Ed throws himself at the mercy of the court, but the judge sentences him to death.
While awaiting execution on death row, Ed writes his life story to sell to a pulp magazine. One night, he sees aUFO outside the prison, which he walks away from. As Ed is led to theelectric chair, he reflects on his life and decisions, finding peace with his past. He regrets nothing and holds hope that, in the afterlife, he and Doris will be free from the imperfections of the mortal world.
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The idea of writing a film starring a barber was inspired by a poster that theCoen brothers saw while filmingThe Hudsucker Proxy (1994). "We filmed a scene in a barbershop, and there was a poster on the wall showing all the different 1940s-style haircuts," recalled Joel Coen. "It was a fixture on the set, and we were always looking at it. So we started thinking about the guy who actually did the haircuts, and the story began to take shape. It really evolved from that haircut poster."[6] The directors took the title of the film from the 1899 poem written byWilliam Hughes Mearns entitled "Antigonish" and they chose it in reference to the character of the barber, to reflect his emotional emptiness.[16][17]
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there!
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away!
— First lines of the poem "Antigonish" (1899) by William Hughes Mearns
Set in 1949, the plot—according to Joel Coen—"is heavily influenced" by the work of writerJames M. Cain, in particular, the novelsDouble Indemnity,The Postman Always Rings Twice, andMildred Pierce.[7] Despite being a neo-noir story, The Coens replaced the underworld setting with a typical American town with ordinary people. "The criminal element here is sort of inadvertent. The hero sort of stumbles into it," Ethan Coen explained. This storytelling device was an homage to Cain, whose stories usually featured characters with conventional jobs who, motivated by need or greed, ended up involved in a crime. Other conventions were present inThe Man Who Wasn't There, such as the plan to get money quickly, sexual misadventures, and coincidences of fate. The failure of a "perfect plan" to raise money appears inDouble Indemnity andThe Postman Always Rings Twice, both novels narrated by down-and-out working-class men during theGreat Depression.[5][8]
The Coens namedShadow of a Doubt as a reference to the film and had in mind the science fiction genre of the 1950s.[8][18] The film's aesthetics were influenced by science fiction cinema and "cheap documentaries of the '50s". Cinematographer Roger Deakins drew inspiration for his work from the 1940s and 1950s films such asThis Gun for Hire,The Blue Dahlia,Kiss Me Deadly, andTouch of Evil.[8][19] Likewise,The Atlantic'sChristopher Orr compared the voiceover and Crane's reserved character with the character ofRobert Mitchum in the filmOut of the Past (1947).[7] The Coens referred to other works through character names, as in the department store Nirdlinger or Dietrichson —surnames used inDouble Indemnity—Riedenschneider —the surname of a character fromThe Asphalt Jungle — or the name of Tolliver's hotel, "The Hobart Arms", an homage to the novelThe Big Sleep byRaymond Chandler.[8][20]
In addition to Cain's novels and film noir, the story borrowed ideas from existentialist literature, such asAlbert Camus'sThe Stranger. In addition to noting the similarities in both works, authors and critics compared the disconnection with reality and Ed's attitude with that of the protagonist of Camus's novel.[8][21] Through his main character,The Man Who Wasn't There explores the existentialist view of despair, a theme reminiscent of philosopherSøren Kierkegaard.[22] Authors Jean-Pierre Boulé and Enda McCaffrey compared Crane's attempt to escape from his routine life withJean-Paul Sartre's idea of a "search for transcendence". The film represented the protagonist's relationship with the dry cleaning business, Abundas, andUFOs.[23] AlthoughThe Man Who Wasn't There, cataloged as postmodern, inherited film noir thematic and narrative elements, at the same time it explored concepts of the postWorld War II period, portraying America's early postwar years. The story was contextualized by events such asUFOs, references to thebombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,Werner Heisenberg's reflections on humanity, and the idea of succeeding in an age of opportunity. The plot alludes to Heisenberg'suncertainty principle through the character of defense attorney Riedenschneider, who refers to that principle more than once.[24]
The Coen brothers began writing the script in the mid-1990s, after filmingThe Big Lebowski. The brothers moved to Ireland — whereFrances McDormand was working — to continue writing.[25] The Coens sent the script to producersEric Fellner andTim Bevan ofWorking Title; they intended to start production in 1999, but taking advantage ofGeorge Clooney's availability, they dedicated themselves toO Brother, Where Art Thou?[26] Following completion ofO Brother,The Man Who Wasn't There was financed independently by Working Title,Gramercy Pictures, andGood Machine, raising an approximate budget of $20 million.[27]
The Coens wrote the characters of Doris and Frank for McDormand andMichael Badalucco, respectively, and cast Billy Bob Thornton, an actor with whom they had not worked before, for the title role.[28][29] Thornton accepted the role before reading the script: "I knew that it would be good. There are certain people you know you can't go wrong with."[30] The Coens had to convinceJames Gandolfini, who had just finished filmingThe Mexican and was about to return toThe Sopranos, to join the cast as Big Dave Brewster; he finally agreed after reading the script and finding Big Dave "different from anything else I've ever done. He's kind of a big lug, a bit of a loudmouth, and clotheshorse kind of guy."[30] Coens regularsJon Polito andTony Shalhoub soon joined the cast, followed byAdam Alexi-Malle, Katherine Borowitz,Richard Jenkins, andScarlett Johansson.[30] Jenkins initially declined the casting call because he had been rejected from three previous Coen productions.[31]
Filming began on June 26, 2000, in California and ended on September 1, after ten weeks.[32] Deakins' cinematography was simple and traditional. Most of the shots were taken with the camera at eye level, with normal lenses and a long depth of field.[33] Compared to older American film noir, Deakins used a wide range of grays and attempted to create low contrast without many strong shadows, using fewer and larger lights.[34][32] He used contemporary technologies and wanted the film to reflect the era in which it was made, noting that "we're not trying to make an old movie."[32] It was filmed with color 35mm film and converted to black and white during post-production. This procedure was due, in part, to technical reasons since in recent decades the availability of black and white film rolls had become scarce.[35] However, due to contractual and marketing requirements, it was released in color in some countries.[36] Joel Coen noted that "the film wasn't made to be seen in color" and that in color it would look "horribly out of place" due to grayscale neutralizing colors outside the time frame of the plot.[37]
For a lot of intangible reasons that are not easy to explain, black and white seemed to be appropriate for the plot. It's a movie from a historical period and the black and white helps the feel of that time. It's evocative for a story like this in ways color photography isn't.[38]
— Joel Coen
The set and costume design by Dennis Gassner and Mary Zophres, respectively, had to adapt to the absence of color, avoiding distracting high contrasts. Black and white also affected the actors, intensifying some elements: "Just a close-up is very striking because of the shadows and the sense of depth," said McDormand.[32] However, the team did not lose sight of the color version and designed the locations avoiding bright colors and preferring browns and grays.[39] Ed Crane's clothing consisted of sports jackets,gabardine andrayon shirts. Typical of those years, McDormand's stockings had no elastic at the top, and — like the extras — she used garters to hold them up. Women's clothing included seamed stockings, girdles, and pointy bras.[32] Defense attorney Freddy Riedenschneider's unusual for the time peaked lapeldouble-breasted suit was inspired bySalvador Dalí, according to costume designer Mary Zophres, to suggest opulence.[32]
To compose his character's look, Thornton looked at images of figures from that decade and borrowed some elements fromRaymond Burr andFrank Sinatra.[40][41][42] The actor commented, "Once you get the right look, everything in your attitude changes."[32] When Ed appears on screen, he is almost always seen smoking aChesterfield.[7] Professional barbers trained Thornton and Badalucco.[40][32]
Filming began in the abandonedLincoln Heights Jail in Los Angeles to set up a Santa Rosa city jail cell. It continued in East Los Angeles and the Musso & Frank Grill restaurant on Hollywood Boulevard, where Ed Crane meets his attorney for the first time. Production moved to Thousand Oaks for two days to shoot the country wedding scenes; Michael Badalucco had to practice extensively for the scene where he rides a pig.[43] The production then returned to Los Angeles to film in a Presbyterian church on Wilshire Boulevard and to Downtown Los Angeles, including an apartment complex that was used to make the hotel lobby scenes and an abandoned Bank of America used for the scenes where Ed goes to the bank.[43] The Nirdlingers building, where Doris works as an accountant, was created in an abandoned furniture store located in Glendale,[44] as production designer Dennis Gassner recalled:
We had to modernize it in a certain way, keeping what was already in the architecture and making it work for the modern style of 1949. That space was like a quarry where I could extract what I needed. In fact, I used some chrome art deco bulwark designs that had been kept on the walls and various wall moldings.[32]
A day of filming took place in the city ofOrange, which was used to represent the exteriors of the town of Santa Rosa, where the majority of the film is set. Although only in Orange for one day, the team worked for more than two weeks dressing the streets for the film's 1949 setting: traffic signs were replaced, facades were modified, and minor street repairs were made.[43] The exterior scenes of Ed Crane's house were filmed in thePasadena neighborhood of Bungalow Heaven, a popular and affordable location in the mid-twentieth century.[44] The Coens chose a house with a lower ceiling to achieve the impression of a smaller space and represent the economic situation typical of a barber.[45] The scenes in the piano teacher's room were also shot in Pasadena, in the Green Hotel building complex. The film was mostly filmed on location, but a few scenes, such as those at the barbershop, were shot at the end of principal photography on a set built by Gassner atParamount Studios.[44]
The film's soundtrack consists of classical music, primarily piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven, interspersed with seven new compositions by Carter Burwell, in his ninth collaboration with the Coens.[46] In addition to Beethoven, the soundtrack included a Mozart composition, "Sull'aria ... che soave zeffiretto;" the atypical inclusion of classical music distinguishes the film from others in the noir genre.[47] Music editor Todd Kasow was tasked with selecting suitable sonatas for the soundtrack while Burwell began work on a "pianocentric" composition. Some of the compositions feature "cyclical" structures that symbolize the situation the protagonist finds himself in and his difficulty in freeing himself from it, but at the same time, the Coens felt it was essential to the character that the music suggests "a vague longing."[48] Journalist Dan Goldwasser described Burwell's work as "dark and solemn" and wrote that the main composition, "The Trial of Ed Crane", has "a kind of romanticism with just a hint of hope".[46]
The Decca Records label released the soundtrack album on October 30, 2001.[49]
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Birdy's "Pathétique"" (Piano Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13) | Jonathan Feldman | 1:17 |
| 2. | "Che soave zeffiretto" (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) | Edith Mathis,Gundula Janowitz and the Deutsche Opera Berlin | 3:33 |
| 3. | "Bringing Doris Home" (Piano Sonata No. 25 In G Major, Op. 79) | Jonathan Feldman | 1:18 |
| 4. | "I Met Doris Blind" | Carter Burwell | 1:15 |
| 5. | "Ed Visits Dave" | Carter Burwell | 1:03 |
| 6. | "Ed Returns Home" (Piano Sonata No. 23 In F Minor, Op. 57 "Appassionata" (Beethoven)) | Carter Burwell | 1:57 |
| 7. | "I Love You Birdy Abundas!" | Carter Burwell | 0:42 |
| 8. | "Nirdlinger's Swing" | Carter Burwell | 5:12 |
| 9. | "Moonlight Sonata" (Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 "Moonlight") | Jonathan Feldman | 2:29 |
| 10. | "The Fight" | Carter Burwell | 3:01 |
| 11. | "The Bank" | Carter Burwell | 1:03 |
| 12. | "Adagio Cantabile" (Adagio Cantabile From Piano Sonata No. 8 In C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique") | Jonathan Feldman | 5:33 |
| 13. | "The Trial of Ed Crane" | Carter Burwell | 3:52 |
| 14. | "Andante Cantabile" (Piano Trio No. 7 In B Flat, Op. 97 "Archduke") | Beaux Arts Trio | 13:28 |
| Total length: | 45:43 | ||
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The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 13, 2001, followed by other European film festivals that year, such as Edinburgh, Flanders, Warsaw, and Vienna. On October 31, 2001, it premiered in Los Angeles and New York, followed by a limited release in American cinemas byUSA Films.[50] It was the first Coen film to be released in black and white,[51] something the directors had tried unsuccessfully withBlood Simple (1984) andThe Hudsucker Proxy (1994) in the face of the advantages of color distribution.[52]
The first home edition was available on DVD released byUSA Home Entertainment in 2002. DVD extras included commentary by the Coen brothers and Thornton, a sixteen-minute making-of, an interview with Deakins, five deleted scenes, a photo gallery, and promotional videos.[53][54] In September 2002, a three-disc DVD edition was released in France, with the original, black and white version on the first disc, the color version on the second disc, and a third disc of extras, which included a fifty minute documentary entitledThe Film Noir Universe.[55][56] In September 2015,Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released a Blu-ray edition of the film.[57]The Criterion Collection will release a 4K Blu-ray edition on February 24th, 2026.
The Man Who Wasn't There grossed $7.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $11.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $18.9 million against its $20 million budget.[4] The film was the Coen Brothers' worst-performing film at the box office sinceThe Hudsucker Proxy (1994).[58] Some speculated that the poor returns were because the film is in black and white.[58] In its opening weekend in the United States, it grossed $664,404 from thirty-nine theaters.[4]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 81% of 159 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Stylish but emotionally distant,The Man Who Wasn't There is a clever tribute to the film noir genre."[59]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[60]
Many critics praised the film for its technique and performances.Richard Schickel ofTime wrote "affectlessness is not a quality much prized in movie protagonists, but Billy Bob Thornton, that splendid actor, does it perfectly as Ed Crane, a taciturn small-town barber, circa 1949."[61]Emanuel Levy, ofScreen Daily wrote that Thornton "acquits himself marvellously in a demanding role that mostly calls for reaction rather than action", adding that he comes across as "a tormented and soulful Montgomery Clift."[62]Todd McCarthy ofVariety wrote that Thornton's Ed Crane "sets new standards for opaqueness and passivity."[63]
Jonathan Rosenbaum of theChicago Reader wrote that "Joel and Ethan Coen stay true to their bent for dense heroes and neonoir, and to their unshakable conviction that life usually turns out to be splendidly horrific."[64]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times commented that the film "is so assured and perceptive in its style, so loving, so intensely right, that if you can receive on that frequency, [it] is like a voluptuous feast."[65] Similarly,Peter Travers ofRolling Stone named it one of the best films of the year and expressed that it is "devilishly funny" and highlighted the photography and performances.[66] Travers includedThe Man Who Wasn't There at number eight on his list of the ten best indie films of 2001.[67]Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian described it as "the best American film of the year"[11] andPhilip French, in another review forThe Guardian, also wrote that it was the best film of the year up to that point.[68] Likewise, Marc Savlov of theAustin Chronicle called it "the best-looking film of the year" and added that Thornton's performance "is dazzling, a dull diamond in the gutter rough."[13] TheBBC critic Nev Pierce also described it as "one of the best films of the year" and added about its viewing that it was "a unique, peculiar, riveting experience."[12]
Deakins's black-and-white photography was singled out by several critics. TheChicago Reader compared the photography to Federico Fellini's8½[64] and, despite writing a lukewarm review, McCarthy'sVariety review praised Deakins' work, Dennis Gassner's sets, and Mary Zophres' costumes that create a "a superior post-war, small-town period feel."[63]
McCarthy concluded that "the film holds the interest, to be sure, but more due to the sure sense of craft and precise effect that one expects from the Coens than from genuine involvement in the story."[63] Similarly,David Denby ofThe New Yorker called it a “dud academic exercise”.[69] Michael Sragow ofThe Baltimore Sun was also critical, writing that the film "is an intellectualized, aestheticized, altogether hollow period piece. Despite its superb, claustrophobically controlled black-and-white look, it has all the impact of a cap pistol."[70]
