The A/V Connection - No Music for 'No Country'

by Joey Angerone

Last time we left off, you were getting baked and watching Casino. Lovely. Great film, amazing music. Well, while you were coming down and raiding your mom's pantry, I went out and caught the new Coen brothers film No Country For Old Men. WOW. What a unique, raw and powerful film. It has nearly everything you would expect from the Coens: gorgeous cinematography, hysterical and irreverent story lines, gripping acting, but the music, well, there wasn't any!

Now, for a column entitled 'The A/V Connection' it may seem rather unusual for me to review a movie that has absolutely no music. But I'm a raging lunatic.



No Country For Old Men starts off nice and classy-- no gimmicks or CG intros. Being an A/V director, I kept waiting for the moment when the visuals and the audio met in an all-out assault on my two favorite senses, but it never came. The opening scenes were beautiful panoramic shots that really grab your attention, immediately sucking you into 'No Country' world. BUT! No music, no score, not one sound to set the mood besides dialogue and the desert wind.

We are so used to music jazzing up scenes in movies, television shows, commercials-- just about any medium that involves some sort of moving picture-- that No Country's lack of score made for a coarse, visceral, and truly unique viewing experience. It was the first full-length movie I had ever seen that lacked of any kind of soundtrack or music, which made me realize just how much directors rely on music to make their work more impactful. For me, it made the movie more real, the characters more believable, and the overall look and feel of the film completely new and fresh-- something I had never seen before.

Some of our favorite scenes in our favorite films are those that rely on that powerful audio-visual connection to evoke just the right emotion, and historically the Coen brothers were no exception. Take, for example, their use of Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)" in The Dude's dream sequence in The Big Lebowski. Genius, an instant classic. It introduced an old song about dropping acid to a whole new generation and created one of the most memorable scenes in comedy history. On their future projects, will the Coens go back to their old methods or will they continue to trailblaze a new, music-less path for films?

Though Old Country is virtually music-less, the Coen brothers did opt to use a song on the film's website. Interesting story: I'm always looking for new songs that might work for a script I've been writing called "Whiskey Delta". I got a recommendation from my buddy Seth for an album called Passover by The Black Angels. Amazing album. They're a darker version of the Velvet Underground playing strong riffed odes to temptresses, heroin, and Vietnam. The first track, "Young Men Dead," is a director's dream. It can take any scene and add an element of badass-ness that could not be achieved by visuals alone. Guess what track the Coen brothers used on their website?

About and hour and a half into the No Country, one of the main characters wakes up in Mexico to a Mariachi band playing an upbeat ditty on horns and guitars. It doesn't last long, however, when the musicians realize our dude was a bloody mess from a beating the night before and cease playing. After that scene, I leaned over to my girlfriend and said, "Do you realize that was the first song in this movie?" She looked confused... she hadn't even realized. I don't think anyone did.

- Joey Angerone

[video] No Country For Old Men - Trailer
[MP3] Kenny Rogers - "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In)"
[MP3] The Black Angels - "Young Men Dead"
[MP3] John Cage - "4'33"" [?]