“..The Coen brothers are cinema’s most influential and inventive duo..”
“..The Coen brothers, it has been written, can be tricky.
As the two fraternal film-making mavericks drift higher into the Hollywood firmament — loaded with Oscars from No Country for Old Men, glowing with kudos from Fargo, Barton Fink and half a dozen modern classics —
– their creeping disdain for the interview process becomes ever more apparent.
The pair, who today claim the No 3 spot in the Times Top 100 films of the Noughties (for No Country . . .) ..
.. are reluctant subjects at best, and these days increasingly press shy.
They have been known to scupper the efforts of inquiring commentators .. through a lethal combination of casual lack of interest and wilful obscurantism.
Indeed, a profile for Vogue in the mid-1990s famously concluded with the harried journalist holding his head in his hands and wailing ..
.. “This is something of a disaster!”
Thus, as I am ushered into the top-secret suite of an opulent West End hotel for a rare encounter, only one simple questions thunders through my mind:..
.. how do I break the ice?
Thankfully, and bizarrely, the father of modern French cinema has gone and done it for me.
“We just found out that Jean-Luc Godard really hates our movies!” grins an extremely chipper 52-year-old Ethan Coen, lightly bearded, dressed down in denims, and clinging to the arm of the room’s large leather sofa.
Joel, 54, sitting next to him, in denims also, but slumped askew on the sofa-side, chuckles quietly to himself.
Together they project the mien, not of haughty auteurs, but of wickedly snickering schoolboys.
“Too bad Luis Buñuel didn’t live longer,” Ethan continues.
“It would be interesting to hear that Buñuel hates our movies too.
Or what about Pasolini?” Joel, giddy now, interrupts ..
.. “Although Pasolini, being Italian, he’d be more like, ‘Heeeey!’ ”
He accompanies his impersonation with a stereotypical Italian shoulder shrug, which is complemented by Ethan, now attempting the same caricature,
..“Eees funny s***!”
They giggle some more, until Joel sighs, seemingly serious, “Well, Godard is Swiss anyway.”
A pause.
“That makes him practically German!”
The pair erupt.
Hilarity ensues..”
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