Great Scene: “Blood Simple”

It’s Abby versus Visser in the movie’s bloody and ironic ending.

The ending of Blood Simple (1984) is pure Coen brothers’ sensibility. The chaotic nature of violence combined with dark ironic humor.

Plot summary: The owner of a seedy small-town Texas bar discovers that one of his employees is having an affair with his wife. A chaotic chain of misunderstandings, lies and mischief ensues after he devises a plot to have them murdered.

Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.

Scene setup: It’s complicated. Visser has just shot and killed Ray. Abby has the gun Ray brought. Visser is headed her way.

Here is the movie version of the scene:

Note how close the movie is to the shot by shot script. This is signature Coen brothers. They know pretty much everything before they go into production. Check this out:

Hard to believe Joel and Ethan have at least temporarily gone their own ways. Let’s hope they decide to make more movies together.

I’ll be teaching my one-week online class: Coen Brothers and the Craft of Storytelling. It begins Monday, December 5, 2022. If you’re a fan of their work, you will love this class.

For more articles in the Great Scene series, go here.