Serious Man is a comedy, drama film co-directed by ethan Cohen and the Joel Cohen brothers, released in the United States in October 2009.
The Coen brothers are a well-known American director group that is well-known in the contemporary international film scene. Classics emerge one after another: "Blood Labyrinth" in 1984, "Barton Fink" in 1991, "Ice Storm" in 1996, "The Absent Man" in 2001, "The Old Man With Nothing" in 2007... Wait, almost everything is outstanding. The two are regulars at the Academy Awards, and other film festival awards need not be mentioned. In 2009, the "Serious Man" directed by the two was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Award at the 82nd Academy Awards.
The Coen brothers were Jewish. The film bears traces of the two men's early childhood. The film simply tells the story of ordinary people who took place in a Jewish community in the United States in 1967. The plot seems ordinary and ordinary, but as long as the Coen brothers make a move, there is never a "ordinary" word. Like this film.
Black, sarcastic, grotesque, and cold are the typical labels of Coen Brothers films. The film is clearly covered by this typical, although the film is only about some small things that parents have to say.
The basic plot of the film is as follows: Larry is a physics professor at a university, and the school receives an anonymous letter while deciding whether to award him tenured professorship; a Korean student complains to Larry about an unfair test score and then pays Larry a bribe when he refuses; Larry's wife Judith falls in love with Widowsei Aberman and asks for a divorce; Arthur, an unemployed and neurotic brother who lives in Larry's home, either stays in the toilet all day or goes gambling; and his son asks Larry to fix the family's TV antenna almost all the time Daughter steals money to prepare for cosmetic surgery on her nose.... Nearly devastated, Larry had to turn to a number of Jewish priests, hoping to rely on faith to help him out of his predicament, in fact, he was not a religious person...
If in reality, is such a person not saved?
The point is that Larry is a serious man, and all the people he faces are properly arranged by the Black Coen brothers. As a result, the comedic conflicts and character encounters make the plot of this film more profound and more symbolic.
However, the twists and turns of the story, the ups and downs of the characters' fates and the conflict of personalities are all appearances. After reading it, it may be endlessly reminiscent, or it may be that thing, and I don't think so.
In fact, it is not difficult to understand this film, just like the vignette seen at the beginning of the film- the beginning of the film is a somewhat surrealist fable. Set in Poland centuries ago, the story tells the story of an old man who did not know whether he was a ghost or a ghost: in the midst of the ice and snow, a man invited an old man to his home. But the hostess insisted that the old man had died three years earlier. When the old man came in, the woman still refused to insist that the old man was alive, and plunged a knife into his chest and drove him out the door. Whether the old man is dead or alive in the end is not mentioned, but the last core of this parable is given, that is, the last sentence that appears:
Accept Whatever You Encounter – Rush (Jewish Teacher Scholar)
Just like the title of the article, this sentence is also the central meaning of this film. This is very important for understanding the meaning of this movie. In the film, Larry encounters so many things, busy filling in the east wall to make up the west wall, losing all his care and energy, and finally it does not help, even if he goes to the Jewish priest, he falls into deeper distress. So, how can this be good? Accept it one by one?
Or else?
Let's look at the next gist.
Larry taught physics, so he taught the students "Schrödinger's Cat" more than once in class, and asked the students to remember what they didn't understand, even if he didn't understand it. The so-called Schrödinger's cat is an experiment proposed by the Austrian physicist Schrödinger, which will not be elaborated here, and it is more circumspective. The film mentions it again and again, that is, to point out the uncertainty of things: if you don't do something, there will be two outcomes, or no; when you do, there is only one outcome, yes or no. Finally, almost on the most helpless night, Larry dreamed that he was talking about Schrödinger's cat in class. And his lover suddenly appeared in his class. Larry woke up.
As a result, the slow things that followed were over one by one, such as his love enemy who died in a car accident, and divorce was not necessary.
In this way, when Larry was bored and impatient until he was helpless and crazy, suddenly his career, family, and life returned to the original calm. Everything happened unconsciously, and it ended unconsciously. Everything revolves around Larry, but everything doesn't start with Larry. After half a day, Larry was placed in it but put out of the matter. But that happened.
The style of black humor, the absurd joke of the story, it finally has to say:
Your life is really not about you!
Isn't that another black humor?