What filmmaking techniques does A Serious Man use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in A Serious Man (2009): Cliffhanger Ending, Self-Contained Prologue, Fate and Chance Philosophy and Cultural Musical Identity.

Who directed A Serious Man?

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen directed A Serious Man, released in 2009. CineCode also covers Blood Simple (1985), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996).

What films are similar to A Serious Man?

Films that share techniques with A Serious Man include Sorcerer (1977), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Comedy · Drama

A Serious Man

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2009

In 1967 Minnesota, a Jewish physics professor sees his life fall apart as his wife leaves, his job is threatened and his family needs money. He turns to rabbis for answers. The Coens give him no clean answer, which is what makes the film worth studying.

2 Narrative 1 Psychology 1 Sound

At a glance

A Serious Man is a 2009 comedy and drama film directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 psychology and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Sorcerer uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Cliffhanger Ending

Ending the film at its most unresolved point, with the hero beaten, separated from others or in crisis. You are left waiting for a sequel to settle things.

How this film uses it

The film stops at the worst moment. Larry changes a student's grade, and right away his doctor phones about a chest X-ray. At the same time, a huge tornado approaches Danny's school. You are left waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Where to see it

The last scene. Larry's doctor calls about his X-ray, and a tornado closes in on Danny's school as the teacher struggles to open the shelter.

Narrative

Self-Contained Prologue

Opening with a short separate sequence, such as a fable, origin scene or overture, that sets tone and theme before the main story begins.

How this film uses it

Before the story of Larry begins, a Yiddish folk tale in a 19th-century shtetl shows a wife stabbing a man she says is a dybbuk. The Coens wrote it themselves and say they did not intend a link to the rest. Critics still read it as a curse over Larry's life.

Where to see it

The opening tale. A husband brings home a guest, his wife says the man is dead and a dybbuk, and she plunges an ice pick into his chest.

Psychology

Fate and Chance Philosophy

Having the story argue that outcomes come from luck or an indifferent universe. Characters search for a reason and the film withholds one.

How this film uses it

Larry's wife leaves, his brother is in legal trouble, a student tries to bribe him and he fears for his tenure. A junior rabbi tells him to change his perspective. Another rabbi tells a story about an orthodontist that goes nowhere. Larry wants a reason and never gets one.

Where to see it

Larry's talk with the second rabbi. Rabbi Nachtner tells him the story of an orthodontist who finds Hebrew letters on a patient's teeth.

Sound

Cultural Musical Identity

Writing music with its own instruments, rhythms and melodies for each culture in the film, or drawing on a real culture's musical traditions. The score tells you about the people.

How this film uses it

Composer Carter Burwell wrote the original music, and the film also uses Yiddish songs such as Dem Milner's Trern, about Jews being thrown out of their homes. Alongside it plays 1960s rock from Jefferson Airplane. The 2 sounds show a family caught between old and new worlds.

Where to see it

Danny's meeting with Rabbi Marshak. The old rabbi only quotes Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love and returns Danny's radio.

Questions

A Serious Man: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does A Serious Man use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in A Serious Man (2009): Cliffhanger Ending, Self-Contained Prologue, Fate and Chance Philosophy and Cultural Musical Identity.
Who directed A Serious Man?: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen directed A Serious Man, released in 2009. CineCode also covers Blood Simple (1985), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996).
What films are similar to A Serious Man?: Films that share techniques with A Serious Man include Sorcerer (1977), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

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