GITS Script Reading & Analysis: “No Country For Old Men”

Welcome to the GITS Script Reading & Analysis series, Volume 20. This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for the 2007 movie No Country For Old Men [screenplay by Joe Coen & Ethan Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy]. It won an Academy Award and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.

You can download the November 28, 2005 draft of the script here. It is 122 pages long.

Here is the movie’s trailer:

Some reviews of the film:

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

New York Times (A.O. Scott)

Variety (Todd McCarthy)

The BoxOfficeMojo site for the film’s performance in theaters [grossed $172M worldwide].

Here is Part 1 of a BBC documentary on the Coen brothers:

Let’s use this post today for your general reactions to the script.

Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not? What aspects about it made the most impact on you? Would you consider it a ‘good read’? Why or why not? What struck you most about the writing?

Our analysis schedule for this week:

Monday, June 25: General discussion
Tuesday, June 26: Structure
Wednesday, June 27: Characters
Thursday, June 28: Themes
Friday, June 29: Dialogue

Also note we will have a live Tweet-Cast on Wednesday, June 27 at 8PM Pacific. You are invited to get your DVD or Netflix set to play the movie at precisely 8PM, then join professional screenwriters Tom Benedek [@TomBenedek], F. Scott Frazier [@ScreenWritten], John Gary [@johngary], and myself on Twitter for live commentary. This interactive approach to analyzing a movie in real-time is a lot of fun and has led to some great insights into the films we have reviewed. Hashtag: #NCFOM.

See you in comments to discuss No Country For Old Men.

NOTE: THE USE OF THE SCREENPLAY IS FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

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