No Country For Old Men: Questions to consider

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 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

Do you find the ending of the film to be a satisfying resolution? why?

- The ending was more ambiguous rather than satisfying as it definitely exceeded the audience's expectations. However, I love the way it is open to different interpretations and there's essentially no right or wrong answer. While the film has the look and feels of a classic Western, the morality of the story seems to be much more complex. 

- One interpretation of the ending is how the dream may feel like the conclusion of a man who knows death is his next goal. He's already retired from the profession that his father did before him, his Father's been dead for years, and so his subconscious may be telling him that a reunion in the afterlife seems to lie ahead. 

- Another interpretation could be that it could symbolize his guilt for Moss's death. Just like in his dream, he was entrusted with a task but he failed, despite promising Carla Jean, he would succeed. He most likely feels this in a subconscious level, but he can't project those feelings into words, therefore he has a dream. This failure is what led to his retirement, due to feeling defeat and disappointment. 

How were you expecting the film to end?

- Intense action scenes of a battle between Sheriff Bell and Chigurh

Why do you feel like the Coen Brothers decided to have their main protagonist killed off-screen, and then avoid a final climax between Sheriff Bell and Chigurh?

- I believe that the audience would have known the outcome of the conflict between Lewelyn and Chigurh as Chigurh was portrayed to be an extremely efficient killer throughout the film. Lewelyn's death wouldn't have been overly meaningful in the context of the story. We know it's going to happen, but by not perceiving it and just seeing his dead body we, the audience, are able to emotionally move on emotionally. 

- If we were to see Lewelyn lose to Chigurh it would conflict with the morality tale that McCarthy is trying to tell: there are no halves in the dance of righteous and unrighteous. A person cannot be "half-good" and escape judgment in whatever form it comes.

- However, McCarthy tries to trick the audience in showing Lewelyn take water to the wounded and dehydrated Cartel member in the desert only to find that he's too late and the man is dead. This could be an attempt at a half-good deed to accommodate the fact that Lewelyn stole money and didn't call for help. 

- How he died did not matter, but the fact that he did die in that manner that he did is significant as it is the end result, the judgment, of the unrighteous act of taking blood money. 

Who represents the force of good in the film?

- Sheriff Bell

What does the film's ending suggest about the battle between good and evil?

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