« Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007)
In her essay Shots in the Mirror (2000), Nicole Rafter emphasized the appeal of including mirrors in thrillers. More significantly, she described the thriller genre as a mirror of society, thus considering both the object and its metaphorical character. Mirrors are overexploited motifs in film and l...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses universitaires de Rennes
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Revue LISA |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15023 |
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| author | Julie Assouly |
| author_facet | Julie Assouly |
| author_sort | Julie Assouly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In her essay Shots in the Mirror (2000), Nicole Rafter emphasized the appeal of including mirrors in thrillers. More significantly, she described the thriller genre as a mirror of society, thus considering both the object and its metaphorical character. Mirrors are overexploited motifs in film and literature, whose presence scarcely goes unnoticed, begging for a symbolic interpretation. The Coen brothers’ adaptation of No Country For Old Men pays tribute to the many mirrors featured in McCarthy’s novel. The directors exploited the full aesthetic and symbolic potential of the object, from spatiality to its magnifying quality, or uncanny effect. They went beyond the mere inclusion of mirrors by revealing, like Rafter in her essay, their metaphoric dimension, emphasizing the motif of the double, of echo images or « mirrored scene » (Gelly, Ellipses 2021) which appear throughout the film, creating a feeling of déjà vu, yet another occurrence of the uncanny. This article offers to demonstrate how the Coens’ cinematic world, through its use of mirrors, reveals the full potential of McCarthian fantastic/grim fictional universe, creating a hybrid film which seems like a “faithful” adaptation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3fa6978306d54777825ce56a23558bc4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1762-6153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Presses universitaires de Rennes |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Revue LISA |
| spelling | doaj-art-3fa6978306d54777825ce56a23558bc42025-01-06T09:03:05ZengPresses universitaires de RennesRevue LISA1762-61532023-01-012110.4000/lisa.15023« Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007)Julie AssoulyIn her essay Shots in the Mirror (2000), Nicole Rafter emphasized the appeal of including mirrors in thrillers. More significantly, she described the thriller genre as a mirror of society, thus considering both the object and its metaphorical character. Mirrors are overexploited motifs in film and literature, whose presence scarcely goes unnoticed, begging for a symbolic interpretation. The Coen brothers’ adaptation of No Country For Old Men pays tribute to the many mirrors featured in McCarthy’s novel. The directors exploited the full aesthetic and symbolic potential of the object, from spatiality to its magnifying quality, or uncanny effect. They went beyond the mere inclusion of mirrors by revealing, like Rafter in her essay, their metaphoric dimension, emphasizing the motif of the double, of echo images or « mirrored scene » (Gelly, Ellipses 2021) which appear throughout the film, creating a feeling of déjà vu, yet another occurrence of the uncanny. This article offers to demonstrate how the Coens’ cinematic world, through its use of mirrors, reveals the full potential of McCarthian fantastic/grim fictional universe, creating a hybrid film which seems like a “faithful” adaptation.https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15023Coen EthanCoen JoelMcCarthy Cormacuncannymirrorvisual echo |
| spellingShingle | Julie Assouly « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) Revue LISA Coen Ethan Coen Joel McCarthy Cormac uncanny mirror visual echo |
| title | « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) |
| title_full | « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) |
| title_fullStr | « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) |
| title_full_unstemmed | « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) |
| title_short | « Shots in mirrors » : Les jeux de miroir dans No Country For Old Men (Coen 2007) |
| title_sort | shots in mirrors les jeux de miroir dans no country for old men coen 2007 |
| topic | Coen Ethan Coen Joel McCarthy Cormac uncanny mirror visual echo |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/lisa/15023 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT julieassouly shotsinmirrorslesjeuxdemiroirdansnocountryforoldmencoen2007 |