Blood Simple. (1984)

Director:

Joel Coen
(more)

Writers:

Joel Coen (written by) &
Ethan Coen (written by)

Release Date:

18 January 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Breaking up is hard

Plot:

A rich but jealous man hires a private investigator to kill his cheating wife and her new man. But, when blood is involved, nothing is simple.

Plot Keywords:

Texas | Private Detective | Bartender | Shot Through Window | Crime Gone Awry

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

John Getz	...	Ray
Frances McDormand	...	Abby
Dan Hedaya	...	Julian Marty
M. Emmet Walsh	...	Loren Visser
Samm-Art Williams	...	Meurice
Deborah Neumann	...	Debra
Raquel Gavia	...	Landlady
Van Brooks	...	Man from Lubbock
Señor Marco	...	Mr. Garcia
William Creamer	...	Old Cracker
Loren Bivens	...	Strip-Bar Exhorter
Bob McAdams	...	Strip-Bar Exhorter
Shannon Sedwick	...	Stripper
Nancy Finger	...	Girl on Overlook
William Preston Robertson	...	Radio Evangelist (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Holly Hunter	...	Helene Trend (voice) (uncredited)
Barry Sonnenfeld	...	Marty's Vomiting (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Joel Coen		(written by) &
Ethan Coen		(written by)

Produced by
Daniel F. Bacaner	....	executive producer
Ethan Coen	....	producer
Mark Silverman	....	associate producer
Joel Coen	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Carter Burwell

Cinematography by
Barry Sonnenfeld

Film Editing by
Ethan Coen		(as Roderick Jaynes)
Joel Coen		(as Roderick Jaynes)
Don Wiegmann

Casting by
Julie Hughes
Barry Moss

Production Design by
Jane Musky

Costume Design by
Sara Medina-Pape

Makeup Department
Jean Ann Black	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Steve Love	....	second assistant director
Deborah Reinisch	....	first assistant director
Shannon Wood	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Jeff Adams	....	art department assistant
Kathy Baker	....	art department assistant
Shirley Belwood	....	property master
Marcos E. González	....	property assistant (as Marcos Gonzales)
Nancy Griffith	....	set dresser
Michael Peal	....	art department assistant
Dave Pearce	....	art department assistant
Steve Roll	....	assistant to production designer
Robert A. Sturtevant	....	lead propmaker
Kirk Hunter	....	art department assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
Peter F. Kurland	....	boom operator
Skip Lievsay	....	sound editor
Michael R. Miller	....	sound editor
Jun Mizumachi	....	special sound effects
Lee Orloff	....	sound mixer
Frederick Szymanski	....	special sound effects
Mel Zelniker	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Loren Bivens	....	special effects coordinator
Michael O'Sullivan	....	special effects technician
Beth Perry	....	special effects graphics
Paul R. Smith	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Creasy	....	best boy
Joey Forsyte	....	gaffer
David J. Frederick	....	focus puller (as David Frederick)
Julie Gant	....	second electric
Don Kirk	....	clapper loader
Blaine Pennington	....	special still photographer
Tom Prophet Jr.	....	key grip
John Shaw	....	electrician
Angelo Louis Suasnovar Jr.	....	third grip (as Angelo Suasnovar)

Casting Department
Edith M. Clark	....	casting: Austin
Phil DiMaggio	....	casting associate
Peter Golden	....	casting associate

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Chelle Coleman	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Victor Concepcion	....	negative cutter
Peggy Connolly	....	location editor
Edna Ruth Paul	....	editorial consultant

Music Department
Murri Barber	....	music coordinator

Other crew
Lizanne Brazell	....	dialogue coach
Van Brooks	....	production assistant
Edith M. Clark	....	location manager
Don Hartack	....	location coordinator
Melanie Hecht	....	production assistant
Darrell Kreitz	....	production assistant
Alma Kuttruff	....	production office coordinator
Andreas Laven	....	script supervisor
Webster Lewin	....	production assistant
Marty Mahoney	....	dog trainer
Shawn Malone	....	production assistant
David McGill	....	production assistant
Dan Perri	....	title designer
David Wander	....	photo retoucher
Ingrid Weigand	....	production assistant
H. Harris Willcockson	....	location auditor
Richard Woolsey	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Foxton Entertainment
• River Road Productions

Distributors

• Circle Films (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• Parafrance Films (1985) (France) (theatrical)
• I.D Films (1985) (France) (theatrical)
• MFA Filmdistribution (2000) (West Germany) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• USA Films (2000) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Mars Distribution (2000) (France) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• United King Films (2000) (Israel) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2000) (Czech Republic) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Kinetique (2000) (Japan) (theatrical) (re-release) (director's cut)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2002) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS) (director's cut)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Europa Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Europa Filmes (2005) (Brazil) (VHS)
• F.J. Lucas (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Geneon Entertainment (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2008) (Germany) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD) (director's cut)
• Palace Video (1985) (UK) (VHS)
• PolyGram Video (19??) (UK) (VHS)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD) (director's cut)

Runtime:

99 min | 94 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo | Dolby Digital (re-release)

Certification:

Australia:R | Netherlands:16 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Argentina:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

Foxton Entertainment

Trivia:

Officially, the title is spelled with a period at the end - it appears this way on screen. Most television listings and video releases leave the period off.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Reflection of camera crane visible in a phone booth.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Private Detective Visser: [narrating] The world is full o' complainers. An' the fact is, nothin' comes with a guarantee. Now I don't care if you're the pope of Rome, President of the United States or Man of the Year; somethin' can all go wrong. Now go on ahead, y'know, complain, tell your problems to your neighbor, ask for help, 'n watch him fly. Now, in Russia, they got it mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else... that's the theory, anyway. But what I know about is Texas, an' down here... you're on your own.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.31)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

I'm a Believer

The Coens' first great piece of cinema

As far as directorial debuts go, few are as ambitious and inventive as the Coen brothers' first film, Blood Simple, as it mixes genres and moods in a way that anticipated Tarantino's similar experiments by a decade, while still retaining an apparent simplicity, both narratively and formally, that few people originally saw as the beginning of one of American cinema's most extraordinary careers.

Set in a stark Texas landscape, Blood Simple opens on a premise that seems to be borrowed from the likes of Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice: someone steals another man's wife. However, the two adulterous lovers (Jamie Getz and Frances McDormand) do not plan to assassinate the betrayed husband (Dan Hedaya). On the contrary, he hires a sleazy PI (M. Emmett Walsh) to spy on them to carry out some twisted plan of his own. That is, until the investigator goes rogue and the situation escalates in the most grotesque of ways.

This escalation is matched by the Coens' constant shifts between genres, achieved through lighting, music and camera movements. Noir, straightforward thriller, horror, black comedy: Blood Simple is each of these and all of them at once, but the transition is never forced or unnatural; in fact, these transitions occur because somehow the story itself demands that they happen. In a way, this is a film that is aware of its own fictitious nature and toys with it as much as possible - because it can. This has since become a trademark of the two brothers, and it is as fresh and original now as it was back in 1984.

The same can be said of the four main actors: Getz and McDormand (soon to be Mrs. Joel Coen) form a solid leading couple, thoroughly menaced by the sudden ferocity of Hedaya, then best known for playing Rhea Perlman's dim-witted ex-husband on Cheers (an image he gladly, and expertly, reverses here). And then there's Walsh, who takes his practically identical role in Blade Runner and increases the character's unlikability, turning in one of the most brutally charming villainous performances of the '80s (and of the Coen canon).

Joel and Ethan Coen had a very clear idea of what they wanted to achieve in the movie business from the get-go, and Blood Simple is one of the best examples of this: for 90 minutes, it takes you to a whole new world, one that most people are happy to revisit as often as they can.