Also Frances McDormand's debut. Joel and Ethan wrote it and it's clearly a descendant of film noir - the moment the car won't start may even be a nod to Double Indemnity. But they're already in a Coen world of their own, where people don't die, or when they do, the last thing they see is the underside of a sink. Loved the long camera takes of the road (night and day) and the peculiarly over-emphatic sound. We watched the restored version, supervised by the Coens, and sound editor Skip Livesay was responsible for the new sound mix also.
And that edit going from McDormand in the club to back home - it was so good we had to watch it twice.
It was written from the beginning to the end, scene by scene, with no outline. They raised the money with the Broadway model - main investors and then lots if individual ones, using a short promo of what the finished film might be like, accent on blood and guts as cheap horror films had been doing well at that time.
It was Barry Sonnenfeld's first feature as well, and Carter Burwell's. Skip had done the sound on some low budget horror films. Editor 'Roderick Jaynes' needs no introduction.
M Emmet Walsh's part was written for him. With: John Getz, Dan Hedaya, Samm-Art Williams. Texas plays itself.
I don't know why we'd left it so long (16 years). It's a brilliant debut. And as funny as it is audacious.
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