No Country for Old Men 2007

No Country for Old Men is an American crime thriller which is directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and set in Western Texas. Throughout the film it examines the themes of fate and circumstance whilst adhering to the genre's villian driven plot. There are also traces of a sub genre linked with westerns, due to the remote and primitive setting of Texas. At the beginning of the film, the audience experience the non-diegetic narration of a texan sheriff explaining how difficult his job is,  "you have to be willing to die for the job". This builds up tension for us watching. Soon into the film, we come to learn of a criminal (Javier Bardem) who is arrested while the narration takes place. Shortly after Anton Chigurh is arrested, at the police station he strangles the police officer to death. He strangles him with no fear showing no concern as the man struggles to breath and eventually dies. After the murder has taken place, Anton steals the officer's car and pulls over an innocent person who is just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The man automatically presumes he is a police officer and gets out the car as he is asked to, "step outside the car please sir". This scene which is placed in the desert, makes the audience feel very suspicious as we know no one is around to help therefore we automatically assumes something bad is going to happen. From this opening scene, we learn that Aton Chighur is a cold, calm and dangerous man.


This film tells the story of a drug deal that doesn't go to plan and therefore sees the death of several Mexican men. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) whilst hunting deer through the desert comes across the dead as well as a satchel full of money, which he takes back to his trailer. That night, he returns to the scene but is welcomed with an unpleasant surprise as he is quickly chased by two men in they're trucks who fire gun shots at him and intend to kill him. Fortunately, he gets away but returns to his home without his truck and wounded.Llewelyn then orders his wife to go and stay at her mothers so that Chighur cannot come to cause any harm to her.However Llewelyn soon comes to harm by Chighur as he finally hunts him down and kills him. Chighur then gets off without any arrests.

What is a MacGuffin?

A MacGuffin was introduced by Alfred Hitchcock. He said it is a 'plot element' in the film that catches the viewers attention or drives the plot of work of fiction. A MacGuffin is commonly used in thrillers.

North by NorthWest

While in class, we looked at a thriller called North by NorthWest. This is an American film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In this film it contains severals things which make a good recipe for a thriller such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers.

Therefore in the film, the red herring is when we think that the woman known to us as Miss Kendall is being evil and setting Thornhill up, however we are fooled and realise we are wrong as we find out at the end that she isn't evil and has fallen for him.

Another red herring in the film is in a particular scene when we see Miss Kendall shoot Roger Thornhill. To ourselves we believe that she has shot and killed him as he is taken away on a stretcher in the back of a car. However we come to learn after a short while of him getting shot that it was a fake shooting and he never died.

In the film, there is a part known to us as the crop scene. While watching this scene, we are filled with suspense and the urge to know what's going to happen next as Roger Thornhill is shot at by an aeroplane. We start to feel suspicious about what's going on at the start of this scene as he as been told to meet someone at this certain point but finds thats completely empty, nothing but crop circles surrounding him.

There is also a cliffhanger in the film as right at the end of the film Miss Kendall is literally hanging off the end of the cliff as herself and Mr Thornhill are being chased on the monuments.

What is a thriller?

The research that I have done below will inform you of what a thriller is.

A thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres. Thrillers are characterized by several things including, fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains. 

Films that are thrillers contain devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers and are used extensively. A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby they present obstacles that the hero must overcome. The genre is flexible and can engage the audience through a dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.