The Coen Brothers with Noah Baumbach: Where and How to Begin a Film?

We welcomed four-time Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen for a rare, career-spanning discussion of their work, moderated by Noah Baumbach.

[@daviddln1987]

I would love to see a discussion like this one between the Coens and PTA.

[@instanceTu]

Aw yea my fav directors

[@ruly8153]

@@instanceTu I don’t like pt that much

[@thenomadicpen]

Parent/Teacher Association?

[@andallthatjazz5796]

A difficult Day for Noah Baumbach

[@DevyanshBahri]

2007 DGA discussion

[@DerekTComedy]

This was a terrific piece to absorb while napping. Very soothing.

[@ILLFilms]

barely beats white noise

[@danishhald]

I’m glad videos like this is out there. Their work is so diverse.

[@brentulstad3275]

Idk that I would've ever made the, now apparent, connection between Tony Scott and Burn After Reading. But it totally clicks now & gives a deeper or at least different take on the movie. Fascinating! I suppose the elements that played on a subconscious level anyway are just moved up to a conscious position after hearing them mention the Tony Scott-esque intention. Very interesting to reflect on the momentum of genre building on genre, past style & influence building on present & future projects, the whole of Cinema as an organic entity evolving as one over time but expressed as individual visions in film.

[@Jake-kn3xg]

The King's Speech starring Noah Baumbach

[@BrookeMonfort]

Great discussion. Thanks for posting. Pity the film clips discussed were not shown. Wanted to pause and find the movie to be fully with their points.

[@tanmayashekhar]

The video's superb. Its quite insightful really. I wish they'd do another segment on endings or any other form/period of visual writing where they analyze clips from films they've done. The session at this year's New York Film Festival between Baumbach and de Palma was also quite educative. I'm struck more and more by Baumbach every time I see him. He's so comfortable in his skin. There's a certain unaffected gravity which he brings to the way he speaks. And he makes good nuanced films

[@Thelavendel]

they probably should turn down the light a little bit more

[@ChaneyDeMunn]

Amazing! I've been working on a screenplay and have finally found tips from my favorite directors! I don't know if I'll succeed, being 14 and all. c=

[@Vlad-wh2fk]

How was your screenplay man

[@THE.N1KO]

I want to watch the movie if you made it.

[@ravindrakhushal3005]

Any films mate?

[@Josh-Parkhill]

Interesting convo. Was hoping to hear more about the writing process though.

[@davec5223]

Coen brothers are masters at using VO in their movies. It's not cheating, Noah....especially when it's done well. (I thought that was kind of rude of Noah to say that to Joel and Ethan.)

[@joeinreallife6293]

Noah uses it too, to often great effect. Mr. Jealousy for example. He was self-criticizing.

[@dancrin]

Instead of being an interview it seems like an opportunity for Noah Baumbach to prove how amicable he is with the Coen brothers.

[@MillaHead]

The Kings of Voice Over are Joseph L. Mankiewicz (A Letter To Three Wives, Barefoot Contessa, All About Eve) and Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine)...

[@IcarusLime]

34:20 Ethan dies temporarily.

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

34:20

[@FungusMossGnosis]

@oprescue999 Or, since it looks like it's only one odd shoe on his right foot, maybe it's to protect some sprain or fracture. Accident, I gather, from falling over napping. So glad I can contribute such insightful discussion on this forum.

[@JiveDadson]

Aaaarg! I suppose there must have been some issues with showing the clips, but c'mon. Without the clips, what is this video? I am so disappointed.

[@weaselweasel]

+JiveDadson It's so easy to look those scenes up though. It's simply the beginning of the film, so it's easy to find.

[@kartikjain7105]

Thanks for uploading.

[@inqquire383]

Can someone turn the lights on--and the volume up?

[@psychokarloff]

I can barely hear anything! I'm not sitting for an hour with my ear pressed up to the mic. Please adjust the sound, all the posts from the F.S. of L. Ctr. are like this.

[@linguatonica9782]

+John Kerr you should press your ear to the speaker,not to the mike (grin)

[@GMVintage]

The Coen Brothers do few of these. Thank You.

[@FallenRaccoon]

I fucking love Greenberg a really underrated movie.

[@mario-off-topic]

Talking about clips they don't show in order to understand what they are discussing. Very disappointing.

[@janesynapse921]

And a Q&A without hearing the questions. I'm always amazed how that simple aspect of getting a mic to the audience is constantly an issue with forums like this.

[@_Ramen-Vac_]

yeah.. and barely any volume too. boooooo...

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

It's like it tried to be less satisfactory. Come on!

[@SpymarkStudio]

Thank you for uploading this.

[@mikemcschlitz]

Thank you for posting!

[@seafood_cherry]

Brings to mind that time when Jimmy Page and Jack White played with the Edge 😂

[@seamac206]

WHY IS THE SOUND SO LOW?!?!?!

[@cjflo]

Why is this soup so cold?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[@withnail-and-i]

Why can I see my penis in the video????6??

[@TomEyeTheSFMguy]

WHY ARE YOU BUYING CLOTHES AT THE SOUP STORE?!

[@chrisgaitan]

The Coens use the term "by virtue of" in pretty much every single interview they've ever given.

[@gabrielsburg]

@oprescue999 the boot on his right foot looks like a Bledsoe boot... which is used to stabilize the foot after injuring it.

[@karinjohnstone6690]

Great writers and film-makers but as for this the words Paint and Dry come to mind..

[@St4rdog]

And as for you, Shallow.

[@karinjohnstone6690]

St4rdog Glad you got something from it :)

[@ChaneyDeMunn]

@gabrielsburg Yeah, he said in an interview in Israel that it's a cast from a motor-scooter accident.

[@TheWesternMafia1237]

My movie isnt the only one im looking forward to, Inside Llewelyn Davis new movie by the Coen Bros. John Goodman Justin Timberlake really looking forward to that.

[@meditsdumb1578]

why do they keep taking pictures there not doing much, it's not like their wild life. They must have gotten annoyed

[@CaptianJohnGlanton]

Did you enjoy Barton Fink?

[@GOLDVIOLINbowofdeath]

The audio quality in this interview is so bad it reminds me of a Sundance Film Festival Director Q & A production

[@themasterbaetor3719]

34:20

[@oprescue999]

I noticed his boots too. They look like ski boots

[@ChaneyDeMunn]

Jeez, never heard the Coens swear.

[@alexm2136]

This is a brutal watch lol

[@ayodeledavid3034]

Ong, I’m perplexed by the sound quality, energy here

[@TheRonsmonkeys]

Please, you’re all professionals and you must have made many of these type of videos, but, PLEASE… either have a mic for the audience or repeat the questions asked as they can’t be heard at all.

[@PhilSNight]

Volume is too low. Imo.

[@oprescue999]

the Coens have their usual sly and self-effacing humor, but Noah Baumbauch just exudes pretension.

[@tonyring138]

interesting

[@tailorswing02]

That's not a boot. He has injured his foot. That piece of attire serves as a removable cast.

[@thekaiser4333]

Baumbach, Coen, Noah, Joel, Ethan? Are there any Jews here?

[@FungusMossGnosis]

I apologize in advance for the trivial question: is Joel Coen wearing some sort of astronaut boots?

[@knlshrvstv]

Zed Dravot he had a motor scooter accident. He mentioned that in one of their other interviews.

[@TheWesternMafia1237]

I'm starting to film my new movie everybody Django Unchained

[@jordangoode]

I think he just has a cast on his right foot.

[@Kalispellcars]

What I could hear I enjoyed. With filmmakers of this caliber the production value here is ...ridiculous. Please call me for production next time.

[@thebigfatnick]

Ooops...

[@biagiomusacchia9783]

jesus the audio is terrible for me.

[@NxDoyle]

There's no point to this from a viewer's perspective.

[@Geritopia]

It might be best if this was taken down. So much promise and such crappy video and audio. Ethan's body language is "I wanna bolt". Everything is wrong.

[@AndyAndreev]

what a waste of time

[@thomasgrizzell5894]

what the fuck ha.

[@PictureBoxPuppy]

Nothing here read "pretentious" to me

[@ericjohn277]

This Noah guy (whoever he is) needs to get over himself and just interview.

[@thesmileyfacedballoon9492]

Noah Baumbach, he's an independent filmmaker. He did fine, nothing to bitch about

[@lynnturman8157]

This makes me feel very concentration campy....

[@wolfman8325]

I can't see the appeal of their films. They're often slow, pretentious and meandering. Especially the numerous scenes that don't progress the story or develop character, but simply 'exist', they serve no purpose and just waste time. All their characters are offbeat oddballs, and all the 'humor' relies on dull quirkiness, obscure yiddish and Jewish references and supposedly humorous subtle visual gags and observations. Here's a typical Coen Brothers scene. INT. SYNAGOGUE OFFICE - DAY Rabbi Schwhitzz sits at his desk reviewing his financial ledger, the shot lingers until it become needlessly long and boring, he turns the pages really slowly, which is supposed to be funny, and its also really quiet to heighten the sense of monotony, creating a nice air of pretension for fans to inhale. After an extended period of time, Rabbi Schwitzz notices a mistake in the ledger - he picks up a pencil to correct the mistake, but the pencil is too dull. He places it in a small metal pencil sharpener resting on his desk. When he removes the pencil he brings it close to his face to observe it, and taps the lead with his finger - it's still too dull. He slowly places it back in the sharpener and sharpens it again. the sharpener buzzes. After a moment he removes the Pencil once more. He blows away the excessive sharpenings and taps the lead again with his index finger- its still too dull. He sharpens it a third time. * At this point the audience is starting to laugh because the character is doing something that people do in real life! And the boring tone implies that any repetitive action or subtle visual gag is what makes the scene unique!* When Rabbi Schwhittzz is finally happy with the sharpness of the pencil, he brings it down to the ledger to correct the mistake. But the lead breaks. He grabs a new pencil, but its too dull . . . END SCENE ----- Most of their films are overrated. Their characters are quirky archetypes with exaggerated traits, and you cant relate to them because they're so cartoonish yet vapid. And they miss so many narrative beats that I think its less to do with them 'going against the grain' and more to do with them not knowing how to structure a story properly! But alas everyone will disagree with me, while they derive meaning from a manufactured style, that says little and lacks subtext and symbolism. Ignoring the fact that most of their films are plagued by massive flaws.

[@RenatoCervati]

I do get your point. But I enjoy slow, meandering dull stories with no absolute payoff or even proper ending, I like long lingering shots with washed out looks and pretty much no movement, that also have little to no musical score. That is their style of filmmaking that I appreciate as much as radically different styles like Wes Anderson's, Richard Linklater's and so on. And complaining about pretentiousness in an art form... really? Every art form is pretentious, dude.

[@wolfman8325]

Renato Cervati Actually, if I could make one correction to my scene . . . the lead wouldn't break. That would be too exciting and thrilling for a Coen brother's movie. Also, I think people confuse Roger Deakins incredible cinematography with the Coen Brothers contribution to the film, the aspects that deserve praise are rarely from the Coen Brothers, their contribution is usually the poor writing and dull shooting style.

[@vidvention]

Why do you think you see a scene with a person smoking a cigarette so many times? Because you can relate to it. Joel Coen is a bit disturbed though.

[@Luxmaxnike]

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

[@driven1away]

you, in may ways, resemble your own analysis of their films. bet your films are substandard in comparison