No Country for Old Men - Opening Scene

Opening scene to Joel and Ethan Coen's film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's "No Country for Old Men" - 2007.
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
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[@mtc1125]

You can hear the time passing in the voice. You can hear the struggle that he's faced with. You can actually feel the world becoming more hectic around him, and his hopelessness to stop it. It's the opening scene.

[@st3wi3D]

+100000^

[@susieq360]

It's "Puff, Puff, GIVE," dude.

[@Rasbiff]

Well the point of this movie is that the world actually hasn't changed, it was always like this. It's the SHERIFF who has grown old and out of step.

[@stevesjhipacasde7204]

@@Rasbiff correct you are. Remember at the end when Ellis says "what you got ain't nothing new"

[@drumdude46]

@@Rasbiff - Naw. Incorrect evaluation.

[@jessedixon6534]

“A man would have to put his soul at hazard.” Indeed. Merely in living, we do so. I come back to this scene a handful of times a year, and it’s still haunting every time.

[@nathanwaibel454]

Ye. But most of us are soft. He's talking about those who brave facing what they can't know or understand... stare long enough into the abyss and that bitch'll stare back..

[@AnAbsurdExistence]

this. Easily one of the best lines of the film.

[@npvuvuzela]

This means nothing if you don't believe in ancient superstition

[@colincatron8759]

@@npvuvuzela please elaborate...

[@nickzardiashvili624]

Indeed, we do and "we've been putting it up our whole lives, we just didn't know it."

[@keksimusmaximus8283]

"be there in about 15 minutes" gives me chills every time.

[@juliantoocold]

Absolutely beautiful writing. Same here

[@gaz4840]

Said it was a crime of passion but he told me there was no passion involved, said he`d been planning it for as long as he could remember, said if they let him out he`d do it again..... (or words to that effect)

[@Bigbot97]

He actually explains why the movie ends the way it ends at the beginning. Ingenious!!!

[@blkbird]

I only have to imagine the words "And then I woke up" and I get the shiver down my spine. I don't even need to hear it anymore to feel that ending.

[@vinnycaruso1166]

Can u explain?

[@rustyshackelford934]

@@vinnycaruso1166 “I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But I don’t wanna push my chips forward, and go out and meet somethin’ I don’t understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He’d have to say, ‘okay, I’ll be part of this world.’”

[@vinnycaruso1166]

How does that connect to “then i woke up”

[@plataoplomo5204]

'' If I don't come back tell mother I love her. Your mother's dead, Llewelyn ? Well then. I'll tell her myself.''

[@JohnR714]

Dante TB when I seen the trailer, that line caught my attention the most.

[@inputfunny]

I like how he just randomly forgot his mom died.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

@@inputfunny I think it's his understated sense of humour

[@crimsonstrykr]

+ It seems our game is over.....Now that we're done here, it's time to send you crying home to your mother! - My mother's dead..... + I know.

[@sydssolanumsamsys]

i think the movie's delivery improved that line a lot. in the book he just says it, theres no narration for his delivery and it feels callous and casual like all of his other dialogue. in the film, he pauses and seems genuinely taken aback for a moment. its hard to put into words what that means to me, but it means more than the book where he's almost cracking a rude joke.

[@TheZoidberg312]

Love how this whole movie has no score. Just silence. Builds atmosphere

[@samwallaceart288]

The movie does have a score. In the end credits.

[@AudioGardenSlave123]

Wind noise - The silence of God

[@DonSantinoAndolini]

This is exactly one the most things I've ever liked about any film

[@jjnb57]

The sound is awesome in this movie. Especially the wind when Ed Bell is talking to cousin Ellis and the final scene where you can hear the clock ticking when Ed Bell is recounting his dream.

[@BenMoranFilms]

There's score in this scene.

[@mattaus]

I think that's about my favourite opening scene to any movie I've seen. Tommy Lee-Jones almost whispers the last line and you can almost hear it reverberate through the rest of the movie.

[@kevinmathewson4272]

wow, what a poetic way to put it. Good films will do that.

[@iand4374]

Yeah for real. He delivers a really good introduction speech, his voice is almost trembling, like the worst he had ever seen has been multiplied

[@viniciuseneas4036]

I think this is one of the best movie openings in the history of cinema.

[@waltersobchak4565]

Bonechilling.

[@jimboa20]

"I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, 'Ok...I'll be part of this world'." I get chills every time I hear that line.

[@user-ok3zn6cv1g]

Best thing about this scene is that as he says "I don't understand" the cop is putting some weird ass hydraulic tube on the chair. I remember sitting in the cinema thinking "what the hell is that" right as he said it. Definitely intentional, let me know I was in for a hell of a ride

[@FlawedFabrications]

"I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, 'Ok...I'll be part of this world'." "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."

[@flapjack6495]

For real ,it's just perfect

[@carolpenelope8374]

He sounds like a bitch to me lol

[@carolpenelope8374]

His soul is at hazard already... hes been puttin it up everyday he jst didnt realize it.. -chagur

[@LosAmigosMotorSports]

"Be there in 'bout 15 minutes" chilling sentence

[@joshschaeffer3300]

I dont know what to make of that I surely dont, what do you say to a person who by there own admission has no soul why would you say anything at all? But he wasnt nothing compared to what was coming down the pike. The book opens like that if my memory serves with some more great dialogue I wish were in the movie but with TJ narrating like that film is perfect. One of few that the movie actually adds to experience of the book and vice versa.

[@LosAmigosMotorSports]

@Derek Hottenstein they put him to the electric chair

[@BigMein]

Dude I got the chills then I looked and saw ur comment wow

[@sharonj3797]

I don't know what to make of that

[@hpyht67]

Powerful

[@jollygrapefruit786]

I think this is genuinely the greatest film of all time

[@user-uw3fr7cd9z]

Blood Simple is better

[@chrisevans8694]

Yes sir definitely in my top three

[@mohamadmahmoud6926]

It’s a masterpiece for sure.

[@kimberlygabaldon3260]

It's a very well-made movie, but it's too creepy for me to want to watch it again and again. My personal favorite "Best movie of all time," would be "Cloud Atlas."

[@evanmoorman3828]

It’s not even the best from these directors (Fargo is I believe better). But it is an interesting movie. It felt flat the first time I saw it.

[@yorkshire3939]

This is one of the best opening scenes of any movie. The silence is deafening. They did a really good job of portraying the Genesis of a character represented by the morning sun coming up and the hope of a new day. There is a part near the end of the movie where he finds out his father was murdered at nighttime and buried just before the morning. Such a deep movie.

[@calzabbath]

It’s his uncle who was murdered

[@yorkshire3939]

​@@calzabbath I stand corrected. Pardon my stream of consciousness 😂

[@Serouisly]

My favorite opening to any movie.

[@Bob-il3pp]

Jeez mine as well

[@SpaceCadet1]

+Seriously Same here, captures the essence of the book's opening wonderfully without being a slavish word-by-word quotation of it.

[@Repented008]

+Seriously Heavy stuff.

[@mgonzo3881]

+EvilBonesMan_666 One of Tommy Lee Jones' best performance, and he wasn't shown in the scene

[@slaythegodz]

+Seriously Apocalypse Now is the best.

[@seanlivingston8789]

I love that Ed sounds like he's talking to you and he's known you for years.

[@ayecaptin]

I love the sound of his voice, the tone, his meter is perfect, I love the scenery and the sound of the wind, but it's the writing that's so beautiful that it grips me right where I live. Those of us who were raised a little bit county knew a few people growing up that talked like this, to some degree or another, even those that hear it without knowing such people know that it sounds genuine and authentic. The names of the other sheriff's sound realistic, and when he says things like "that's the younger Jim" it makes it feel like a realistic conversation. He talks about hoping his dad was proud, and that he knows he was, wow that's a powerful and efficient way to build intimacy with an audience. If I was a college professor teaching young aspiring writers I probably do a couple weeks just on this opening dialogue making students dissect it and analyze it and challenge them to learn to think like this. Really amazing writing.

[@blkbird]

Cormac McCarthy is quite possibly the greatest living writer.

[@jackrussell1232]

Cormac McCarthy is incredible. It’s surreal reading classics being written in our time. I read Suttree in Peru at a conservation camp just west of Bolivia. There was a Capuchin monkey that liked to curl up in your lap when you rested in a certain hammock and I read that entire novel by an Amazon tributary just so. I’ve never felt so adrift in time and space and never will again. The tradition of the great American novel is kept alive by very few. Patrick Dewitt is another of the last remaining heroes of western literature, but it’s on all of us to keep it alive. It’s an endangered art.

[@AnHonestDoubter]

Thanks for sharing this. I consider Blood Meridian and Suttree to be the top two American novels ever written. I was also profoundly affected by both.

[@_Cato_]

Beautiful story. Beautiful moment. Loved envisioning you swaying in the breeze, monkey by your side, deep in one of the few remaining pockets of wilderness.

[@TheDisgruntledIdealist]

RIP Cormac McCarthy

[@Madmun357]

The monkey curled up in my lap?

[@readigo]

hahahahahah

[@Frankly1997]

CinemaSins cannot sin this for 'narration.' This here, it's one of the best narration ever. Sets up the conflict, problem, themes and moral conflict on the central character all in one shot of narration.

[@nfinn42]

CinemaSins creates fake sins for good movies because they hate to admit there's not much wrong. With this one their correct video would have been a silent 5 second video with the caption "Sin Count: 0".

[@xantherxavier5429]

nfinn42 Wow, someone can't appreciate comedy. They're not pretentious critics that "hate to admit there's not much wrong." They intentionally nitpick for the sake of humor. But enough about them...this movie is a masterpiece. That word gets thrown around a lot, I know, but truly, this movie is a masterpiece. I remember my first impression of the first few seconds of the movie when TLJ opens with his brief autobiography and anecdote...I thought nothing of it. But when he closed with that one line, that one serene line, I felt deeply moved. Like the other guy said, there is a strange reverberation you feel after that line.

[@andrewma9682]

I love this movie a lot, but CinemaSins is a comedy channel. They aren't serious critics, they just love to watch movies and have found a way to make it big on youtube by making fun of movies, even the great ones. They had a lot of sins for Citizen Kane, Lord of the Rings and other great movies and many of them are not serious because that's just what the channel is. Don't take them seriously, you watch their videos because you like the movie and want to have some fun with it.

[@samwallaceart288]

You care about what CinemaSins has to say?

[@ahmedgaber2741]

Thulasidasan Jeewaratinam ت

[@NWNative147]

I’m a Native American Coast Salish wood carver in the PNW of America. I come from a long and proud line of wood carvers. There’s an old wood carver man named Duane who is a 92 year old Korean War vet, he is still carving. Whenever I feel down and out, stuck, or just stumped by the world around me; I go to Duane. I do chores around his house, I do all kinds of manual labor and help him anyway I can, just to sit down with some black coffee and hear his stories. And when I leave his house, I feel reinvigorated, I feel better. I love this opening scene, and Duane loves this movie. He said in his youth, listening to the old timers was priceless and that that resource goes so quick. To all you who have an old timer in your life or have memories of an old timer, cherish them. Remember them. They won’t be here forever, and neither will you.

[@JuniperLamplight16]

I obsessively rewatch this. It's so great.

[@starwarsroo2448]

Me too it's such a layered atmospheric, enjoyable movie

[@abb9987]

@@starwarsroo2448 Yes! It totally boggles my mind that some people hate the ending. “And then I woke up.” To each his own tastes though, I guess.

[@abb9987]

Same! Just rented it on Amazon Prime and I watched it 4 times before the 48 hour rental expired. Now that you mention it, I should probably just...buy it lmao!!!

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@abb9987 it's realistic too, in life we don't get a satisfactory ending with everything tied up neatly

[@starwarsroo2448]

@@abb9987 I own it, same copy I've had since it came out, watched it so many times, even when it's on TV and YT clips

[@BrinsonMHarris]

99% of directors would have opened with the firefight among the smugglers that's never actually seen in the flick. Instead we're hooked by TLJ's voice and the sparse scenery. Way to go Coen bros!!!

[@dannyhairston8044]

I couldn't agree more

[@CosmicBarrilet]

and very poethic shots at the same time.... really nice...!

[@JavierGonzalez-zg3ep]

BrinsonMHarris. we never see when Moss is killed either, genius.

[@CurseCreep]

Why would you open the movie based on a book with in any other way than what the book does That would just be unfailthfulness

[@yeahiagree1070]

The "genius" who made those decisions is Cormac McCarthy.

[@JaggedRecordsVa]

This and the first 20 mins of There Will Be Blood are by far two of the greatest opening scenes in film history

[@finnkdy]

Ye ain't seen much.

[@isaackmojica8302]

@@finnkdy ye eat yer beans??

[@finnkdy]

@@isaackmojica8302 1st minute of La Haine, par example, 💝 💝 😁

[@RyanJ504]

Filmed very close to each other geographically. The smoke from one scene in There Will Be Blood interrupted the filming of a scene in NCFOM.

[@fathertypo8806]

Michael Clayton as well. 2007….what a year.

[@soviethammer]

I really like the west Texas scenery.

[@ThePhoenix109]

You mean south

[@23StudiosSports]

Masih Razegh this is west. South doesn’t have many hills like that. Could be southwest though.

[@newjeffersonian6456]

Filming was done in Presidio and Terrell Counties in Texas and in San Miguel County, New Mexico.

[@franzkafka677]

Is beautiful trust me...i drove from Dallas to El paso and this movie just came to mind

[@MattAFX18]

This was filmed north of Taos, NM in Arroyo Hondo.

[@HERBERTinALASKA]

The part he whispers “okay I’ll be part of this world” to me it’s like he accepts all of this but he doesn’t agree with all of it.

[@cleonRIP]

This was the film that made me re-evaluate all films. I saw this all the way back in 2007 and it woke something in me. Now, I have such a huge respect for film, and I know it will be with me forever

[@RellshouldBsleep]

I love to listen to this before I go to work in the morning makes me feel like a real cowboy...living in Brooklyn New York

[@7Ghoste]

Love this opening. It’s so great how it starts at dawn and how the sun is rising on the following shots. And I love how the car speeding by splits up the line, “You’d have to say okay, I’ll be a part of this world.”

[@miles3908]

I was sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe. My grandfather was a lawman; father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time; him up in Plano and me out here. I think he's pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lotta folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough'd never carried one; that's the younger Jim. Gaston Boykins wouldn't wear one up in Comanche County. I always liked to hear about the oldtimers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but compare yourself against the oldtimers. Can't help but wonder how they would have operated these times. There was this boy I sent to the 'lectric chair at Huntsville Hill here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killt a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. "Be there in about fifteen minutes". I don't know what to make of that. I sure don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say, "O.K., I'll be part of this world."

[@sabiqoon]

Many thanks for posting this. It really helped. 👍

[@elamirino8261]

I have watched this opening maybe 100 times and every time, the voice of Tommy Lee just gives me the chills!

[@Starwars277]

This in all reality brought Cormac Mcarthys masterpiece of a book to life and made this movie into a top 10 of all time it’ll always stay in that list

[@tombennett4895]

Wow, what an incredible opening scene, simple yet powerful.Tommy Lee Jones voice and dialogue is absolutely superb

[@wariowuzo9433]

Hands down probably one of the best monologues to ever be written and performed in a film. So much being said and so brilliantly yet unpretentiously.

[@Jboogie_81]

Roger Deakins cinematography is amazing

[@sbwification2]

One of the most perfect films ever made.

[@deloreanman14]

Such an epic film. I watched this for the first time in a few years last month and had forgotten just how incredible it truly is.

[@edwardfetner2513]

It holds up exceptionally well. Might even be one of my al time favorites.

[@_Cato_]

Hey, it’s been 8 years. Time for a rewatch ;)

[@matthewclune8352]

I just have to echo what all have said here in that this is incredible cinema - every aspect of the medium is executed at the highest level, the effort coalesces into a cohesive emotional feeling that is beyond powerful. Incredible.

[@patrickc3419]

This is literally one of the greatest movies ever made. I remember seeing it in the theater back in 2007 and it blew me away.

[@voyeursquid7904]

No matter how many times I hear it, that last sentence combined with that subtle ambient music just throws one hell of a chill down my spine.

[@korlu01]

Hands down, greatest opening monologue of any movie ever made!

[@jay1jayf]

Okay, I'll be part of this world.

[@VerifiedFiveIron]

Jay Jimenez I still get a lump in my throat when he says that.

[@naveedashraf5735]

You can watch No Country for Old Men (2007) full movie here *webfullmovies(dot)pw/no-country-for-old-men-2007-full-movie/.* Thanks, Darryl.

[@ramentaco9179]

But I don't wanna push my chips forward, and go out and meet something I don't understand..

[@guestaccount7524]

Chigurh

[@hinampaksh]

+TwentyØnePirates He actually contradicts this and "almost" faced Anton, they never actually met, but in his mind he knew he is/was in the hotel thus that confusing scene where you see Anton waiting for him but he wasn't actually there. He just missed him but the chances of him still being there was really high but even knowing that and knowing what this man Anton can do, his ruthlessness, Bill still went inside the hotel so perhaps at the end of the day he said "Okay, I'll be part of this world." then retired. That was the most he could take it.

[@volt792000]

+Hinamps Paksh love that moment where hes staring at the hole in the door and you can just tell what he was thinking. he was terrified of that fact that anton might still be in the hotel and ready to kill., but he went in anyways. great scene.

[@tarsitrs]

He was in the next room, according to some. The lock on the next door on the right was punched out too when Bell comes to the scene.

[@benrao5565]

This line applies to the Vegas shooting I immediately thought of this line when I heard about it

[@lonzo61]

This film has one of the most compelling opening scenes and ending scenes of any I have ever watched in my 60 years. What a masterpiece of movie making and story telling.

[@MsBee]

As I get older I find myself thinking about Ed Tom's monologues more and more.

[@1993Redemption]

I remember seeing this movie, There Will Be Blood, and The Dark Knight relatively close to each other with the same friend of mine at the time, and we were both blown away from each movie and would talk about the stories so much. To us it was like 2006-2009 was an era of incredible movies.

[@vranime3772]

It definitely was.

[@andrewma9682]

I loved this movie from the first time I watched it, and it's only grown on me since. One of my very favorites.

[@franklippert4278]

Just when you think, it's totaly silly to make a 'Western' that plays in our times and not as a faux re-imagining of older flicks, along comes this movie. It's cinematography is gorgeous, it's subject matter (and main antagonist) absolutely chilling. I would listen for hours to Tommy Lee Jones talking about the old timers (or to the younger Jim Gaston Boykins up in Commanche County). You do feel this movie more than you watch it.

[@KingSNAFU]

I always loved how the intro to No Country For Old Men calls backs to the Coen's first film, Blood Simple.

[@raulduke3237]

One of the best movies ever made. In the future, they'll show it as such.

[@ericmcdowell2215]

It grips you from the second it starts.

[@Zrazoreye]

Came here after reading the book, and gonna watch the movie again. Really helped flesh everything out reading it, and such a well done movie.

[@daustin8888]

You know you are in the presence of a good movie when you're creeped out by an opening monologue

[@StewartGartland]

Simple fact, the Coen Brothers make masterpieces of cinema!

[@starguy2718]

They do, indeed.

[@valueStocks]

There is such a profound deepness to this movie.

[@TheWalterHWhite]

I was traveling east from Ft. Bliss (El Paso) and some of the landscape reminded me of this, so I put it on. I was shocked when I read the town I passed through, Marfa, is where the opening scenery is shot.

[@LVfilms01]

I remember watching this in theaters on Black Friday of ‘07 and til this day, this intro still gives me goosebumps like it did on that day.

[@thehouseadams8155]

ONE of The Greatest Movies of ALL TIME!!!💯% I mean, no music even!!! Just the atmosphere. Amazing!!!💯%

[@tickbox_]

Everybody’s talking about how good Tommy Lee Jones is here, which is absolutely fair, he’s incredible, but I just wanna draw some attention to the fucking stellar writing in this monologue.

[@brodawgIL]

I remember I did this monologue for my theater final, my teacher was too Shakespearean to enjoy it and gave me a b but my friends in my class loved it and watched the movie because of this.

[@wintercame]

I hereby award you an A for your choice.

[@benjamindanielmusic]

"But I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand." The way this bit of narration hits when we see Anton's weapon just adds to its weight.

[@Llllltryytcc]

One of the great moments of 21st century American cinema, thanks to Joel and Ethan, Cormac McCarthy, Roger Deakins, Tommy Lee Jones, and the rest of the crew.

[@anthonygerace8926]

It's strange to think that the dystopian present day that the sheriff is talking about is the year 1980. Now it's 43 years later, and things have not gotten better.

[@azzystyle94]

Makes me so sad, especially for the kids growing up in this evil craziness

[@mrminkman952]

@@azzystyle94 hoping for a nuclear winter?

[@rpemulis]

You misunderstood the movie. This is not just a present day dystopia, America has always been this. Rewatch the scene with the sheriff and his uncle.

[@vampiremoney2602]

@@rpemulistrue but not just America, the world has always been like this

[@KobaAM]

I love the double meaning of “the crime you see now is hard to understand”. Literally the crime right there in front of you, and also the type of crime in general around this time.

[@wintercame]

He actually says "The crime you see now it's hard to even take its measure." Which is a touch more nuanced, very close to your words but not exact. That's what's so beguiling.

[@rosgill6]

i memorized this speech as soon as I had the DVD

[@northwestprof60]

Cormac McCarthy is the best writer of western dialogue. But don't take my word for it. When asked about their screenplay of McCarthy's novel, the Coen brothers looked at each other, laughed, and said "Well, we didn't change very much."

[@gaz4840]

The book has so much dialogue that is missed from the film, well worth reading to help you to understand one of the best films ever made.. Also in the book Moss picks up a 15 year oldhitch hiker who is killed, the dialogue between them crackles with authenticity, she is taken hostage by the cartel with a gun to her head so Moss lays down his gun and is killed. Also Bell goes to interview the two boys who find the gun. Carla Jean calls the coin toss in the book but guesses wrong. Moss also outsmarts Anton in the hotel room by hiding under the bed and then capturing him, Anton also explains to Carson how he was arrested in the beginning, he had strangled a young guy in a cafe who insulted him and Anton wanted to get arrested just to see if he could escape the handcuffs. Read the book, it puts flesh on the bones of one othe best films ever made

[@MDR-hn2yz]

What’s crazy is I saw this movie when it first came out and never paid this opening line any thought. A year later I became a cop. 15 years later I find myself thinking exactly this and I can’t wait to get out either.

[@Tempestzzzz]

You'll make it. My Father made it to 98. Be sure you got a plan what to do with your firearm(s). Did you think about that?

[@robopainter5628]

After seeing this scene, I knew it was gonna win best picture

[@sosayweall7290]

What a fantastic opening to a film, I’ve always liked this scene since I saw it at the cinema.

[@dgfreshx]

This should literally have been the trailer. Incredible scene. I've memorized the entire narration at this point by Tommy Lee Jones.

[@VerifiedFiveIron]

God, I love this movie.

[@Haldinyar]

This monologue is the best part of any movie I’ve ever seen. Finally a Hollywood like that wasn’t cheap or shallow.

[@Mainbusfail]

There are just a small handful of thespians that carry the weight in just their voice to impact a movie the way Tommy Lee Jones does in this monologue. Wow, the character in his vocal chords is just amazing

[@duder6387]

Here’s the opening monologue from the book. It’s one of my favorite openings to a book just like how this is my favorite opening to movie. I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Huntsville. One and only one. My arrest and my testimony. I went up there and visited with him two or three times. Three times. The last time was the day of his execution. I didn't have to go but I did. I sure didn't want to. He'd killed a fourteen year old girl and I can tell you right now I never did have no great desire to visit with him let alone go to his execution but I done it. The papers said it was a crime of passion and he told me there wasn't no passion to it. He'd been datin' this girl, young as she was. He was nineteen. And he told me that he had been plannin' to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said that if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was goin' to hell. Told it to me out of his own mouth. I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. I thought I'd never seen a person like that and it got me to wonderin' if maybe he was some new kind. I watched them strap him into the seat and shut the door. He might of looked a bit nervous about it but that was about all. I really believe that he knew he was goin' to be in hell in fifteen minutes. I believe that. And I've thought about that a lot. He was not hard to talk to. Called me Sheriff. But I didn't know what to say to him. What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul? Why would you say anything? I've thought about it a good deal. But he wasn't nothin' compared to what was comin' down the pike. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I don't know what them eyes was the windows to and I guess I'd as soon not know. But there is another view of the world out there and other eyes to see it and that's where this is goin'. It has done brought me to a place in my life I would not of thought I'd of come to. Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I don't want to confront him. I know he's real. I have seen his work. I walked in front of those eyes once. I wont do it again. I wont push my chips forward and stand up and go out to meet him. It ain't just bein' older. I wish that it was. I cant say that it's even what you are willin' to do. Because I always knew that you had to be willin' to die to even do this job. That was always true. Not to sound glorious about it or nothin' but you do. If you ain't they'll know it. They'll see it in a heartbeat. I think it is more like what you are willin' to become. And I think a man would have to put his soul at hazard. And I wont do that. I think now that maybe I never would.

[@KingSNAFU]

The opening dialogue for this film and Blood Simple are perfect.

[@twoton1991]

One of the best opening monologues in modern day cinema

[@djpackaday]

It goes so hard. It’s so sharp and polished.

[@yukoncornelius5014]

Hands down the best monologue in film history.

[@garlandremingtoniii1338]

A-lot of your old time sheriffs here in Wyoming didn’t carry a side arm. And I know this for a fact I’m talking from Rod about 1895 on up to right about 1945. To this day I have have 4 people in my family in law enforcement. One of them is a deputy US Marshal here in Wyoming.

[@JunkFoodBooboo]

70's had the best films. 90's as well. But 07-08 gave us a renascence.

[@RohanDasgupta-f7x]

Also 04-06 with movies like Collateral, A History of Violence, The Departed and many more

[@hasielgasga525]

The best Cohen brothers film

[@slowmo338]

Yes it is. Fargo is a close 2nd though.

[@abb9987]

Cormac McCarthy had originally intended to write the book as a screenplay, but of course he ended up not doing so. The Cohen brothers absolutely did him justice and in my opinion improved the opening monologue exponentially with the changes they made. No one could have done it better.

[@1qwasz12]

My favorite Coen film is The Man Who Wasn't There.

[@tuffteddy1446]

The greatest movie ever made. Uncompromising and unforgiving.

[@Ryan-do6vr]

Tommy Lee Jones has the most accurate old school Texan accent I've heard in movies. Just like the old folks of the small Texas town I grew up in and all my old Texas relatives.

[@rvsam4u]

Best written and best monologue in any movie. Outstanding.

[@KevinMuller5]

I have always loved the shot with the car speeding by as the camera rises. It is so simple but effective

[@callmeishmael7452]

Tommy Lee Jones waited his lifetime for this role and may not have known it.

[@briandorado8456]

Pure poetry 🤌

[@TimSter15]

This is, without a doubt, the best intro of any movie made so far

[@evanmoore3114]

“He killed a 14 year old girl.” That line was delivered PERFECTLY. You can hear the defeated, dejected, sad way he thinks about it. You can tell how senseless he sees it as.

[@GhostRanger5060]

There hasn't been an opening scene this powerful since Apocalypse Now.

[@visualsforyou7120]

The cinematography in this movie is flawless.

[@michaelgraves9462]

One of the most epic intros in the movie history.

[@napalminthemorning8309]

I just realized, just after he says “I’ll be part of this world” and the car drives off, there is a mild score to the film. If you don’t hear it listen carefully for it it’s the last couple seconds of the video, and the car driving is still louder. But it’s there. Just a mild picking at a guitar or other stringed instrument. That is the only score in the entire film. How interesting.

[@thomasford6605]

I think there's 5 or 6 other moments where the score comes in. It's the faintest humming sound, hardly noticeable but really creepy and effective.

[@BonnChnd]

His way of speaking reminds me of my Dad…great job TLJ and thank you! ❤️

[@matthew1882]

So this is what art looks like

[@aircomp]

TLJ's interviews on this are cool. He's an amazingly talented actor. He puts a lot of good work into these roles.

[@KathieBryant-w5n]

This was a jaw dropping flick. The 15 min line is memorable

[@JonathanLopez-cb5cx]

A man would have to put his soul at hazard.. have to say “okay, I’ll be part of this world”

[@TheEnderBand]

It’s amazing how well this film demonstrated that if a movie is created properly, a score is sometimes unnecessary The same is true of real life at the most harrowing situations rarely are accompanied by any sound aside from your heart pounding in your ears. I now find myself imagining films with silence instead of the score and I find that a lot of the time it would be just as if not more effective... Truly bored minimalist approach that ended up being a gamble paid off in dividends

[@dinobotpwnz]

Jurassic Park without a score would've sucked.

[@TheEnderBand]

@@dinobotpwnz yes, pretty much any film with a John Williams score would suffer for not having it that's for sure. Only very specific movies can really get away with not having identifiable "musical" scores

[@Gmanbrooklyn]

Incredible thing about this movie is how beautiful it is without a soundtrack.

[@peepawthecat]

When you run out of toilet paper after taking a huge sloppy shit. "Ok, I'll be part of this world"

[@scozzafava28]

the opening shots of texas landsvape along with TLJ voice over is haunting and perhaps the best opening in movie history

[@MrKingss]

It says alot that a small fraction of viewers keep comming to watch this scene. It really makes me unsteady to know there are agents who have no remorse, and yet we don't have a choice, but to say... "ok, ill be part of this world."

[@_Cato_]

jese reyes I obsessively rewatch it, too. I think that's a good summation you had. The world is a rough, painful, unknowable place and it isn't fair that we have to deal with it. But we do. Every day we wake up and say to ourselves, "Okay. We'll be part this world."