Ethan Coen

Performer

Ethan Coen

Writer in the Nutevio catalogue.

Born
21 September 1957
Age
68
Active
1985–present
Known for
Writer
View filmography
  • Writer · 25
  • Producer · 18
  • Director · 16
  • Editor · 13
  • Actor · 3
  • Executive Producer · 2

The essay

Reading Ethan Coen

Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.

Why this filmmaker matters

Ethan Coen has 0 writing credits in the Nutevio catalogue. Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957) is an American writer, working with his brother, Joel Coen, together known as the Coen brothers(/ˈkoʊən/). Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). The brothers generally write, direct and produce their films jointly. However, due to regulations, Joel received sole wrote credit while Ethan received sole production credit until The Ladykillers (2004). From then on, they would be credited as directors and producers and shared editing credits under the alias Roderick Jaynes. The duo started wrote separately in the 2020s, resulting in Joel's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021), Ethan's Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (2022) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). Together, they have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards and one individual nomination. They share Best Original Screenplay for Fargo and Best Picture, Best Writer and Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men. They won the Palme d'Or for Barton Fink at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. The Coens have written films for other directors, including Sam Raimi's Crimewave (1985), Angelina Jolie's World War II biopic Unbroken (2014) and Steven Spielberg's Cold War drama Bridge of Spies (2015). They produced Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa (2003) and John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes (2005). Ethan is also a writer of short stories, theatre and poetry. They are known for their distinctive stylistic trademarks, including genre hybridity. No Country for Old Men, A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis was included in the BBC's 2016 poll of the greatest motion pictures since 2000. In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Fargo among the 100 greatest American movies. Richard Corliss wrote of the Coens: "Dexterously flipping and reheating old movie genres like so many pancakes, they serve them up fresh, not with syrup but with a coating of comic arsenic." Description above from the Wikipedia article Coen brothers, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Signature style

The recognisable elements are visual style, rewatchability, originality. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same eye, re-tuned for different registers. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is staged.

Legacy

Coen set terms other filmmakers now work against: the structures, the pacing and the refusal to explain. Awards bodies have often been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.

Best known for

Catalogue work still being written up by our editors.

From the library

Complete credits

Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.

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Frequent collaborators

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Genre profile

  • Drama15
  • Comedy15
  • Crime14
  • Thriller10
  • Western3
  • Adventure2
  • Romance2
  • Mystery2

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Quick facts

Born
21 September 1957
Age
68
Active
1985–present
Titles written
0
In the Nutevio catalogue
Known for
Writer
wrote score
6.5
Nutevio editorial metric
Collection appearances
0
Across the library
Films rated 8+
0