Thoughts on the film
I just saw this film for the first time and it blew me away. Incredible character development and, of course, brilliant acting. The coen brothers are some of the best writers/directors around today.
This is what i think the film is about (bear in mind ive only seen it once, so i might be a bit off the mark on some things).
This film is all about human interactions, what defines people and communication. Eds character (played beuatifully by billy bob thornton) doesn't talk much, to anyone, about anything. Because of this he never really connects with anyone, this is what i think is the defining point of the film. He has a wife he hardly knows because he doesn't talk to her. The scene in jail when he takes her her glasses and make-up shows this, along with the unconscious scene near the end after the crash (along with pretty much every scene with the two of them).
He is constantly getting screwed by people because he doesn't speak out. The dry cleaning guy, the bank guy when the barbershop gets sold to the bank. This may even be the reason he gets the chair, but this is not shown (does it need to be?). The trial is going really well and its even looking as if he might get off, then he gets a new lawyer and for no reason is pleading guilty. You can even imagine the conversation that leads to this, his new lawyer saying he should plead guilty, and ed just sat there not saying anything, just agreeing to everything in as few words as possible.
Because of his insane lack of communication skills ed starts to see himself as alienated from everyone else. He starts thinking about alien abductions and how when 'big dave' gets abducted his wife says he changed. THe desire to change leads to the dream sequence at the end when the aliens turn up, shine a light on him, and he just stands there not doing anything. The aliens leave, rejecting ed as everyone he knows has. The nod after this shows his acceptance of this, he doesnt fit in with anyone, not even aliens. If you want to change it has to come from within, you need to actually put effort into it instead of just standing there waiting for it to happen. He accepts the fact he will never fit in, and ends up wanting death (the pure whiteness of the last scene in the electric chair room) in the hope of whatever comes afterwards will be better for him ('maybe up there they have words for what i feel'.....something like that anyway, dont remember exactly)
This film is about people being defined by what they say and do, and because ed never says or does anything he really is 'the man who wasnt there'. The first scene when he says he doesnt like being called a barber, and then the courtroom scene at the end where he is constantly called 'the barber....the barber' for lack of any other way to define him. His constant lack of action throughout his life leads people to label him with the only thing they know about him, he is a barber. Strong existentialist undertones.
Never before has a film made me want to talk to people so much.
The other theme throughout the film is how everyone has a secret, nobody is what they seem, but i can't be bothered to go into this now due to my inherent laziness.
Thoughts anyone?