No Country for Old Men is one of the greatest films of our time. Widely showered with accolades and birthing instantly iconic characters and lines, there's no denying that this is a beloved flick.
And sometimes the making of a movie is just as fascinating as the movie itself. Now, we're not saying that the making of No Country for Old Men is more interesting than the movie. That would be impossible. But it is a fun story nevertheless. Maybe you'll learn some things, and maybe you'll be surprised by some things. These are ten behind the scenes facts of No Country for Old Men you never knew.
The Novel Was Brought To The Coen Brothers
Cormac McCarthy's novels are generally...well, impossible to adapt. The first was All the Pretty Horses in 2000, and that was a disaster. And there's no way in heck that Blood Meridian will ever be adapted.
Regardless, producer Scott Rudin enjoyed McCarthy's No Country for Old Men (which was published in July 2005) and bought the film rights. He then brought the novel to the Coen brothers and suggested that they adapt it. They quickly agreed owing to the fact that the novel shares many thematic and stylistic qualities with their own work.
The Movie Is Nearly Word-For-Word From The Novel
Many people praise the Coens for No Country. However, much of the praise should be heaped on Cormac McCarthy, as the film is generally a word-for-word, scene-for-scene recreation of the novel. Of course, the Coens added their own flair by removing and changing various elements.
For example, the Bells have lost a daughter in the novel, and this is never mentioned in the film. Also, Carla Jean is explicitly killed in the novel, whereas the movie leaves her fate a little more ambiguous (although she's still definitely dead).
The Title Comes From A Yeats Poem
Cormac McCarthy is all about the references. Blood Meridian is chock full of literary references, and No Country for Old Men takes its title from a Yeats poem titled Sailing to Byzantium. The poem begins "That is no country for old men." It sounds cool, but it also has thematic relevance to the substance of the story.
The novel is told mainly through the perspective of Sheriff Bell, and the story (both in the novel and film) go into detail about how he feels "overmatched" in the modern world. The elderly Bell also believes that this is no country for old men.
The Border Sequence Was Actually Filmed In Las Vegas
Oh, the magic of film. Many transported viewers genuinely believed that Moss was at the border of the United States and Mexico. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. That's because the entire border sequence was actually filmed on a freeway over in Las Vegas.
They simply installed a border set and voila, they had a convincing U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, all of the sequences in Eagle and Del Rio were filmed in Las Vegas!
They Did Film In Mexico
That said, the brief sequence that takes place in Mexico (when Moss wakes up to the mariachi band and asks for a hospital) was actually filmed in Mexico.
It was filmed in a city called Piedras Negras, which is in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Interestingly, this is geographically accurate, as Piedras Negras is right across the Rio Grande from Eagle ! Only, in the movie "Eagle " is actually Las Vegas. It really makes you appreciate the craft of filmmaking, doesn't it?
The Coens Were Difficult To Work With
Now, when people say someone was "difficult to work with," they usually mean that they are ill-tempered or quick to criticize. That wasn't the case with the Coen brothers. If their loyal band of actors proves anything, it's that they are actually quite pleasant people.
Rather, they are difficult to work with in the sense that they are emotionless and hard to read. Josh Brolin said, "With the Coens, there's zero compliments, really zero anything. No 'nice work.' Nothing." What can we say, they are consummate professionals.
Javier Bardem Was Reluctant To Accept The Role
Anton Chigurh is one of cinema's finest and scariest villains, and we couldn't imagine anyone other than Javier Bardem in the role. And despite being a pitch-perfect piece of casting, Bardem was reluctant to accept the role when it was initially offered to him by the Coens.
He told them, "I don't drive, I speak bad English and I hate violence" in an attempt to possibly dissuade them. However, they were adamant about Bardem, and because it was his dream to star in a Coen brothers film, he gladly accepted amidst their persistence.
Josh Brolin's Audition Tape Was Helmed By Robert Rodriguez And Quentin Tarantino
Now how many people can say that they've had an audition tape overseen by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin freaking Tarantino? In fact, Josh Brolin may be the only person that can say that.
Brolin was acting in Rodriguez and Tarantino's Grindhouse when he decided to audition for Llewelyn Moss. So he "borrowed" a theatrical camera from production and had Rodriguez shoot and Tarantino direct his audition tape. We would love to see that.
The Suitcase Is The Same One From Fargo
Both No Country for Old Men and Fargo revolve around suitcases full of money. Both movies are directed by the Coen brothers. So, fittingly enough, both movies actually used the exact same suitcase!
Yep, the suitcase Moss carries around in No Country is the exact same suitcase that Carl buries at the end of Fargo. Granted, there probably only so many large, black suitcases out there. But it's a fun detail nevertheless!
Filming Was Interrupted By There Will Be Blood
No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood were simultaneously filmed in the desert of Marfa, Texas. Unfortunately, this meant that shooting one interfered with the other. On one specific day, production was halted on No Country because a giant black cloud had filled the sky and was interfering with the shots.
This is because the production team of There Will Be Blood were testing the pyrotechnics for the famous oil derrick fire sequence, and the black cloud had been caught and carried by the wind.
