The Occasional Observer

PLOT SPOILERS BELOW

Beetz and I were (again) discussing the nature of Anton Chigurh's character in No Country last night, as well as the difficulty in interpreting the scene at the film's climax (where Tommy Lee Jones' character appears on the brink of a decisive battle with Chigurh in the hotel room where Moss had been killed).

First off, I'd love to get any theories that folks have on the motel room scene. Was Chigurh there in the room with the Sheriff behind the door? Was he in an adjacent room, as with the earlier confrontation with Llewylen? Is he supernatural and capable of disappearing? Or, my new interpretation of the scene, is the Sheriff nervously envisioning what might be behind the door while deciding whether he's going to go in?

The way the screen shot goes from a tight look at the Sheriff, who is anxiously considering entering the room, alternating with a fuzzy and shadowy shot of Chigurh, where you can't really discern his features, makes it seem to me that the Sheriff is imagining what might be waiting for him once he enters the room.

This would nicely round out the plot from where it starts in the opening monologue, with TLJ saying "I'm not going out to face something that I can't understand." He ultimately does just that by entering the hotel room, only to realize it's a day late and a dollar short. His own common sense/aversion to violence may have cost Moss' life, and led him to decide, in light of the "dismal tide", he just wasn't cut out for this work anymore.

It also is the least problematic of all the possible interpretations, IMHO.

One thing's for sure--No Country is in my top 5 all time (along with another Coen Bros film). It's the total package: stunning and beautiful cinematography, great dialogue, great acting, suspsense, and an insightful look at the nature of morality and evil.