The films of the Coen brothers have become a contemporary cultural phenomenon. Highly acclaimed and commercially successful, over the years their movies have attracted increasingly larger audiences and spawned a subculture of dedicated fans. Shunning fame and celebrity, Ethan and Joel Coen remain maverick filmmakers, producing and directing independent films outside the Hollywood mainstream in a unique style combining classic genres like film noir with black comedy to tell off-beat stories about America and the American Dream. This study provides an overview of the films of the Coen brothers, including multiple-Oscar winning movies like Fargo and No Country for Old Men, as well as cult favorites such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The Big Lebowski.
