The Big Lebowski: The Making of a Coen Brothers Film

by Tricia Cooke (Editor), William Preston Robertson (Text by), John Todd Anderson (Illustrator), Rafael Sañudo (Illustrator)

Overview

A firsthand account of how this extraordinary cult movie was made by the Oscar-winning Coen brothers.

The Big Lebowski is a razor-sharp comedy thriller of mistaken identity, gangsters, bowling, kidnapping, and money gone astray, written by the Coens, directed by Joel Coen, and produced by Ethan Coen. In addition to Jeff Bridges, whose portrayal of The Dude has become iconic, and John Goodman, his bowling buddy, the film stars Steve Buscemi, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Willem Dafoe, Sam Elliot, and Ben Gazzara. Not given to talking publicly about their work, the Coens gave access to Tricia Cooke and William Preston Robertson to interview the cast and crew. In a prose style that complements the Coens’ filmic one, the book discusses the Coens’ oeuvre, the themes of their films, their atypical brand of humor, their craft, and their artistic vision. Several scenes of The Big Lebowski are examined closely to see how the movie goes from idea to reality, making this an ideal book for fans, filmmakers, and filmmaking students.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393350883
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	06/22/2015
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Tricia Cooke, an editor on the Coens's films, is married to Ethan Coen and lives in New York.

William Preston Robertson is a screenwriter, documentarian, and journalist living in New York City.

Table of Contents

Introduction 13

1 The Idea: The Homework in a Baggie 35

2 The Script: Sleeping and Severed Toes 47

3 The Storyboards: J. Todd Anderson, Force of Nature 53

4 The Human Coendition: A Discussion on Hiring Technique 67

5 The Cinematography; Orange Night 71

6 The Human Coendition, Part 2:Wide-Angle Lenses 81

7 The Production Design: Brunswick, Fluxus, Googie, Noir (Though Not Necessarily in That Order) 87

8 The Costume Design: Method Munsingwear 105

9 The Great-Room Scene:The Detritus of a Rich Man, or Babe Ruth, the Sadaharu Oh of American Baseball 121

10 The Quintana Scene: Another Use for Birdseed 133

11 The Corvette-Smashing Scene: Canned Art 149

12 Busby Berkeley Dream Sequence: The Legend of the Ugly Tile Floor, Part 2 159

Epilogue: Underneath the Hale-Bopp Sky 179

Afterword: The Best Book Ever Written about Filmmaking Munsingwear; and the Art of the Coens 183