Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.
When discussing the masterpieces of cinematography, the audience always has before their eyes the image of Jeff Bridges with shaggy hair, in a bathrobe of indeterminate color, floating relaxed among the bowling lanes from the Coen Brothers masterpiece The Big Lebowski. The Big Lebowski is a black crime tragicomedy by the Cohen brothers. The basis of the script is the book “Deep Sleep”, which was written in 1939 by R. Chandler. The action takes place in Los Angeles, the plot immerses the viewer in the atmosphere of 1991. The film did not have much commercial success, but it was reprinted many times, and it can often be found in the collections of exquisite lovers of non-standard cinema. Many citizens have watched this film many times and call it they’re favorite. A separate topic for consideration in this work is how exactly the hero’s personality develops throughout his life. Nevertheless, it is necessary to analyze the phenomenon of this product and understand both the meaning of the picture and the tools used by the director.
After returning home from the supermarket, jobless lazy Jeff Lebowski, who simply prefers to be called Dude, discovers two thugs. One of them methodically dunks him in the toilet, demanding some money that his wife owes him, and the second smugly urinates on the carpet in the room. The Dude has never been married, so after a little more meaningful dialogue, the thugs leave (Nayman 53). A little later, while discussing the incident with his buddies Walter and Donnie at a bowling alley, the Dude realizes that he was confused with another Jeff Lebowski, a wealthy man and businessman whose wife Bunny with a dubious past became the trigger for unpleasant events (Meyer and Griffin 97). Having nicely talked with the namesake in his mansion, the Dude leaves from there with a new carpet. But even this is not yet a plot, but an exposition that acquaints the viewer with both the passing and the nature of the hero (Nayman 71). The story is about the kidnapping of the same Bunny Lebowski. Her husband decides to turn to an unfamiliar unemployed namesake to become a courier to transfer the ransom to the kidnappers. Still, even such a simple task turns into an incredible adventure for all the heroes.
This is not to say that The Big Lebowski is telling a story. It conveys the mood more, but this moment is very easy to miss, because the story grabs the viewer by the breasts and drags them through a huge maelstrom of events that involves kidnapping, ransom money, porn kings, reclusive millionaires, a runaway girl, Malibu police and a bohemian a girl painting pictures, flying naked over a canvas (Nayman 73). In addition, this film has an off-scale number of bowling scenes per unit of time.
The plot as a whole, and the dialogue, in particular, is written so that only the Coen brothers can hold all the threads together and not even the smallest element will look pretentious or out of place. Every moment of the Dude’s communication with the outside world is another special session broadcasting a deep sense of comfort and satisfaction with his place, position, and status (Nayman 77). Each plot twist is another layer of the pie, complementing the already finished picture with a heap of nuances that can add humor and pepper to an already finished recipe (Kan 107). The whole plot creates a feeling of a labyrinth, where entire layers of information are hidden in the folds of the script and the phrases briefly thrown by the characters, which come back to haunt and have their weight. Previously, returning to the film, again and again, individuals may likewise find themselves in this maze and constantly discover new branches that they had not been before (Nayman 81). Watcher moves along the complex corridors, only refreshing the route in memory and bestowing a satisfied smile on the territory already explored along and across.
To emphasize this point, elements of a dream are introduced into the film, which becomes prophetic and has a subtle sense of humor. Maud Lebowski’s assistants knock out the Dude, and he sees a red-haired girl fly away from him on a magic carpet above the night-time Los Angeles. Waking up, he discovers that the carpet honestly expropriated from the Lebowski is gone and then finds out who is behind it. Jackie Treehorn’s cocktail dream is even more exciting and meaningful because it allows one to see more than what is shown on the screen (Nayman 90). It combines elements of a porn movie seen by the Dude, a nightmare about nihilists threatening castration, and Maud’s offer to provide her with seed for fertilization.
In addition, one cannot fail to note the film’s extraordinary soundtrack, which not only complements what is happening on the screen but sometimes even expands the boundaries of perception. Several songs have long settled in my playlist and put down strong roots, and the rest are very well suited to the selected situations. Jeff Bridges is a compelling actor as The Dude, which conveys the character with high accuracy. It is simply impossible to imagine someone else in his place. From the first scene of choosing milk at the supermarket, followed by writing a check for 69 cents, to the very last location, a strikingly compelling character who is indifferent to everything and at the same time cares about each aspect of life is observed (Nayman 93). The Dude preaches a particular style of life and a confident attitude, from which a kilometer away brings comfort and tranquility. He can make complicated choices if a person feels comfortable in Hawaiian shorts, a stretched robe of indefinite color, and flip-flops on his bare feet.
John Goodman played the Dude’s best friend, Walter Sobchak, and without this character, the film would not have been so colorful. Walter is a collective image of a proud and, to the core, patriotic Vietnam War veteran with clear signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. He ended with his Jewish wife five years ago but regularly observes Jewish traditions and looks after his once dog (Boberg 39). The war left a deep imprint on his whole worldview, which was exceptionally narrowly focused before; now, it has also been transformed into a planetary model, where the professional military experience serves as the sun. Therefore, he interweaves Vietnam in every conversation, even when it is entirely out of place (Nayman 107). In addition, Walter is a typical example of successful brainwashing of the ordinary American population because he operates exclusively with populist and primitive concepts, which were hammered into the heads of regular soldiers by aggressive agitation.
Another friend of the Dude, Donnie, played by Steve Buscemi, at first glance, is completely lost against the background of the Dude and Walter. However, the fact is that Donnie is the glue of their company, becoming a distraction for short-tempered interlocutors, a trigger for friendly interaction, and just an element to create a crowd (Nayman 74). By itself, the character seems to exist in a reality parallel to the rest of the characters, which is a step behind. Therefore, all the hero’s comments often come down to the fact that he connects in the middle of the process and tries to catch up with the main action. Buscemi has only a handful of offers throughout the film, and 90% of them are most often rudely interrupted by Walter. Nevertheless, his character almost always looks happy due to the opportunity to be part of the Walter and Dude collective (Nayman 101). In general, the whole trinity in the viewer’s eyes becomes the American version of the beloved trio of diverse people. They differ in their worldview and essential human qualities, for example, cowardice, prudence, and even selfishness.
It is impossible not to mention the categorically episodic but at the same time incredibly bright and memorable John Turturro in the image of extravagant bowler Jesus Quintan. There are only two scenes in the film with his participation, but they are so spectacular that they are burned on the back of the lens so clearly that it is now simply impossible to unsee him (Nayman 120). It is all the more pleasant to see Turturro in other projects because the acting potential is revealed.
Once again, reviewing the film, attention is drawn to the fate of the Dude’s car, which, upon closer inspection, turns out to be a metaphor for his transformation. The vehicle is beaten, maimed, stolen, and finally burnt in the end of the movie; the same figuratively happens with The Dude himself. When the car with the Creedence cassette finally breaks, only in the finale do people see the best version of the Dude, fresh and ready for the bowling tournament semi-finals.
The individual of Big Lebowski is another point to think about, and it is featured in the movie’s title. Conceptually, the Dude turns out to be a small person, tied into the intricacies of other people’s enrichment schemes. In social terms, it is clear that the Dude is Little Lebowski compared with a disabled person photographed with the first lady and hung the key to Pasadena on the wall (Nayman 15). The protagonist is nothing more than a pawn in someone else’s game, and all his misadventures are floundering in a bathtub where a ferret has been launched. However, if individuals look at the situation differently, they make a radically opposite conclusion. The same invalid Lebowski, who cuts through a massive mansion in a chair and calls himself a parasite, is just a human being (Nayman 31). The Dude, on the contrary, turns out to be a person of high moral principles, a pacifist by nature, and with sincere naivety in his eyes.
The path to cult film status for The Big Lebowski began with half-empty theaters, skeptical reviews, and low ratings on the Web. However, in 1998, thousands of people took the bizarre story about the adventures of an unemployed man nicknamed Dude enthusiastically and proclaimed the creation of the Coen brothers a masterpiece. Today, millions think so, and not only in the United States (Nayman 112). The Big Lebowski was not just a cultural landmark: it influenced the behavior and thinking of an entire generation, introduced catchphrases into speech, and even gave rise to a philosophical doctrine called “Dudeism.” However, the genre affiliation of The Big Lebowski is as ambiguous as its meaning.
At first glance, everything is evident with the social profile of Jeffrey Lebowski: a person fundamentally does not want to work, preferring bowling, the company of friends, and accessible forms of hedonism, like an aromatic bath with candles, to hard work. He dresses appropriately; he does not shine with broad erudition. However, several circumstances make it challenging to consider the character of Jeff Bridges as someone like Henry Chinaski from the movie Drunk, and not only because Lebowski drinks moderately (Rienties et al. 263). The fact is that Lebowski’s simplicity is imaginary, and among the archetypes to which this image appeals, there are very unexpected and curious.
One of Lebowski’s most ancient progenitors is, of course, the cunning Odysseus. For the dull-witted, the connection between these heroes is revealed in a fantastic dance scene in which Maud Lebowski is dressed in the costume of the goddess Athena, the patroness of the dexterous Greek. Lebowski has the same skill to walk between Scylla and Charybdis without spilling a drop from his glass (Rienties et al. 87). However, a mix of worldly cunning and optimistic innocence is only part of this multifaceted nature. Another archetypal image, the connection, which can be traced no less clearly, is the noble knight. As befits a true knight, Lebowski spends all day preparing for a tournament, if not a knightly one, then a tournament, and is ready to act as the savior of a beautiful lady.
There is something in Lebowski from the informal 1960s, and at the same time from Mahatma Gandhi with his preaching of non-violence. And yet all this is not enough to explain the extraordinary popularity of this hero. Watchers never know there were charming loafers in the history of cinema, but fan clubs are created, and annual festivals are held only in honor of Lebowski. And it’s not about the great game of Jeff Bridges (Rienties et al. 241). American society suddenly recognized itself as the hedonist who perceives life as a game. Lebowski is an ambiguous American hero of the postmodern era. For all his shortcomings, he managed to maintain the primary, central values in a world where there are no more values: friendship and optimism.
The gallery of funny characters is designed not only to amuse the viewer. With their help, many of the most important for America of the twentieth century are ridiculed. Events, phenomena, and ideas, from the Vietnam War to feminism. Walter Sobchak is a parody of the image of a Vietnam War veteran, replicated by hundreds of cult films, and at the same time, ridiculing the modern approach to religion (Suttom and Wogan 76). In the very first monologue of The Big Lebowski, almost all American values are ridiculed, from individualism to the cult of success (Rienties et al. 87). Maud Lebowski is a comic embodiment of the ideas of feminism, as well as contemporary art with its performances and installations. The nymphomaniac and pornographic actress Bunny is a parody of all the “damsels in distress” put together, just as the “nihilist Germans” are a parody of cinematic fascists and real rockers at the same time (Tyree and Walters 109). Even the images of such episodic characters as the Malibu police chief and Marty, the Dude’s landlord, are full of satirical overtones.
It can be said that the Coen brothers’ film debunks all American values one by one, but its essence is not in this. In the finale, all values mysteriously end up in their places, and instead of civic indignation and other negative feelings, the viewer experiences an emotional upsurge (Rienties et al. 24). The meaning of The Big Lebowski is most fully revealed with the help of M. Bakhtin’s theory of carnival. During the carnival, the whole habitual way of life is violated, everything is turned upside down, everything is ridiculed, but its meaning is not in destruction, but, on the contrary, in the establishment of order (Rienties et al. 34). After passing through the crucible of ridicule and denial, value is reborn in an updated form, and the turbulent flow of life returns to its usual course.
Cohens criticize their society with carnival lightness and such relish that the last doubts disappear: all criticism comes from sincere love. Just as Comrade Stalin had no other writers, the Coens had no America (Rienties et al. 66). Going through its components with the enthusiasm of teenagers who criticize their parents, the brothers-directors come to the only possible conclusion: life is good, and American values are so unshakable, including the notorious million dollars, that individual does not have to worry about the country. At the same time, to enjoy the comedy of the Coen brothers, it is not necessary to dive into mythological allusions, philosophical overtones, and other depths (Rienties et al. 66). No matter how trite it may sound, The Big Lebowski is a film that can make anyone laugh and in which everyone will find something of their own: that is why millions of viewers in different countries love it.
Traditionally, The Big Lebowski is considered a mix of two types of comedy: sitcom and comedy of manners. From the comedy of situations in the film, a series of curious situations in which the protagonist finds a sharply satirical image of society from the comedy of manners. In the film of the Coen brothers, all events, characters, and social institutions turn out to be complete opposites of what they seem or what they should be: for example; the millionaire does not have a penny, the police do not protect, but beat citizens, no one kidnapped the kidnapped, million was not in the case. However, the film’s plot is not limited to the image of the world of inflated values. Under the layering of purely comedic episodes, a fundamental literary principle emerges in it, the novel “Deep Sleep” by Raymond Chandler. And Chandler is not just a best-selling author: he is the founder of the hard-boiled detective genre, and cult noir films were shot based on his novels. The Big Lebowski uses so many recognizable cliches of this style that the film can be called a parody comedy.
Works Cited
Boberg, Charles. (2020). Accent in North American film and television. Cambridge University Press.
Kan, Hoi-Yi Katy. (2020). Digital carnivalesque. Springer Singapore.
Meyer, Michaela D.E. and Griffin, Alicia R. (Ed.). (2020). Adventures in Shondaland. Rutgers University Press.
Nayman, Adam. (2018). The Coen brothers. ABRAMS.
Rienties, Bart C., Froehlich, Dominik E., and Rehm, Martin. (Ed.). (2019). Mixed methods social network analysis. Theories and methodologies in learning and education. Taylor & Francis.
Suttom, David and Wogan, Peter. (2020). Hollywood blockbusters. Taylor & Francis.
Tyree, J.M., and Walters, Ben. (2020). The Big Lebowski. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?
We have qualified writers to help you.
We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.
You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)
NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.
NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.