A Conversation with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Pt 1: “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
(To follow the conventions of present-day Internet film commentary, I shall warn the curious reader that there are significant “spoilers” in the article which follows. It’s a critique, not a preview.)
Part 2 can be found here.
and here, Part 3
the uproarious Part 4
the touching and tragic Part 5
and Part 6, where it all comes together
With little fanfare, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs appeared on Netflix in November of 2018, part of a small wave of motion pictures made for Netflix by revered directors (most notably Orson Welles and Alfonso Cuaron, whose The Other Side of the Wind and Roma came out the same week as Buster Scruggs) just in time for Oscar season. Netflix seems to have snagged some gems from Welles and Cuaron’s back catalog around the same time, and from that of Scruggs creators Joel and Ethan Coen.
I suppose The Coen Brothers are my favorite filmmakers of all time. Their body of work is wildly diverse yet possessed of a stylistic signature that is unmistakable and just about impossible to imitate. Many have tried, however, and I think it’s fair to say that their influence is perceptible in most movies these days. Put them in a…
