A Conversation with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Pt. 5: “The Gal Who Got Rattled”
Spoilers, my friend. That’s what you’ll find in this detailed critique of the fifth chapter of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a newish Western anthology from the mighty Coen Brothers. My advice is that you go watch this movie — it’s on Netflix — and then return to this article and share in my obsession. There’s just so much going on with The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. So much, in fact, that I’ve already written four other articles about its first four chapters.
Here’s the first one, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” the sadistic cartoon musical that serves as this film’s first chapter.
The second, “Near Algodones,” a delightful riff on spaghetti westerns and the core Coen Brothers theme of life’s unpredictability.
The third, “Meal Ticket,” which is god-damn dismal and brilliant, possibly the darkest thing those aforementioned brothers have put on screen.
The fourth, “All Gold Canyon,” which is an absolute hoot of a one-man show featuring the great Tom Waits, and also a stealthily tragic look at how Western virtue spells doom for the natural world.
And the sixth, “The Mortal Remains.” concerning five archetypal characters engaged in a deep conversation about human nature while racing through the fog in a…
