The Ballad of Buster Scruggs: A Comedic Tragedy That Gave Me Whiplash
Comedic tragedies are the hardest combinations of genres to pull off, and the Coen Brothers for the most part made it through the minefield, with the exception of a few cuts and burns along the way. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs made by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, released in November of 2018 was a fan favourite that Owen Gleiberman of Variety describes as “a pop fantasia that’s interested in the meaning of what a brutal place the Old West really was.” Now I am inclined to agree, but if you want something to be both comedic and tragic, you’re going to have to balance the two genres out more. Otherwise, you get a tragedy that has inappropriate comedy thrown in, or a comedy that has too much death to be funny.
I think that if the Coen Brothers would have just stuck with tragedy and drama in the stories that were darker, they would have had a perfect collection of short films on their hands, but some things kept me from giving it that perfect score. One of my favorite scenes is the one above because I noticeably chuckled at it, even though it was a dark scene. Really the only two films I have a problem with are the first and third stories. The first story was confusing and had me scratching my head. I had to watch it a second time to really get what they were going for, and maybe it’s because the first time I was watching it in a relatively poor mood. I was honestly shocked that the first story had Buster Scruggs in it, and he ended up dying. I mean why would you name the movie after him if he dies in the first 30 minutes of the entire film?
I was told that the stories were supposed to get progressively more tragic as the movie went on. Which means that the first story was supposed to be the funniest of all of them right? Nope. It was probably one of the worst ones, besides the one where the disabled man gets thrown off a bridge at the end. The first story was obnoxious and just plain confusing. The singing was random, and the deaths were too gruesome to be funny. I mean what is with Buster Scruggs flying into the air with CGI wings strumming on a harp. It was just out of place and didn’t land with me, unfortunately. The funniest story I’d say would be Near Algodones. The humor in that story really landed with me and I actually found myself chuckling as did the other people I was watching it with.
One thing I can say that I noticed, and thought was enjoyable to experience was the cinematography. The editing and camera work was absolutely phenomenal, I just wished the Coen Brothers would have stuck with a genre and tried not to make two genres that are fundamental opposites to work together here. I mean there are right and wrong ways to do that. You can’t do it at the expense of actual people. If you make the tragedies too real to life then it makes the audience depressed and upset, which if you are trying to put comedy in there with the dark nature of the movie you have to be willing to sacrifice certain nuances. It really is about knowing how to navigate certain subjects and how when, I see someone with no arms or legs being forced to listen to a guy have intercourse with someone behind him, I do not think that is funny. If they left Meal Ticket as a tragedy and took out the one part that just knocked the pacing of that story out of whack it would have still been an upsetting story, but then I would have had a different context attached to the story. And I know the Coen Brothers can do it because of the second story, Near Algodones, that story had a perfect balance of dark and funny. I was just disappointed with the third story, Meal Ticket. All the other stories, besides the weird feel of the first story and the inappropriate humor in the third story, had pacing and seemed to have the perfect balance of funny and dark. I’d say the worst of the entire film was the ending of the third story, Meal Ticket, and that was mainly because it upset me and was very sudden.
Although I think that the comedy in the first story, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, and the comedy in the third story, Meal Ticket, was oddly placed I think the tragedy parts were expertly executed, like the last story, The Mortal Remains, which could have two different meanings. I was very invested in every story, especially The Gal Who Got Rattled, I got engrossed in that story from the first few minutes, and even, I admit, the first one which I found odd. It shows how great of storytellers that the Coen Brothers are, even when the audience might find the main character insufferable. You can’t help but want to know what is going to happen. The cinematography was phenomenal and the storytelling was amazing and engaging. There was one that was very slow to start but still really delivered with the ending. This expert storytelling shows not only in these short films but also with other projects the Coen Brothers have been a part of. They are beloved with good reason, one of these beloved projects they’ve made that people have really had positive reactions to is Fargo. I am one to attest that the balance between comedy and tragedy is astonishingly stunning. I find myself almost surprised that the people who have made The Ballad of Buster Scruggs have also made a groundbreaking show such as Fargo, which are polar opposites of each other in both theme and formatting. Though two things do stay consistent: the great storytelling and gorgeous cinematography.
In the video above they talk about what makes a Coen Brothers film. Like I said previously they have a specific style to their movies. There are lessons to be learned and laughs to be had. They usually center their movies around bad deeds/evil people being brought to justice but not through traditional means, and good people/good deeds being unrecognized and even punished. The punishments are all doled out by way of karma. “If you doing something bad just know that someone will be punished for it.”(Quote from above video) They seem to not be scared of showing exactly what they think life is all about. That funny, humorous times often coincide with dark, depressing times. “I think we both have a horror of sentimentality. I like it when you leave a movie feeling good but you want to say, you know, ‘look how horrible people can be, isn’t life great.’” Ethan Coen said in an interview talking about their movies and how they describe them and their style.
I’m sure that up until now you have gotten the impression that I don’t like this collection of short films, but that is not the case. We are allowed to make criticisms about shows that we like. There are obviously some flaws with this collection of stories, but they aren’t awful enough to warrant a low rating of the film. I personally think that this collection deserves a 4.8 out of 5 stars solely on the basis of some oddly place humor. This film really gave me whiplash with how at first I was quite annoyed with the humor and the pacing of the stories, but then I learned more about the Coen Brothers and their other projects and I also watched it a few more times to be completely sure of my verdict on it. And I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised by where I am with my opinion on it. So, hopefully, this article lets you think more critically about things that you watch because directors and writers need constructive criticism about their works so they know how to improve and flesh out their ideas in a more concise manner. They don’t need blind praise or baseless hate. Though praise is nice it can be a hindrance if overabundant, which is the same for unreasonable hate. I recommend watching this work by the Coen Brothers and maybe after that hop over to Hulu and watch Fargo, because both are great works that deserve a good watch, and don’t be afraid to be critical about them as long as you have a reason behind your criticism. Everyone really can be a critic!
