RARA-AVIS: Miller's Crossing

From: Kent Johnson ( kjohnson@slip.net)
Date: 09 Feb 2000


Hammett is also an obvious influence. "Miller's Crossing," is a pastiche of THE GLASS KEY, and a hell of a movie in its own right.

BobT

I don't think "pastiche" is the right word, but I don't know if there really is a word to describe it. "Loose, uncredited remake," perhaps? What the Coen Brothers did was to film the GLASS KEY up to a certain point, but where Hammett veers away from the gang war to concentrate on a murder mystery, the Coens write a new second half that follows the gang war instead. And it's totally excellent -- a hard-boiled viewing must for anyone on this list.

The Coens also used the term "blood simple" from Hammett's RED HARVEST as the title of their first film. Another hard-boiled viewing must.

________________

Kent Johnson San Francisco kjohnson@slip.net

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