Miller’s Crossing (1990)

Directed by: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | 115 minutes | drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito, JE Freeman, Albert Finney, Mike Starr, Al Mancini, Richard Woods, Thomas Toner, Steve Buscemi, Mario Todisco, Olek Krupa, Michael Jeter, Lanny Flaherty

Most people will know the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen from movies like ‘The Big Lebowski’ or the critically acclaimed ‘Fargo’. ‘Miller’s Crossing’ is one of the lesser known earlier works by the brothers. A film that immediately shows how versatile these men are. After making the thriller ‘Blood Simple’ (1984) and the comedy ‘Raising Arizona’ (1986), they venture into the crime/gangster genre with ‘Miller’s Crossing’. In their own words, Joel and Ethan wanted to make ‘a beautiful film about men in hats’. And she succeeded excellently.

In a town on the American East Coast, during Prohibition, Irish mobster boss Leo (Albert Finney) is firmly in control; he even has the mayor and police in his pocket. When con man Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) approaches Leo to ask him to stop the activities of petty thief Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), Leo refuses to help. This has everything to do with the fact that Bernbaum’s sister, Verna (Marcia Gay Harden), is Leo’s fling. Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne), Leo’s confidant and right-hand man, disagrees with his boss’s decision, but respects it. Caspar, however, is furious and swears he won’t let it go. In the resulting power struggle, Tom tries to keep the peace, but there’s one thing he hasn’t told Leo…

‘Miller’s Crossing’ is an intensely atmospheric film with a story that may be difficult to follow the first time you watch it, but is extremely well put together. The tempo is deliberately kept very calm, which means that the violence in this film actually comes across as violent. The fact that words are only used when absolutely necessary only enhances that effect. While writing this complicated mafia story, the Coen brothers suffered from writer’s block. To avoid this, they decided to temporarily focus on another story, that of a writer suffering from the same ailment. The title of that story is ‘Barton Fink’, in which Turturro would once again steal the show. In addition to Turturro, Byrne, Finney, Harden and the rest of the cast also deliver outstanding performances. Also note the small but important role of Steve Buscemi.

Based on a book by Dashiell Hamett (“The Glass Key”, “The Maltese Falcon”), Miller’s Crossing pays tribute to American film and literary history. The motifs are taken from the gangster film of the 1930s, which is related to the western, but is set in an urban environment. In both genres the battle between order and chaos is central. The film style is also reminiscent of film noir, while Johnny Caspar’s monologue at the beginning of the film is a quote from the sequence that opens ‘The Godfather’. Just looking for these references provides a lot of viewing pleasure. How lucky that the film itself is also a masterpiece!