Tribute to A Serious Man

Speaking of hidden treasures, Kris Tapley does a nice job writing up the Coens’ brilliant A Serious Man, but especially its production design in the tech support column:

The Coen brothers’ latest film “A Serious Man” opens with a quote from French Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (better known as Rashi): “Accept with simplicity everything that happens to you.”

It’s obviously quite applicable to the themes of fatalism and inevitability strewn throughout the film. But that word, “simple,” also comes up over and over again when discussing below-the-line elements with the directors’ collaborators.

Jess Gonchor is the newest craftsman to join the Coens’ party, having first jumped on board with 2007’s “No Country for Old Men.” When the sibling directors got a look at “Capote” two years earlier, they were quite taken by the stark, understated look of the production design and wanted to meet with Gonchor about potentially designing their Cormac McCarthy adaptation.