A thoughtful opening displays the parched environment outside Los Angeles while panning forward until it presents a nightly overview of the smoggy city.  The camera follows lonely drifting tumbleweed, which suggestively brings the mind to the external forces that operate within the universe.  Simultaneously, the Stranger’s (Sam Elliott) voice presents a prologue that succeeds to be exceptionally vague in its explanation to why this is a pertinent tale (but it is significant as it affects us all – life that is.)  The dry tumbleweed eventually reaches the Pacific Ocean, which analogously provides the notion of the cyclical pattern of life, as the Stranger informs the viewer about when and where the story begins.

The story begins in a supermarket dairy aisle where the Dude, dressed in a bathrobe and slippers, stumbles to find some half-and-half for his White Russians.  Untroubled by his existence he returns home after this late night visit to the store, but to his astonishment discovers that two thugs are waiting for him.  One of these witless ruffians brutalizes him with the help of a toilet while the other urinates on his rug before they realize that that they got the wrong man.  They are looking for the millionaire Jeffrey Lebowski whom they intended to extort, as this turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.  Nonetheless, the Dude expresses his irritation about the urine on his rug to his bowling buddies, the bipolar and anxiously edgy Vietnam vet Walter (John Goodman) and the timid and verbally abused Donny (Steve Buscemi).  Walter suggests that the Dude should visit the Mr. Lebowski and explain to him that he owns him a new rug because someone soiled his rug due to him having the same name.

The visit with Mr. Lebowski steers the Dude on a path unlike his character, as he has to act on the events taking place in his life and be responsible for his actions.  At the same time, he tries to be himself, lax and calm, while neglecting life (he even calls himself the Dude, which might be an allusion to that he tries to reduce his own existence to nothingness.)  However, the series of events that he triggered by requesting a new rug is set into action and numerous dubious characters begin to enter his previously calm life.  The story snowballs into a potpourri of intriguing characters such as viscously bowling pederast Jesus (John Turturro), the manipulative trophy wife Bunny (Tara Reid), and the artistic stepdaughter (Julianne Moore).  All these characters provide windows of opportunity for the Dude.  Yet nothing seems to motivate the Dude to strive for an accomplishment, as he merely allows the people around him to maneuver his existence.  There are a couple of scenes when Walter’s over-sensitive presence enhances the cinematic moment, as he thrusts his demandingly selfish perspective on life toward others including the Dude and Donny.

The Big Lebowski is an over the top comedy with frequent displays of symbolism in regards to existential philosophy.  The symbolism emerges mostly through the different characters and their actions, but it also evolves throughout the films visual expression such as the tumbleweed rolling down the Pacific beach.  However, the story of the Dude also provides interesting implications to the invisible force of social interaction and the dynamic consequence of initial action, which brings the mind to the butterfly effect and chaos theory.  The chaos pattern is noticeable throughout the film in the mise-en-scene, story line, dream sequence, and the behavior of some characters.  The film also touches on static features of life such as conception, aging, and death while cinematically remaining aware of the human factor by introducing nihilism, moral values, and religion among many other facets.  The multilayered tale that the Coen Brothers expose exhibits colorful and cerebral writing that together with a brilliant cast accentuates the film’s many angles and thoughts.  The Big Lebowski truly is a cinematic gem that radiates humor, wisdom, and aptitude with a progressing (it gets better each time I see it) and remarkable intensity, which will not drift into some unused space of the brain.

The Coen Brother’s who frequently work together to show that it is possible to make an artistically dense film with much humor and suspense that keeps a large number of audience members’ attention from the beginning to the end.  Here in the Big Lebowski the Coen’s succeed to submit a cinematic experience untouched by the corporate movie industry, which stands outside the formulaic approach often used to capture viewer’s attention.  Not only do they make a unique film, they also conceive a visual experience that continues to unravel new ideas and concepts after the initial viewing.  In a sense, the film allows the viewer to reach out and build on the film themselves with their own knowledge and wisdom, which permits the audience to increase their own understanding of the world and its many secrets.  Ultimately, this chaotic, yet brilliant film, offers a visual experience that is a necessity in any film lovers library.

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COUNTRY

USA / UK

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