The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski is arguably the one film most dedicated to the art of cinema created in the last decade of the millennia. The film’s intricacy and attention to the most subtle details parallels with Fight Club or any Stanley Kubrick production. What makes The Big Lebowski such a mindfuck is there’s practically no plot at all! No macro action, no super objective reached, no spine to drive the storyline, almost as if there’s no point to the film; but instead, where the film lacks purpose, is filled with detail. And, if structured and told just right, seemingly pointless details can capture an audience move intensely than any well-structured plot. How? As true artists, the Coen Brothers produce films for the love of the art, and less for the money. Once they could afford to create their personal film at the expense of risking a bomb, they aimed at telling a story so compassionate with character background and detail that the events didn’t matter. While almost nothing happens throughout the span of the film, we develop an intense personal connection with the characters; caring for and sympathizing with the Dude, frustration and disbelief with Walter, and a pity for the disregarded Donny. The frustration of audiences at the box office opening stems from the public’s inaccurate expectations of the film. As Jon Bastian says, “People didn’t get it. They were expecting a simple comedy about a stoner who bowls, got something more like Raymond Chandler on Ecstasy, then missed the metaphor anyway.” The love for the film comes in finding the meaning and inner message by reading the characters and gaining an understanding for their roles. Where a typical film would contain a plot shift here or a twist elsewhere, The Big Lebowski follows it’s own agenda of plot. Where we can’t necessarily understand the storyline, we continue to watch the film for appreciation for the character. In the end, the Coen Brothers wanted to make the ideal film and break the golden rule of character/action unity; The Big Lebowski represents one of the minimal works of art that character unity supersedes action unity.