Warning: Spoiler!
There's one particular scene in this film that for me defines the term "dark comedy" and much of what the Coen brothers are. After the character played by John Getz has found a dead Dan Hedaya and assumed his lover Frances McDormand has committed the crime, he sloppily tries to cover it up. First he tries to mop up all the blood with a handtowel, making the process all the more slow. Then, he puts the body in his back seat, ignoring the fact that it's still heavily bloodied. While driving down a quiet country road, he suddenly hears moaning from the back seat and does the logical next step: slams on the brakes, opens the door and runs as far away from the car as he can. After waiting several minutes and catching his breath, he walks cautiously back to the car and looks inside, but the body's no longer in the back seat. He walks around to the opposite side, the door is open, and a bleeding and nearly dead Dan Hedaya is slowly crawling, quite futilely, down the dark road. Getz panics due to the morbid site, and figures he must finish him off. So, he gets out a shovel to hit him with, but no, that's too gruesome. So, he gets in his car and prepares to run him over, but can't do that either and to his despair, another car is coming down the road. So, he drags Hedaya out of the car's view and out into the desolate field, where he proceeds to dig a whole while Hedaya lies half-dead nearby. After the hole is dug, he puts Hedaya in, and begins to bury him, alive. Hedaya makes one last attempt to save himself and pulls a gun he had on him, but he doesn't have the strength to pull the trigger and is buried completely. Getz sits next to the grave and frustratedly hits the yet-moving pile of dirt.
Now, this shouldn't be at all funny, but it isn't just funny, it's hysterical. This to me proves the genius of the Coen Brothers team and defines the term "dark comedy"
There's one particular scene in this film that for me defines the term "dark comedy" and much of what the Coen brothers are. After the character played by John Getz has found a dead Dan Hedaya and assumed his lover Frances McDormand has committed the crime, he sloppily tries to cover it up. First he tries to mop up all the blood with a handtowel, making the process all the more slow. Then, he puts the body in his back seat, ignoring the fact that it's still heavily bloodied. While driving down a quiet country road, he suddenly hears moaning from the back seat and does the logical next step: slams on the brakes, opens the door and runs as far away from the car as he can. After waiting several minutes and catching his breath, he walks cautiously back to the car and looks inside, but the body's no longer in the back seat. He walks around to the opposite side, the door is open, and a bleeding and nearly dead Dan Hedaya is slowly crawling, quite futilely, down the dark road. Getz panics due to the morbid site, and figures he must finish him off. So, he gets out a shovel to hit him with, but no, that's too gruesome. So, he gets in his car and prepares to run him over, but can't do that either and to his despair, another car is coming down the road. So, he drags Hedaya out of the car's view and out into the desolate field, where he proceeds to dig a whole while Hedaya lies half-dead nearby. After the hole is dug, he puts Hedaya in, and begins to bury him, alive. Hedaya makes one last attempt to save himself and pulls a gun he had on him, but he doesn't have the strength to pull the trigger and is buried completely. Getz sits next to the grave and frustratedly hits the yet-moving pile of dirt.
Now, this shouldn't be at all funny, but it isn't just funny, it's hysterical. This to me proves the genius of the Coen Brothers team and defines the term "dark comedy"
