The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski blew my mind when I watched it for the first time. I was very young, but I can remember thinking ‘wow, this is it’ and by ‘it’ I was referring to what I’d been caught up searching for all my life. What stood out most strongly at the time were the kaleidoscopically enhanced effects. The trippy, drug-induced scenes where Jeff Bridges enters surreal dream sequences travelling between bowling, the Persian Gulf War and vaginal art. And I remember feeling equally infatuated by both Tara Reid in a bikini (that was my early teenagehood coming out) and John Turturro in a bowling costume (the insanity of that image stayed with me for a long time). On top of it all, the brilliant lines turned Lebowski into a script that any screenwriter would die to have been a part of. The Coen Brothers really know how to write.

I keep revisiting the Dude, Walter Sobchak and Donnie Kerabatsos in their infamous hang-out spot, the bowling centre. This venue is a good place to start. John Goodman presents Walter as a tragic madman with the temperament of a Rottweiler, often resorting to the use of a crowbar to settle disputes. He also happens to be one of the most quotable characters in cinema. Lines like, “Life does not stop and start at your convenience, you miserable piece of shit” {to a helplessly bemused Steve Buscemi} or “Look at our current situation with that camel fucker over in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind” – Walter claims to have “dabbled” in pacifism, giving viewers reason to believe he knows what he’s talking about. The Dude provides another side to Walter’s furious partaking in the film’s dialogue. His calming, strangely annoying reasoning brings out the best in each character. At one point he produces the ultimate rebuttal to John Turturro’s Jesus Quintana – his bowling opponent. When Turturro states, in his heavy, Cuban-American accent, “Liam and me. We’re gonna fuck you up”, Lebowski replies, “Yeah, well, you know, that’s just like, your opinion man”.

At the point I watched The Big Lebowski, I’d never seen such character development. To this day, I’m yet to find such a rich and colourful group of personalities. This has actually become a major factor in the film’s appeal as a whole. It’s interesting to know that the majority of characters were actually inspired, in some way or another, by various people the Coens had encountered. Inspiration for Jeff Lebowski himself stemmed from a Mr Jeff Dowd, whom the brothers met around the time of Blood Simple. At the same time, much of Walter Sobchak is made up of filmmaker John Milius, whose love of weapons and the military amused them. For this reason, each character possesses an extra layer of realism, adding to the comedy of human detail and diversity.

This might be the prime example of the Coens’ incredible imagination, their love of the absurd, their fascination with a slightly distorted reality, and their on-going efforts to break down as many boundaries as they possibly can. The Big Lebowski presents itself as a diverse collection of visionary ideas, executed masterfully. It must also be said that the soundtrack, structured by Coen frequenter Carter Burwell, and enhanced by a range of perfectly fitting tracks, including Kenny Rogers with “Just Dropped In”, Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me” and The Gypsy Kings’ “Hotel California”, elevates the film to entirely different heights, resulting in one of the brothers’ most complete efforts. For me, this is tied first place with Barton Fink and a Serious Man, while remaining alone in its genius, for the reason that it provides the viewer with an impeccable combination of comedy, philosophical insights, cinematographic beauty and criticism.