Millers Crossing

Millers Crossing was written and directed by the Coen Brothers, 1990. It suggests how gangsterism in the United States influenced many con-men and killers. The Coen Brother’s film is a combination of the crime, gangster and thriller genres as many thriller signifiers can be identified.
To begin with, the mise-en-scene used gives the film a thriller style as the interior of many of the places and locations in the film have thriller aspects. For example, Leo’s office has a very gangster style, with the dark brown decor and wooden furniture, there are also red, leather sofas which look expensive and classy. The windows were covered in slattered blinds and I noticed that at the start they were all drawn, keeping any light from coming in. This also created claustrophobia as the only light brightening the room were the small and dim lamps around the room. The fact that the door was far away from Leo’s desk too, gave the sense of it being hard to escape. Leo’s desk looked very clean and organized with the odd objects, which seemed to have their place.
Leo seems to have a very high- opinion of himself as he just sits there, looking extremely laid back with an expressionless face whilst Johnny Casper opposite him sweats away. Casper's henchman stands very formally and uptight. Leo’s body language suggested that he did not have the time to listen to this man. The contrast between Johnny and Leo look very noticeable as Johnny does not look cut out to be as high in status at Leo. His suit is a brown colour which makes him nearly sink into the boring decor- nothing special- whilst Leo’s grey suit makes him look a lot more sophisticated. The stares that the men share are very stern and threatening. Leo has his assistant Tom standing by him, casually leaning against a wooden cupboard drinking from a glass.
A shot that I have seen a lot whilst watching thrillers, is how the camera looks into a mirror showing the characters movements and expressions. For instance, Tom is in an apartment and is shown through a mirror with a man sitting in the shot too. Some more examples from Vertigo and Chinatown are where the shot is in the cars wheel or the side mirrors of a car. It is an interesting shot to use as it is different from simpler shots. The idea of something being shown in a different perspective could also come across whilst looking at someone’s reflexion.
Tom’s apartment is shown in at least three times in the film and he is commonly talking on his telephone. One shot shows a simple dining chair at a small, round table, with the telephone upon it. The telephone is ringing, quite loud and it almost sounds like it is echoing, which could be because of how empty and spacious his apartment is. He walks to the telephone and picks it up. The camera moves extremely slowly, zooming in till we come to Tom’s body. This creates a build up of suspension as many questions arise as we do not know who is on the other line, why he got a loan and so on.
The use of shallow focus is also used many times when a character is given more importance than others. By putting more emphasis on the objects it helps make the audience realize- in Miller Crossing- who is talking and essentially listen to what they are saying more carefully. For instance, the shot where the Major and Police Chief are in Leo's office, Tom walks across from the mini bar to the table, he is out of focus, whilst the Major and Police Chief are in focus. This could be so we remember and can recognize their faces as they are appear in the film later on. Another example, is right at the start, just after the credits have been shown, a black hat is on the leafy grounds of what looks like a wood. Shallow focus is used so the audience ignores the background and focuses on the black hat. Many questions are created, for example, who does the hat belong to? and why is it actually in the woods. The hat then blows off into the distance, giving a sense of depth in the woods, almost creating a vanishing point.
One of my favourite shots in Miller Crossing is when two unknown men intrude Leo's house. They go up the stairs with their rifle-looking guns at their sides. We follow the men up, just behind their feet. This adds to the suspense and tension, which is already being increased as the diegetic music is played. For my own group's thriller, we have considered using a similar shot as it will look very effective and different to the other shots.
The themes that are based in the story seem to be made up of the following. Corruption is a main theme as the film, as many things are carried out, such as murder for other people to gain. The police are involved in committing crimes but as they are told by Leo to do so, they have to follow orders. This suggests how moral ambiguity is confused in this story. For one thing, it is hard to say where the morals lie, as the police are beating up people, just so Tom is safe. This is due to Leo's orders and nowadays, this would be very uncommon to see.
Another thriller signifier is that the story includes a femme fatale, Verna, who sleeps with Tom but is with Leo. Leo is unaware of Tom and her affair but as soon as he finds out the truth, he is not happy. The deceit behind this is another thriller theme. It seems that the femme fatale is very seductive as she smokes, glamorous dress sense and wears red lipstick. The way she also plays Tom's strings shows how she does not really care about morals and other people. When Tom arrives at her flat, she slams the door, then he knocks and she lets him in. It is the true characteristics of a femme fatale as she sends mixed signals which would confuse Tom. She is shown as a sex object as many times, she is shown naked in bed and then only in underwear and a see-through dressing gown.
The theme that is shown the most that could be linked with deceit is the conflict of loyalty. The fact that Tom betrays Leo by one, sleeping with his girlfriend, and second of all, he gets involved with Casper. As Tom feels guilty after sleeping with Leo's girlfriend, it is then accentuated as Leo asks what Tom thinks of asking Verna to marry him. The look on his face shows it all, as he just sits there, expressionless, most probably shocked.
The violence in Millers Crossing is very disruptive and cruel, it is also confusing when the police beat up Casper's men. Even more it is quite comical in parts, as the result of the music played. When Leo defends himself and ends up killing the men who try to kill him, the music that he plays on his vinyl player, is played throughout this scene. It is almost like the song is Leo's theme tune but only because he has control over the situation. If it was visa versa, then the song would most probably be the opposite. The fact that Leo is wearing pyjamas, a posh dressing gown and slippers makes the scene even more amusing as he still looks comfortable even though he was under attack. This scene is then drawn to a close as Leo has a very smug look on his face and draws his cigar from his pocket, up to his mouth, and continues to smoke as if nothing had just happened.