Set in a Jewish enclave in Minnesota circa 1967, “A Serious Man” begins with a shadows- and-amber prologue that unfolds in a very different time.
On a shtetl, a husband and his no-nonsense wife debate in Yiddish the impending arrival of a guest to their home. Their difference of opinion? Is the rabbi real or a dybbuk, a malicious spirit?
Though the production notes for Joel and Ethan Coen’s new film suggest this amusing and eerie parable has little to do with the goings-on that follow, the couple’s spirited spiritual debate offers a gateway into the mood of “A Serious Man,” opening Friday in Denver.
Because the Coens’ remarkably rich drama is very much a philosophical undertaking.
What is the nature of pain? Why do bad things happen to us? What does God want of us?
Such are the quandaries nagging physics professor Larry Gopnik, his unfaithful wife, Judith, and her wonderfully unctuous lover, Sy Abelman.
There are also children present for this Talmudic tussle. Sarah is the daughter obsessed with a nose job. Danny, a marijuana-smoking pup, is studying for his bar mitzvah.
One afternoon last month, the filmmaking duo were in New York on speaker phone. Asked to identify themselves, one replied, “This is Ethan, but I wouldn’t worry about it.”
So in this conversation about their most personal film, attributions might be factually wrong but fraternally correct.
Last year’s “Burn After Reading” might have struck some as slight after 2007’s Oscar-winning “No Country for Old Men.” But the jaunty departure to parts paranoid but goofball was well-executed. And it was rife with a Coen trademark: vivid performances.
A family drama, “A Serious Man” is yet another sharp turn.
And this one feels very close to home. After all, the brothers were raised in a Minneapolis suburb; their parents were academics; and the Jewish community they came of age in was a vibrant one.
The film was shot on location outside of Minneapolis.
“Going back to where we grew up and trying to re- create that world and that period from when we were teenagers had some strange reverberations that were interesting and different,” said Joel.
“Definitely odd”
Ethan offered an example. “We scouted two or three synagogues, including the one we attended as kids. It’s just strange to walk back into that environment, though not unpleasant,” said Ethan. “Kind of great, but definitely odd.”
Tony winner Michael Stuhlbarg is tremendous as emotionally beleaguered, spiritually confounded Larry Gopnick. Hangdog wonder Richard Kind (Paul Lassiter on TV’s “Spin City”) is especially compelling as his brother Arthur.
“We wanted to work with Richard before,” said Joel. And the brothers had him read for a few parts. (Ditto Stuhlbarg.) In the end, Kind had the chops.
“Sympathetic as that character is, he is one of the more extreme characters in the movie. You have to like him,” Ethan said. “It sounds general and vague, but that’s what these decisions are based on.”
A number of notable performances come from local Minneapolis talent. Sari Lennick, who plays Larry’s acerbic wife, is a fixture in the city’s theater community. The young actors playing the Gopnick kids are locals, as is Ari Hoptman, who plays the head of Larry’s college department.
“By casting actors from that community you get that feeling of being grounded in the reality of place naturally,” said Joel. “But that’s only possible in a place like Minneapolis, where there’s a very broad and deep pool of actors.”
Hewing to Midwestern flavor also keeps “A Serious Man” from falling back on the ethnic shtick that often bedevils big-screen depictions of Jewish life.
“Obviously it’s no exercise in naturalism,” said Ethan. “But in our minds, we wanted it grounded in something real. We were sensitive to where we grew up. That’s why it’s a domestic drama,” Joel added.
“That goes for the Jewishness, as well, Midwest Jews are not the same as New York Jews, urban Jews, L.A. Jews. Midwestern Jews have their own sensibility and flavor. We didn’t want ‘show Jews.’ “
“It was about a specific Midwestern Jewish community, not a generic ‘American Jewish’ community,” added Ethan.
Earlier in the day, the brothers were asked whether they remembered each other’s bar mitzvah. Their own was a no- brainer.
“Neither of us do” said Joel.
