Brother Acts: The Coens, The Farrellys and The Hughes Brothers Film Collaborations

Brother Acts: The Coens, The Farrellys and The Hughes Brothers Film Collaborations

The Coens

Starting in 1984 with the graphic and smart "Blood Simple," The Coen Brothers established their darkly intelligent sensibilities, tapping into a heightened world where their characters speak in precision and act upon derision. Thirty-three Oscar nods (with six wins), 17 Golden Globe nods (with three wins), and 20 BAFTA nods (with five wins) makes clear the point that they are revered by critics and their peers.

Brothers Joel (b. 29 November 1954) and Ethan (b. 21 September 1957) Coen grew up in an erudite household Rena, their mother, was an art historian at St. Cloud State University and Edward, their father, was an economist at the University of Minnesota. Joel and Ethan were well educated they both graduated from Bard. Joel studied film at NYU and Ethan took philosophy at Princeton University.

Their collaborations include 1987's Raising Arizona, 1990's Miller's Crossing, 1991's Barton Fink, 1994's The Hudsucker Proxy, 1996's Fargo, 1998's The Big Lebowski, 2000's O Brother Where Art Thou?, 2001's The Man Who Wasn't There, 2007's No Country for Old Men, 2008's Burn After Reading, 2009's A Serious Man, and 2010's True Grit (nominated for 10 Academy Awards, but won none).

Their original films depict greatly flawed lead characters, who are often seen in cringe-inducing situations, that often erupt into felonies or dark tragedies.

The Farrellys

Despite the criticism they've endured for their comic characterizations of the disabled (often portrayed as confident and successful, while their able bodied characters can be dim), The Farrelly Brothers managed to still win over both audiences and many film writers with their unique storylines, charming and disarming characters and effective use of great soundtracks.

Peter (b. 17 December 1956) and Robert "Bobby" (b. 17 June 1958) Farrelly almost always set their films in Rhode Island or New England, where they grew up. Their father and mother were a doctor and nurse, respectively. Peter's "Outside Providence" was an autobiographical novel that was turned into a film, but got its start as Peter's thesis at Columbia University. Bobby graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Like the Coens' they re-made and updated a sixties classic film in the Coen's case, it was The Heartbreak Kid (2007). The Farrellys started, in 1994, with the massively successful ($17 million budget, grossed $247.275 million) Dumb and Dumber. They followed up with directing and or writing credits for 1996's Kingpin, 1998's There's Something About Mary, 2000's Me, Myself and Irene, 2001's Shallow Hal, 2003's Stuck on You, and 2011's Hall Pass.

The Hughes Brothers

Detroit-natives, Albert and Alan Hughes are twins (b. 1 April 1972) born to an Armenian American mother (her family were Armenians from Iran) and an African-American father, who divorced when the twins were two. Their mother took them to the suburb of Pomona, where she raised them by herself, attended school and started a business. She bought them their first camera when they were 12. Unlike the Coens or the Farrellys, the Hughes brothers didn't have tony university educations. In fact, they were high school dropouts.

Despite their modest beginnings, they worked with top artists (Tupac Shakur, Tone Loc) on music videos. Their first film, 1993's Menace II Society, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. They directed the film, which centered on the gritty life of disenfranchised African-American youths, and also co-wrote the screenplay with another writer. They were only 20. Two years later, they tackled similar territory, but this time period-set (Vietnam War) with Dead Presidents.

They demonstrated their concern for social issues through anti-handgun PSAs and in 1999, released the feature-length documentary, American Pimp. In 2001, they took a big departure from previous efforts with From Hell, starring Johnny Depp. The film was a gory, yet very watch-able film offering a take on the story of Jack-the-Ripper and the detective who sought to reveal the killer. Nine years separated them from their next feature, the Denzel Washington film, Book of Eli, in 2010. The post-apocalyptic film unlike From Hell tackled little to no new territory on a familiar myth. In Book of Eli, it's Zombies, with, as the title suggests, biblical overtones.

All of the aforementioned brothers have worked, in addition to together, separately, but no more so than The Hughes Brothers. Their films, no matter when or where set, each present audiences with life at its rawest, with well-intentioned lead characters sifting through the mire.

Notable

Other brother directing teams include Andy and Larry Wachowski (The Matrix films); the Italian Paolo and Vittorio Taviani (1982's Grand Jury Prize Winner at the Cannes Film Festival, The Night of the Shooting Stars, among others); Asian twins Oxide and Danny Pang (2008's The Eye, starring Jessica Alba and Nicholas Cage's Bangkok Dangerous).

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