Crime, Comedy, and Chaos: The Early Cinema of the Coen Brothers

A five‑week class on the early films of the Coen brothers (1980s-1990s) offering a compact but immersive journey through the duo’s distinctive blend of genre play, dark humor, and meticulous craft.

Each weekly meeting centers on a single film, beginning with a 30‑minute introduction that frames the movie’s historical context, production background, and thematic concerns. After the screening, we will engage in an open discussion that encourages close reading of the Coens’ narrative strategies, visual style, and recurring motifs—from moral ambiguity to Americana mythmaking. Over the five weeks, participants will build a layered understanding of how the Coens’ early work has evolved and how each film converses with the others, creating a rich tapestry of irony, tension, and cinematic invention.

This course will meet on five Tuesdays from 10:00 am - 1:15 pm. Dates are 11/10 - 12/8.

ABOUT ANDRE PUCA

Andre Puca received his B.A. in English from Cornell University, after which he earned his MFA in Film Studies from Boston University. He is a Senior Affiliated Faculty member at Emerson College, where he teaches courses on film and media studies. He has also taught film studies at Babson College as a Visiting Lecturer and presented papers at a number of conferences in the U.S., including the largest academic conference for film studies in the country, conducted by The Society For Cinema and Media Studies. In the past two years, he has served as instructor for three different Coolidge Education courses, two of them on Alfred Hitchcock. And while his primary research focuses on the history of American independent cinema, his most recent publication featured in The Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies was about the sadly overlooked Italian comedian and director, Massimo Troisi.