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145-1010: Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957), together known as the Coen brothers ( / ˈ k oʊ ə n / ), are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Among their most acclaimed works are Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). The brothers generally write, direct and produce their films jointly, although due to DGA regulations, Joel received sole directing credit while Ethan received sole production credit until The Ladykillers (2004), from which point on they would be credited together as directors and producers; they also shared editing credits under

290-404: A B-picture for a venal movie mogul ( Michael Lerner ). Fink is modeled on playwright Clifford Odets , and the character W.P. Mayhew ( John Mahoney ) is based on William Faulkner . Barton Fink was a critical success, earning Oscar nominations and winning Best Director, Best Actor and Palme d'Or at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival . It was their first film with cinematographer Roger Deakins ,

435-446: A Best Original Screenplay and a Best Actress Oscar for McDormand. Roger Ebert wrote that "it rotates its story through satire, comedy, suspense, and violence, until it emerges as one of the best films I've ever seen. To watch it is to experience steadily mounting delight, as you realize the filmmakers have taken enormous risks, gotten away with them, and have made a movie that is completely original, and as familiar as an old shoe – or

580-484: A Jewish diaspora population that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE . They traditionally speak Yiddish , a language that originated in the 9th century, and largely migrated towards northern and eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages due to persecution . Hebrew was primarily used as a literary and sacred language until its 20th-century revival as

725-426: A chain gang , journey home to recover bank-heist loot the leader has buried—but they have no clear perception of where they are going. The film highlighted the comic abilities of George Clooney as the oddball lead character Ulysses Everett McGill, and of Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro , his sidekicks. The film's bluegrass and old-time soundtrack, offbeat humor and digitally desaturated cinematography made it

870-468: A lesbian and Ethan as straight, and the two have separate partners . They co-wrote the film Drive-Away Dolls , which Ethan directed and Tricia edited. Ethan published Gates of Eden , a collection of short stories in, 1998. The same year, he co-wrote the comedy The Naked Man , directed by their storyboard artist J. Todd Anderson . Blood Simple The film's title is derived from Dashiell Hammett 's novel Red Harvest (1929), in which

1015-534: A "gentle but dark" period comedy (set in 1967) with a low budget. The film is based loosely on the Coens' childhoods in an academic family in the largely Jewish suburb of Saint Louis Park, Minnesota ; it also drew comparisons to the Book of Job . Filming took place late in the summer of 2008, in the neighborhoods of Roseville and Bloomington, Minnesota , at Normandale Community College , and at St. Olaf College . The film

1160-536: A "long, late- night tracking shot from one end of the Neon Boot bar to another actually tracks along the surface of the bar itself - and when there is a drunk passed out on the bar, the camera simply lifts up and flies over him, then continues on its route." Pauline Kael called it "a crude, ghoulish story with thriller themes", but was effusive about the performance of M. Emmet Walsh as Loren Visser (private detective). Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert each gave it

1305-426: A 17-track album that also features selections from the soundtrack of the Coens' next film, Raising Arizona (1987). Blood Simple selections on the 1987 album: Other songs from the film that are not on the album: Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( / ˌ ɑː ʃ k ə ˈ n ɑː z i , ˌ æ ʃ -/ A(H)SH -kə- NAH -zee ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ) constitute

1450-411: A 99-minute run time. Unusual for such an exercise, the "Director's Cut" is some 3 minutes shorter than the original 1985 theatrical release. The Coens reduced the run time with tighter editing, shortening some shots and removing others altogether. Additionally, they resolved long-standing rights issues with the music; the original theatrical version of the film made prominent use of The Four Tops ' " It's

1595-451: A botched attempt to kidnap Abby, Marty offers Visser $ 10,000 to kill Abby and Ray. Visser tells Marty to go fishing and he will call him when it is done. Visser breaks into Ray's home and steals Abby's gun. Visser shows Marty photos of the murdered couple, one of which Marty secretes in the safe while retrieving the $ 10,000. Visser shoots Marty with Abby's gun, drops the gun and grabs the money but forgets his cigarette lighter as he leaves. It

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1740-794: A brief period of stability and unity in Francia . This created opportunities for Jewish merchants to settle again north of the Alps. Charlemagne granted the Jews freedoms similar to those once enjoyed under the Roman Empire . In addition, Jews from southern Italy, fleeing religious persecution, began to move into Central Europe. Returning to Frankish lands, many Jewish merchants took up occupations in finance and commerce, including money lending, or usury . (Church legislation banned Christians from lending money in exchange for interest.) From Charlemagne's time to

1885-670: A common language in Israel. Ashkenazim adapted their traditions to Europe and underwent a transformation in their interpretation of Judaism. In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Jews who remained in or returned to historical German lands experienced a cultural reorientation. Under the influence of the Haskalah and the struggle for emancipation, as well as the intellectual and cultural ferment in urban centres, some gradually abandoned Yiddish in favor of German and developed new forms of Jewish religious life and cultural identity . Throughout

2030-477: A critical and commercial hit. It was the first feature film to use all-digital color grading. The film's soundtrack CD was also successful, spawning a concert and concert/documentary DVD, Down from the Mountain . The Coens next produced another noirish thriller, The Man Who Wasn't There (2001). The Coens directed the 2003 film Intolerable Cruelty , starring George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones ,

2175-494: A downpour at night, discussing Abby's bad marriage to Ray's boss Julian Marty. They have sex at a motel. Private detective Loren Visser takes photos of the tryst and delivers them to Marty. When a caller informs the couple they are being watched, Abby grabs some belongings, including a pistol Marty gave her. Ray goes to the bar to demand his back pay from Marty, who tells Ray that Abby will betray him as she did Marty, and when confronted will say, "I haven't done anything funny." After

2320-649: A figure of one million Jews living in Egypt. Brian McGing rejects Baron's figures entirely, arguing that we have no clue as to the size of the Jewish demographic in the ancient world. Sometimes the scholars who accepted the high number of Jews in Rome had explained it by Jews having been active in proselytising . The idea of ancient Jews trying to convert Gentiles to Judaism is nowadays rejected by several scholars. The Romans did not distinguish between Jews inside and outside of

2465-492: A key collaborator for the next 25 years. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) is an homage to the screwball comedies of Frank Capra and Howard Hawks . Co-written with Raimi, the film follows a mailroom clerk ( Tim Robbins ) who is promoted to president of the Hudsucker corporation by a cynical director ( Paul Newman ) in a scheme to devalue the company's stock; a fast-talking newspaperwoman ( Jennifer Jason Leigh ) tries to scoop

2610-452: A miniature-golf course." Geoff Andrew wrote: "the lives and times of Hi, Ed and friends are painted in splendidly seedy colours, turning Arizona into a mythical haven for a memorable gaggle of no-hopers, halfwits and has-beens. Starting from a point of delirious excess, the film leaps into dark and virtually uncharted territory to soar like a comet." The film featured McDormand, William Forsythe , Sam McMurray , Randall "Tex" Cobb and marked

2755-654: A native with a spear. Lassie Come Home (1943) was reinterpreted as their Ed... A Dog , with Ethan playing the mother role in his sister's tutu . They also made original films like Henry Kissinger, Man on the Go , Lumberjacks of the North and The Banana Film . Joel and Ethan graduated from St. Louis Park High School in 1973 and 1976, respectively, and from Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts . After Simon's Rock, Joel spent four years in

2900-651: A number of push and pull factors . More Jews moved into these communities as a result of wars, persecution, unrest, and for opportunities in trade and commerce. Jews migrated to southern Europe from the Middle East voluntarily for opportunities in trade and commerce. Following Alexander the Great 's conquests, Jews migrated to Greek settlements in the Eastern Mediterranean, spurred on by economic opportunities. Jewish economic migration to southern Europe

3045-409: A period of 8 weeks in the fall of 1982. The film spent a year in postproduction and was completed by 1983. Blood Simple was Frances McDormand's screen debut. All Coen brothers films are co-produced and co-directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, although Ethan was credited as the sole producer and Joel the sole director until 2004. The Coens share editing credit under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes. While

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3190-465: A positive review on At the Movies . In his review, Ebert wrote: "A lot has been written about the visual style of “Blood Simple,” but I think the appeal of the movie is more elementary. It keys into three common nightmares: (1) You clean and clean, but there’s still blood all over the place; (2) You know you have committed a murder, but you are not sure quite how or why; (3) You know you have forgotten

3335-512: A result of Judeo-Latin language contact with various High German vernaculars in the medieval period. It is a Germanic language written in Hebrew letters, and heavily influenced by Hebrew and Aramaic , with some elements of Romance and later Slavic languages . Historical records show evidence of Jewish communities north of the Alps and Pyrenees as early as the 8th and 9th centuries. By

3480-459: A rubber-soled hunting boot from Land's End, more likely." The Big Lebowski (1998) is a crime comedy about Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski ( Jeff Bridges ), a Los Angeles slacker who is involved in a kidnapping case after being mistaken for a millionaire of the same name ( David Huddleston .) It features Philip Seymour Hoffman as Lebowski's flunky, Goodman and Buscemi as The Dude's bowling buddies and Julianne Moore as his "special lady friend". It

3625-568: A script he co-wrote with Cooke. It would be Ethan's first narrative film without his brother. The film was released in February 2024. The Coen brothers' own film production company, Mike Zoss Productions located in New York City, has been credited on their films from O Brother, Where Art Thou? onwards. It was named after Mike Zoss Drug, an independent pharmacy in St. Louis Park since 1950 that

3770-841: A small detail that will eventually get you into a lot of trouble." The film grossed $ 2.7 million worldwide. Its first big public viewing was the USA Film Festival in Dallas, followed by the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Grand Jury Prize. The brothers took the film to the Toronto Film Festival, Cannes, and the New York Film Festival. They were very proud of their film, particularly in light of having raised

3915-690: A son, Pedro McDormand Coen, from Paraguay when he was six months old. McDormand has acted in a number of Coen Brothers films: Blood Simple , Raising Arizona , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Fargo , The Man Who Wasn't There , Burn After Reading , and Hail, Caesar! For her performance in Fargo , she won the Academy Award for Best Actress . Ethan married film editor Tricia Cooke in 1993. They have two children: daughter Dusty and son Buster Jacob. The two describe their relationship as “nontraditional”; Cooke identifies as both queer and

4060-470: A throwback to the romantic comedies of the 1940s. It focuses on hotshot divorce lawyer Miles Massey and a beautiful divorcée whom Massey managed to prevent from receiving any money in her divorce. She vows to get even with him while, at the same time, he becomes smitten with her. Intolerable Cruelty received generally positive reviews, although it is considered one of the duo's weaker films. Also that year, they executive produced and did an uncredited rewrite of

4205-546: A very different lifestyle to that of their neighbours; all of these tendencies increased with every outbreak of antisemitism . In parts of Eastern Europe, before the arrival of the Ashkenazi Jews from Central Europe, some non-Ashkenazi Jews were present who spoke Leshon Knaan and held various other Non-Ashkenazi traditions and customs. In 1966, the historian Cecil Roth questioned the inclusion of all Yiddish speaking Jews as Ashkenazim in descent, suggesting that upon

4350-546: A very high toll of life and enslavement. The First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE) resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Temple . Two generations later, the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE) erupted. Judea's countryside was devastated, and many were killed, displaced or sold into slavery. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a Roman colony under the name of Aelia Capitolina , and the province of Judea

4495-418: Is a return to noir themes, but in some respects it was a departure for the Coens; with the exception of Stephen Root , none of the stable of regular actors appears in the film. No Country received nearly universal critical praise, garnering a 94% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes . It won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture , Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay , all of which were received by

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4640-548: Is also a writer of short stories, theater and poetry. They are known for their distinctive stylistic trademarks including genre hybridity. No Country for Old Men , A Serious Man and Inside Llewyn Davis were included on the BBC 's 2016 poll of the greatest motion pictures since 2000 . In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Fargo among the 100 greatest American movies . Richard Corliss wrote of

4785-594: Is also believed to have occurred during the Roman period. In 63 BCE, the Siege of Jerusalem saw the Roman Republic conquer Judea, and thousands of Jewish prisoners of war were brought to Rome as slaves. After gaining their freedom, they settled permanently in Rome as traders. It is likely that there was an additional influx of Jewish slaves taken to southern Europe by Roman forces after the capture of Jerusalem by

4930-500: Is especially dazzling. So is the fact that Mr. Coen, unlike many people who have directed great-looking film noir efforts, knows better than to let handsomeness become the film's entire raison d'être. In addition to its stylishness, Blood Simple has the kind of purposefulness and coherence that show Mr. Coen to be headed for bigger, even better, things." Joel's direction was recognized at the Sundance and Independent Spirit awards. It

5075-499: Is revealed that Visser doctored photos of the sleeping couple to appear that they had been shot. Ray discovers Marty's body, accidentally discharging Abby's gun when he steps on it. He puts the gun in Marty's pocket and the body in his car. Marty is still alive, albeit barely. Ray begins to bury Marty in a shallow grave when Marty aims the gun and pulls the trigger three times, falling on an empty chamber each time. Marty screams as Ray takes

5220-469: The Palme d'Or for Barton Fink at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival . The Coens have written films for other directors, including Sam Raimi 's Crimewave (1985), Angelina Jolie 's World War II biopic Unbroken (2014) and Steven Spielberg 's Cold War drama Bridge of Spies (2015). They produced Terry Zwigoff 's Bad Santa (2003) and John Turturro 's Romance and Cigarettes (2005). Ethan

5365-667: The Saquliba or Slavic territories , and such usage covered also the lands of tribes neighboring the Slavs, and Eastern and Central Europe. In modern times, Samuel Krauss identified the Biblical "Ashkenaz" with Khazaria . Sometime in the Early Medieval period, the Jews of central and eastern Europe came to be called by this term. Conforming to the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain

5510-403: The 88th Academy Awards . The Coens directed the film Hail, Caesar! , about a " fixer " in 1950s Hollywood trying to discover what happened to a cast member who vanishes during filming. It stars Coen regulars George Clooney , Josh Brolin , Frances McDormand , Scarlett Johansson and Tilda Swinton , as well as Channing Tatum , Ralph Fiennes , Jonah Hill , and Alden Ehrenreich . The film

5655-719: The Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2, opening to mostly enthusiastic reviews. The initial run closed on February 10, 2008, but the same production was moved to a new theatre for a commercial off-Broadway run at the Bleecker Street Theater in New York City. Produced by The Atlantic Theater Company, it ran there from March 2008 through June 1, 2008. and Art Meets Commerce. In May 2009, the Atlantic Theater Company produced Coen's Offices , as part of their mainstage season at

5800-770: The Cimmerians . The Biblical Ashkenaz is usually derived from Assyrian Aškūza ( cuneiform Aškuzai/Iškuzai ), a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates ; the name Aškūza is identified with the Scythians . The intrusive n in the Biblical name is likely due to a scribal error confusing a vav ו ‎ with a nun נ ‎ . In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as one of three kingdoms in

5945-500: The Continental Op muses: “This damned burg's getting me. If I don't get away soon I'll be going blood-simple like the natives.” Stylistically, the film has been noted for its blending elements of neo-noir, pulp crime stories, and low-budget horror films . In 2001, a director's cut was released, the same year that it was ranked No. 98 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills . Texas bartender Ray and housewife Abby drive through

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6090-733: The Crusaders as Ashkenazim. Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France and Germany following the Carolingian unification , the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany and France. Like other Jewish ethnic groups , the Ashkenazi originate from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah . Ashkenazi Jews share a significant amount of ancestry with other Jewish populations and derive their ancestry mostly from populations in

6235-447: The FX network. It is created by Noah Hawley and executive produced by the brothers. The Coens also contributed to the screenplay for Unbroken , along with Richard LaGravenese and William Nicholson . The film is directed by Angelina Jolie and based on Laura Hillenbrand 's non-fiction book, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (2010) which itself

6380-478: The Holocaust . The answer to why there was so little assimilation of Jews in central and eastern Europe for so long would seem to lie in part in the probability that the alien surroundings in central and eastern Europe were not conducive, though there was some assimilation. Furthermore, Jews lived almost exclusively in shtetls , maintained a strong system of education for males, heeded rabbinic leadership, and had

6525-631: The Isthmus of Corinth in Greece. Jewish slaves and their children eventually gained their freedom and joined local free Jewish communities. Many Jews were denied full Roman citizenship until Emperor Caracalla granted all free peoples this privilege in 212 CE. Jews were required to pay a poll tax until the reign of Emperor Julian in 363 CE. In the late Roman Empire, Jews were free to form networks of cultural and religious ties and enter into various local occupations. However, after Christianity became

6670-675: The Minhag of Ashkenaz and Poland. According to 16th-century mystic Rabbi Elijah of Chelm , Ashkenazi Jews lived in Jerusalem during the 11th century. The story is told that a German-speaking Jew saved the life of a young German man surnamed Dolberger. So when the knights of the First Crusade came to siege Jerusalem, one of Dolberger's family members who was among them rescued Jews in Palestine and carried them back to Worms to repay

6815-561: The Republican Party , while Conservative, Reform, and non denominational ones tend to support the Democratic Party. Religious Jews have minhagim , customs, in addition to halakha , or religious law, and different interpretations of the law. Different groups of religious Jews in different geographic areas historically adopted different customs and interpretations. On certain issues, Orthodox Jews are required to follow

6960-865: The SHuM cities of Speyer, Worms, and Mainz. The cluster of cities contain the earliest Jewish settlements north of the Alps, and played a major role in the formation of Ashkenazi Jewish religious tradition, along with Troyes and Sens in France. Nonetheless, Jewish life in Germany persisted, while some Ashkenazi Jews joined Sephardic Jewry in Spain. Expulsions from England (1290), France (1394), and parts of Germany (15th century), gradually pushed Ashkenazi Jewry eastward, to Poland (10th century), Lithuania (10th century), and Russia (12th century). Over this period of several hundred years, some have suggested, Jewish economic activity

7105-701: The Statute of Kalisz of 1264. By the 15th century, the Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Poland were the largest Jewish communities of the Diaspora. This area, which eventually fell under the domination of Russia, Austria , and Prussia (Germany) following the Partitions of Poland , and was later largely regained by reborn Poland in the interbellum , would remain the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until

7250-471: The 11th century, Hai Gaon refers to questions that had been addressed to him from Ashkenaz, by which he undoubtedly means Germany. Rashi in the latter half of the 11th century refers to both the language of Ashkenaz and the country of Ashkenaz. During the 12th century, the word appears quite frequently. In the Mahzor Vitry , the kingdom of Ashkenaz is referred to chiefly in regard to the ritual of

7395-477: The 11th century, Jewish settlers moving from southern European and Middle Eastern centers (such as Babylonian Jews and Persian Jews ) and Maghrebi Jewish traders from North Africa who had contacts with their Ashkenazi brethren and had visited each other from time to time in each's domain appear to have begun to settle in the north, especially along the Rhine, often in response to new economic opportunities and at

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7540-499: The 2005 novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy . Vietnam veteran Llewelyn Moss ( Josh Brolin ), living near the Texas/Mexico border, stumbles upon, and decides to take, two million dollars in drug money. He must then go on the run to avoid those trying to recover the money, including sociopathic killer Anton Chigurh ( Javier Bardem ), who confounds both Llewelyn and local sheriff Ed Tom Bell ( Tommy Lee Jones ). The plotline

7685-536: The Christmas black comedy Bad Santa , which garnered positive reviews. In 2004, the Coens made The Ladykillers , a remake of the British classic by Ealing Studios . A professor, played by Tom Hanks , assembles a team to rob a casino. They rent a room in an elderly woman's home to plan the heist. When the woman discovers the plot, the gang decides to murder her to ensure her silence. The Coens received some of

7830-450: The Coen brothers have tied the record for the most nominations by a single nominee (counting an "established duo" as one nominee) for the same film. Orson Welles set the record in 1941 with Citizen Kane being nominated for Best Picture (though at the time, individual producers were not named as nominees), Best Director, Best Actor , and Best Original Screenplay . Warren Beatty received

7975-544: The Coen brothers. Blood Simple was also the first feature-film score for Burwell, and after his work on this film, he became a much-in-demand composer in Hollywood. As of 2024, he had scored 16 of the Coen brothers' films. The score for Blood Simple is a mix of solo piano and electronic ambient sounds. One track, "Monkey Chant", is based on kecak , the " Ramayana Monkey Chant" of Bali . In 1987, seven selections from Burwell's Blood Simple score were released on

8120-587: The Coens and Raimi. Joel and Raimi also made cameos in Spies Like Us (1985). The brothers wanted to follow their debut with something fast-paced and funny. Raising Arizona (1987) follows an unlikely married couple: ex-convict H.I. ( Nicolas Cage ) and police officer Ed ( Holly Hunter ), who long for a baby but are unable to conceive. When furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona ( Trey Wilson ) appears on television with his newly born quintuplets and jokes that they "are more than we can handle", H.I. steals one of

8265-422: The Coens, as well as Best Supporting Actor received by Bardem. The Coens, as "Roderick Jaynes", were also nominated for Best Editing , but lost. It was the first time since 1961 (when Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise won for West Side Story ) that two directors received the Academy Award for Best Director at the same time. In January 2008, Ethan Coen's play Almost an Evening premiered off-broadway at

8410-582: The Coens: "Dexterously flipping and reheating old movie genres like so many pancakes, they serve them up fresh, not with syrup but with a coating of comic arsenic." Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957) were born and raised in St. Louis Park, Minnesota , a suburb of Minneapolis . Their mother, Rena ( née Neumann; 1925–2001), was an art historian at St. Cloud State University , and their father, Edward Coen (1919–2012),

8555-457: The Coens’ next two films before embarking on his own directorial career... It is no small miracle—and a testament to the Coens themselves—that so many exceptional talents connected so early in their respective careers." The film was referenced in a 1992 episode ( Master Ninja II ) of the cult satirical sci-fi TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 as well as a 2017 episode (" Backfire ") of

8700-529: The Hellenized parts of the Roman Empire. The excavations suggest they first lived in isolated enclaves attached to Roman legion camps and intermarried with other similar oriental families within the military orders of the region. Raphael Patai states that later Roman writers remarked that they differed little in either customs, manner of writing, or names from the people among whom they dwelt; and it

8845-624: The Holocaust. These included 3 million of 3.3 million Polish Jews (91%); 900,000 of 1.5 million in Ukraine (60%); and 50–90% of the Jews of other Slavic nations, Germany, Hungary, and the Baltic states, and over 25% of the Jews in France. Sephardi communities suffered similar devastation in a few countries, including Greece, the Netherlands and the former Yugoslavia. As the large majority of

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8990-459: The Linda Gross Theater. Burn After Reading , a comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, was released September 12, 2008, and portrays a collision course between two gym instructors, spies and Internet dating. Released to positive reviews, it debuted at No. 1 in North America. In 2009, the Coens directed a television commercial titled "Air Freshener" for the Reality Coalition. They next directed A Serious Man , released October 2, 2009,

9135-418: The Middle East, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe. Other than their origins in ancient Israel, the question of how Ashkenazi Jews came to exist as a distinct community is unknown, and has given rise to several theories. Beginning in the fourth century BCE, Jewish colonies sprang up in southern Europe, including the Aegean Islands, Greece, and Italy. Jews left ancient Israel for a number of causes, including

9280-461: The Responsa of Isaac ben Sheshet (numbers 193, 268, 270). In the Midrash compilation, Genesis Rabbah , Rabbi Berechiah mentions Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah as German tribes or as German lands. It may correspond to a Greek word that may have existed in the Greek dialect of the Jews in Syria Palaestina , or the text is corrupted from "Germanica". This view of Berechiah is based on the Talmud (Yoma 10a; Jerusalem Talmud Megillah 71b), where Gomer,

9425-480: The Same Old Song " (1965); the Coens had replaced it with Neil Diamond 's " I'm a Believer " (1966) for the 1995 U.S. home video edition on VHS. The Director's Cut reinstated the Four Tops track. Universal Home Video released a DVD version of the film in 2001, and again in 2005 as part of a DVD box set titled The Coen Brothers Collection . A Blu-ray edition was released in 2011 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . In 2016, The Criterion Collection released

9570-416: The TV series Designated Survivor . Some audio extracts of this film are used in the song "Quotation For Listening", by On Thorns I Lay on their album Egocentric , released in 2003. The original MCA Home Video VHS tape and LaserDisc was released on October 10, 1985, with a 96-minute running time. The film was released on Universal Pictures Home Entertainment VHS for a second time in 1995 with

9715-683: The United States after the war. Following the Holocaust, some sources place Ashkenazim today as making up approximately 83%–85% of Jews worldwide, while Sergio DellaPergola in a rough calculation of Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews , implies that Ashkenazi make up a notably lower figure, less than 74%. Other estimates place Ashkenazi Jews as making up about 75% of Jews worldwide. Jews of mixed background are increasingly common, partly because of intermarriage between Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi, and partly because many do not see such historic markers as relevant to their life experiences as Jews. Religious Ashkenazi Jews living in Israel are obliged to follow

9860-475: The alias Roderick Jaynes . The duo started directing separately in the 2020s, resulting in Joel's The Tragedy of Macbeth (2021) and Ethan's Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind (2022) and Drive-Away Dolls (2024). They have been nominated for 13 Academy Awards together, plus one individual nomination for each, sharing Best Original Screenplay for Fargo , and Best Picture , Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for No Country for Old Men . They won

10005-424: The arrival of Ashkenazi Jews from central Europe to Eastern Europe, from the Middle Ages to the 16th century, there were a substantial number of non-Ashkenazim Jews already there who later abandoned their original Eastern European Jewish culture in favor of the Ashkenazi one. However, according to more recent research, mass migrations of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews occurred to Eastern Europe, from Central Europe in

10150-475: The authority of the chief Ashkenazi rabbi in halakhic matters. In this respect, a religiously Ashkenazi Jew is an Israeli who is more likely to support certain religious interests in Israel, including certain political parties. These political parties result from the fact that a portion of the Israeli electorate votes for Jewish religious parties; although the electoral map changes from one election to another, there are generally several small parties associated with

10295-545: The centuries, Ashkenazim made significant contributions to Europe's philosophy , scholarship, literature , art , music , and science . As a proportion of the world Jewish population , Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930 near the population's peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II which killed some six million Jews, affecting almost every European Jewish family. In 1933, prior to World War II,

10440-500: The cradle of Germanic tribes, as early as a 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius . In the 10th-century History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertc'i (1.15), Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia, as it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene , Khazaria , Crimea and areas to the east. His contemporary Saadia Gaon identified Ashkenaz with

10585-662: The culture of the Babylonian Talmud that underlies it became established in southern Italy and then spread north to Ashkenaz. Numerous massacres of Jews occurred throughout Europe during the Christian Crusades . Inspired by the preaching of a First Crusade, crusader mobs in France and Germany perpetrated the Rhineland massacres of 1096, devastating Jewish communities along the Rhine River, including

10730-459: The customs of their ancestors and do not believe they have the option of picking and choosing. For this reason, observant Jews at times find it important for religious reasons to ascertain who their household's religious ancestors are in order to know what customs their household should follow. These times include, for example, when two Jews of different ethnic background marry, when a non-Jew converts to Judaism and determines what customs to follow for

10875-573: The degree and sources of European admixture , with some focusing on the European genetic origin in Ashkenazi maternal lineages, contrasting with the predominantly Middle Eastern genetic origin in paternal lineages. The name Ashkenazi derives from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz , the first son of Gomer , son of Japhet , son of Noah , and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations ( Genesis 10 ). The name of Gomer has often been linked to

11020-548: The early Middle Ages, some Jews assimilated into the dominant Greek and Latin cultures, mostly through conversion to Christianity. King Dagobert I of the Franks expelled the Jews from his Merovingian kingdom in 629. Jews in former Roman territories faced new challenges as harsher anti-Jewish Church rulings were enforced. Charlemagne 's expansion of the Frankish empire around 800, including northern Italy and Rome, brought on

11165-462: The early modern period. During the 16th century, as conditions for Italian Jews worsened, many Jews from Venice and the surrounding area migrated to Poland and Lithuania. During the 16th and 17th centuries, some Sephardi Jews and Romaniote Jews from throughout the Ottoman Empire migrated to Eastern Europe, as did Arabic-speaking Mizrahi Jews and Persian Jews . In the first half of

11310-529: The economy, media, and politics of Israel since its founding. During the first decades of Israel as a state, strong cultural conflict occurred between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews (mainly east European Ashkenazim). The roots of this conflict, which still exists to a much smaller extent in present-day Israeli society, are chiefly attributed to the concept of the " melting pot ". That is to say, all Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel were strongly encouraged to "meltdown" their own particular exilic identities within

11455-655: The emancipation, Zionism developed in central Europe. Other Jews, particularly those in the Pale of Settlement , turned to socialism . These tendencies would be united in Labor Zionism , the founding ideology of the State of Israel. Of the estimated 8.8 million Jews living in Europe at the beginning of World War II , the majority of whom were Ashkenazi, about 6 million – more than two-thirds – were systematically murdered in

11600-488: The estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3 million. Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio D. Pergola implied that Ashkenazim comprised 65–70% of Jews worldwide in 2000, while other estimates suggest more than 75%. As of 2013 , the population was estimated to be between 10 million and 11.2 million. Genetic studies indicate that Ashkenazim have both Levantine and European (mainly southern European) ancestry. These studies draw diverging conclusions about

11745-519: The far north, the others being Minni and Ararat (corresponding to Urartu ), called on by God to resist Babylon. In the Yoma tractate of the Babylonian Talmud the name Gomer is rendered as Germania , which elsewhere in rabbinical literature was identified with Germanikia in northwestern Syria, but later became associated with Germania . Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia , viewed as

11890-411: The father of Ashkenaz, is translated by Germamia , which evidently stands for Germany, and which was suggested by the similarity of the sound. In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern and western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany and Poland. Thus the prayer-book of Isaiah Horowitz , and many others, give the piyyutim according to

12035-512: The favor. Further evidence of German communities in the holy city comes in the form of halakhic questions sent from Germany to Jerusalem during the second half of the 11th century. Material relating to the history of German Jews has been preserved in the communal accounts of certain communities on the Rhine, a Memorbuch , and a Liebesbrief , documents that are now part of the Sassoon Collection. Heinrich Graetz also added to

12180-417: The film a score of 83 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Janet Maslin wrote: "Black humor, abundant originality and a brilliant visual style make Joel Coen's Blood Simple a directorial debut of extraordinary promise. Mr. Coen, who co-wrote the film with his brother Ethan, works in a film noir style that in no way inhibits his wit, which turns out to be considerable." She cites

12325-466: The film on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring a new 4K digital transfer supervised and approved by Barry Sonnenfeld and the Coens, along with various new special features. In 2024, The Criterion Collection released the film on 4K Ultra HD for the first time as a combo pack which includes the 2016 Blu-ray disc as well. Carter Burwell wrote the Blood Simple score , the first of his collaborations with

12470-492: The film was only a modest box-office success, it was a huge critical success. It holds a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 111 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10. The critical consensus reads: "Brutally violent and shockingly funny in equal measure, Blood Simple offers early evidence of the Coen Brothers' twisted sensibilities and filmmaking ingenuity." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned

12615-461: The film, which showed "a man dragging a shovel alongside a car stopped in the middle of the road, back towards another man he was going to kill" and "a shot of backlit gun holes in a wall." The trailer featured actor Bruce Campbell , playing the Julian Marty role, and was shot by recent film school graduate Barry Sonnenfeld . After completing the trailer, the Coens began exhibiting it with

12760-431: The first of many collaborations between the Coens and John Goodman . Miller's Crossing (1990) is a gangster film inspired by Dashiell Hammett 's Red Harvest (1929) and The Glass Key (1931). It stars Gabriel Byrne as Irish mobster Tom Reagan and features Albert Finney , Marcia Gay Harden , Steve Buscemi , Jon Polito and John Turturro . The film was released almost simultaneously with Goodfellas and

12905-438: The forces of Herod the Great with assistance from Roman forces in 37 BCE. It is known that Jewish war captives were sold into slavery after the suppression of a minor Jewish revolt in 53 BCE, and some were probably taken to southern Europe. Regarding Jewish settlements founded in southern Europe during the Roman era, E. Mary Smallwood wrote that "no date or origin can be assigned to the numerous settlements eventually known in

13050-462: The funds using their self-made trailer. In The Atlantic , Christopher Orr writes: "It all began here, and not merely for the Coens themselves. Blood Simple was the first feature starring Joel Coen’s soon-to-become wife, Frances McDormand ; the first scored by Carter Burwell , who’s collaborated—often, as here, magnificently—with the Coens on all their subsequent scores; and the first shot by cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld , who also worked on

13195-502: The general social "pot" in order to become Israeli. As of 2020, 63% of American Jews are Ashkenazim. A disproportionate amount of Ashkenazi Americans are religious compared to American Jews of other racial groups. They live in large populations in the states of New York, California, Florida, and New Jersey. The majority of American Ashkenazi Jewish voters vote for the Democratic Party , although Orthodox ones tend to support

13340-400: The gun and finishes burying him. Ray tries to explain to Abby that he "cleaned it all up." Abby says, "I haven't done anything funny," which leads to an argument. Visser telephones but does not speak when Abby picks up. She assumes and tells Ray that it was Marty. Ray places her gun on a table as he leaves. Bartender Meurice tells Ray about a phone message Marty left regarding money stolen from

13485-467: The history of German Jewry in modern times in the abstract of his seminal work, History of the Jews , which he entitled "Volksthümliche Geschichte der Juden." In an essay on Sephardi Jewry, Daniel Elazar at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs summarized the demographic history of Ashkenazi Jews in the last thousand years. He noted that at the end of the 11th century, 97% of world Jewry

13630-403: The hope of persuading investors to help fund the full-length feature film. Daniel Bacaner was one of the first people to invest money in the project. He also became its executive producer and introduced the Coens to other potential backers. The entire process of raising the necessary $ 1.5 million took a year. The film was shot in several locations in the towns of Austin and Hutto, Texas over

13775-409: The idea that Jews had the know-how and capacity to jump-start the economy, improve revenues, and enlarge trade seems to have played a prominent role. Typically, Jews relocated close to the markets and churches in town centres, where, though they came under the authority of both royal and ecclesiastical powers, they were accorded administrative autonomy. In the 11th century, both Rabbinic Judaism and

13920-463: The interests of religious Ashkenazi Jews. The role of religious parties, including small religious parties that play important roles as coalition members, results in turn from Israel's composition as a complex society in which competing social, economic, and religious interests stand for election to the Knesset , a unicameral legislature with 120 seats. Ashkenazi Jews have played a prominent role in

14065-514: The invitation of local Christian rulers. Thus Baldwin V, Count of Flanders , invited Jacob ben Yekutiel and his fellow Jews to settle in his lands; and soon after the Norman conquest of England , William the Conqueror likewise extended a welcome to continental Jews to take up residence there. Bishop Rüdiger Huzmann called on the Jews of Mainz to relocate to Speyer . In all of these decisions,

14210-767: The land of Israel/Judaea. They collected an annual temple tax from Jews both in and outside of Israel. The revolts in and suppression of diaspora communities in Egypt, Libya and Crete during the Kitos War of 115–117 CE had a severe impact on the Jewish diaspora. A substantial Jewish population emerged in northern Gaul by the Middle Ages, but Jewish communities existed in 465 CE in Brittany , in 524 CE in Valence , and in 533 CE in Orléans . Throughout this period and into

14355-592: The life of Dave Van Ronk . The film stars Oscar Isaac , Justin Timberlake , and Carey Mulligan . It won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival , where it was highly praised by critics. They received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for "Please Mr. Kennedy", which is heard in the film. Fargo , a television series inspired by their film of the same name, premiered in April 2014 on

14500-576: The majority of the American Jewish community since 1750. In the context of the European Enlightenment , Jewish emancipation began in 18th century France and spread throughout Western and Central Europe. Disabilities that had limited the rights of Jews since the Middle Ages were abolished, including the requirements to wear distinctive clothing, pay special taxes, and live in ghettos isolated from non-Jewish communities and

14645-462: The mid-first century became widely accepted, including by Louis Feldman . However, contemporary scholars now accept that Bar Hebraeus based his figure on a census of total Roman citizens and thus included non-Jews, the figure of 6,944,000 being recorded in Eusebius' Chronicon . Louis Feldman, previously an active supporter of the figure, now states that he and Baron were mistaken. Philo gives

14790-482: The migration patterns of Jews from Southern and Western Europe to Central and Eastern Europe. In 1740, a family from Lithuania became the first Ashkenazi Jews to settle in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. In the generations after emigration from the west, Jewish communities in places like Poland, Russia, and Belarus enjoyed a comparatively stable socio-political environment. A thriving publishing industry and

14935-454: The most lukewarm reviews of their careers in response to this film. They directed two short films for two separate anthology films — Paris, je t'aime ( Tuileries , 2006) starring Steve Buscemi , and To Each His Own Cinema ( World Cinema , 2007) starring Josh Brolin . Both films received highly positive reviews. No Country for Old Men , released in November 2007, closely follows

15080-488: The movement was by no means a singular, centralized event, and a Jewish diaspora had already been established before. During both of these rebellions, many Jews were captured and sold into slavery by the Romans. According to the Jewish historian Josephus , 97,000 Jews were sold as slaves in the aftermath of the first revolt. In one occasion, Vespasian reportedly ordered 6,000 Jewish prisoners of war from Galilee to work on

15225-1109: The official religion of Rome and Constantinople in 380 CE, Jews were increasingly marginalized. The Synagogue in the Agora of Athens is dated to the period between 267 and 396 CE. The Stobi Synagogue in Macedonia was built on the ruins of a more ancient synagogue in the 4th century, while later in the 5th century, the synagogue was transformed into a Christian basilica. Hellenistic Judaism thrived in Antioch and Alexandria , and many of these Greek-speaking Jews would convert to Christianity. Sporadic epigraphic evidence in gravesite excavations, particularly in Brigetio ( Szőny ), Aquincum ( Óbuda ), Intercisa ( Dunaújváros ), Triccinae ( Sárvár ), Savaria ( Szombathely ), Sopianae ( Pécs ) in Hungary, and Mursa ( Osijek ) in Croatia, attest to

15370-444: The one-act comedy Talking Cure , which was produced on Broadway in 2011 as part of Relatively Speaking , an anthology of three one-act plays by Coen, Elaine May , and Woody Allen . In 2011, the Coen brothers won the $ 1 million Dan David Prize for their contribution to cinema and society. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) is a treatise on the 1960s folk music scene in New York City's Greenwich Village , and very loosely based on

15515-468: The position's significance. The only exception to this rule is if the co-directors are an "established duo". Since 2004 they have been able to share the director credit and the Coen brothers have become only the third duo to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director . With four Academy Award nominations for No Country for Old Men for the duo ( Best Picture , Best Director , Best Adapted Screenplay , and Best Film Editing as Roderick Jaynes),

15660-475: The possible exception of Trier and Cologne , the archeological evidence suggests at most a fleeting presence of very few Jews, primarily itinerant traders or artisans. Estimating the number of Jews in antiquity is a task fraught with peril due to the nature of and lack of accurate documentation. The number of Jews in the Roman Empire for a long time was based on the accounts of Syrian Orthodox bishop Bar Hebraeus who lived between 1226 and 1286 CE, who stated by

15805-515: The presence of Jews after the 2nd and 3rd centuries where Roman garrisons were established. There was a sufficient number of Jews in Pannonia to form communities and build a synagogue. Jewish troops were among the Syrian soldiers transferred there, and replenished from the Middle East. After 175 CE Jews and especially Syrians came from Antioch , Tarsus , and Cappadocia . Others came from Italy and

15950-512: The present, Jewish life in northern Europe is well documented. By the 11th century, when Rashi of Troyes wrote his commentaries, Jews in what came to be known as "Ashkenaz" were known for their halakhic learning , and Talmudic studies . They were criticized by Sephardim and other Jewish scholars in Islamic lands for their lack of expertise in Jewish jurisprudence and general ignorance of Hebrew linguistics and literature. Yiddish emerged as

16095-467: The printing of hundreds of biblical commentaries precipitated the development of the Hasidic movement as well as major Jewish academic centers. After two centuries of comparative tolerance in the new nations, massive westward emigration occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries in response to pogroms in the east and the economic opportunities offered in other parts of the world. Ashkenazi Jews have made up

16240-485: The prohibitions on certain professions. Laws were passed to integrate Jews into their host countries, forcing Ashkenazi Jews to adopt family names (they had formerly used patronymics ). Newfound inclusion into public life led to cultural growth in the Haskalah , or Jewish Enlightenment, with its goal of integrating modern European values into Jewish life. As a reaction to increasing antisemitism and assimilation following

16385-430: The quintuplets to bring up as their own. Pauline Kael noted its "cornpone-surreal quality" and wrote that the Coens "are going with their strengths. They're making a contraption, and they're good at it because they know how to make the camera behave mechanically, which is just right here—it mirrors the mechanics of farce ... The Sunsets look marvellously ultra-vivid; the paint doesn't seem to be dry—it's like opening day at

16530-445: The ransom, which he plans to split with the kidnappers (Buscemi and Peter Stormare ). Complications ensue, and local cop Marge Gunderson (McDormand) starts to investigate. Produced on a small budget of $ 7 million, Fargo was a critical and commercial success, with particular praise for its dialogue and McDormand's performance. The film received several awards, including a BAFTA award and Cannes award for direction, and two Oscars :

16675-442: The safe - Marty's cover for the $ 10,000 he paid Visser. While burning the doctored photos, Visser realizes that Marty kept one, and that he left his lighter. His attempt to break into the safe is thwarted by Abby, who thinks Ray damaged the safe and realizes Marty might be dead. She has a nightmare of Marty warning her that Ray will kill her as well. She confronts Ray, who tells her Marty was still alive when he buried him. Ray opens

16820-449: The safe and discovers the doctored photo. He goes to Abby's apartment to warn her. Visser kills Ray with a rifle shot from a rooftop across the street. Abby smashes the lightbulb and hides in the bathroom. Visser enters the apartment and searches Ray for the lighter, and finds Abby has climbed out of the window into the next apartment. She stabs him with Ray's knife, pinning his hand to the sill. As she backs away, Visser empties his gun into

16965-634: The same nominations, first for Heaven Can Wait in 1978 and again in 1981 with Reds . Alan Menken also then achieved the same feat when he was nominated for Best Score and triple-nominated for Best Song for Beauty and the Beast in 1991. Most recently Chloé Zhao matched this record in 2021 when she was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing for Nomadland (which also starred McDormand in her third Oscar-winning role). Joel has been married to actress Frances McDormand since 1984. In 1995, they adopted

17110-496: The story. Critics praised the production design but criticized the tone. It was a box office bomb ($ 30 million budget, $ 3 million gross in the US). The brothers bounced back with the "homespun murder story" Fargo (1996), set in their home state of Minnesota . In it, car salesman Jerry Lundegaard ( William H. Macy ), who has serious financial problems, has his wife kidnapped so that his wealthy father-in-law ( Harve Presnell ) will pay

17255-494: The synagogue there, but occasionally also with regard to certain other observances. In the literature of the 13th century, references to the land and the language of Ashkenaz often occur. Examples include Solomon ben Aderet 's Responsa (vol. i., No. 395); the Responsa of Asher ben Jehiel (pp. 4, 6); his Halakot (Berakot i. 12, ed. Wilna, p. 10); the work of his son Jacob ben Asher , Tur Orach Chayim (chapter 59);

17400-431: The tale of a bar owner ( Dan Hedaya ) who hires a detective ( M. Emmet Walsh ) to kill his wife and her lover ( Frances McDormand and John Getz , respectively). It contains elements that point to their future direction: distinctive homages to genre movies (in this case noir and horror ), plot twists layered over a simple story, snappy dialogue and dark humor . Janet Maslin wrote: "The camera work by Barry Sonnenfeld

17545-413: The time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, as many as six million Jews were already living in the Roman Empire, a conclusion which has been contested as highly exaggerated. The 13th-century author Bar Hebraeus gave a figure of 6,944,000 Jews in the Roman world. Salo Wittmayer Baron considered the figure convincing. The figure of seven million within and one million outside the Roman world in

17690-540: The undergraduate film program at New York University , where he made a 30-minute thesis film, Soundings . In 1979, he briefly enrolled in the graduate film program at the University of Texas at Austin , following a woman he had married who was in the graduate linguistics program. The marriage soon ended in divorce and Joel left UT Austin after nine months. Ethan went on to Princeton University and earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1979. His senior thesis

17835-531: The victims were Ashkenazi Jews, their percentage dropped from an estimate of 92% of world Jewry in 1930 to nearly 80% of world Jewry today. The Holocaust also effectively put an end to the dynamic development of the Yiddish language in the previous decades , as the vast majority of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, around 5 million, were Yiddish speakers. Many of the surviving Ashkenazi Jews emigrated to countries such as Israel, Canada, Argentina, Australia , and

17980-399: The wall, then punches through it to remove the knife. Returning to her apartment, Abby picks up her gun and shoots Visser through the bathroom door. She says, "I'm not afraid of you, Marty," and Visser, lying wounded, laughs and responds, "Well, ma'am, if I see him, I'll sure give him the message." After writing the screenplay, the Coen brothers shot a preemptive dummy theatrical trailer for

18125-590: The west, and some may have been founded as a result of the dispersal of Palestinian Jews after the revolts of AD 66–70 and 132–135, but it is reasonable to conjecture that many, such as the settlement in Puteoli attested in 4 BC, went back to the late republic or early empire and originated in voluntary emigration and the lure of trade and commerce." The first and second centuries CE saw a series of unsuccessful large-scale Jewish revolts against Rome . The Roman suppression of these revolts led to wide-scale destruction,

18270-518: The west, who due to high birth rates absorbed and largely replaced the preceding non-Ashkenazi Jewish groups of Eastern Europe (whose numbers the demographer Sergio Della Pergola considers to have been small). Genetic evidence also indicates that Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jews largely descend from Ashkenazi Jews who migrated from central to eastern Europe and subsequently experienced high birthrates and genetic isolation. Some Jewish immigration from southern Europe to Eastern Europe continued into

18415-657: The works of Federico Fellini to the Sons of Hercules films) aired on a Minneapolis station, the Tarzan films , and comedies ( Jerry Lewis , Bob Hope and Doris Day ). In the mid-1960s, Joel saved money from mowing lawns to buy a Vivitar Super 8 camera. Together, the brothers remade movies they saw on television, with their neighborhood friend Mark Zimering ("Zeimers") as the star. Cornel Wilde 's The Naked Prey (1965) became their Zeimers in Zambezi , which featured Ethan as

18560-538: Was Joel's first directorial effort without his brother, who was taking a break from films to focus on theater. The film premiered at the 2021 New York Film Festival . The 2022 Cannes Film Festival had a special screening of Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind , an archival documentary film directed solely by Ethan Coen and edited by his wife Tricia Cooke . In 2022, it was announced that Ethan Coen would be directing Drive-Away Dolls for Focus Features and Working Title from

18705-558: Was Sephardic and 3% Ashkenazi; in the mid-17th century, "Sephardim still outnumbered Ashkenazim three to two"; by the end of the 18th century, "Ashkenazim outnumbered Sephardim three to two, the result of improved living conditions in Christian Europe versus the Ottoman Muslim world." By 1930, Arthur Ruppin estimated that Ashkenazi Jews accounted for nearly 92% of world Jewry. These factors are sheer demography showing

18850-851: Was a barrister in the Inns of Court in London before retiring to Hove with their grandmother. Edward Coen was an American citizen born in the United States, but grew up in Croydon , London and studied at the London School of Economics . Afterwards he moved to the United States, where he met the Coens' mother, and served in the United States Army during World War II . The Coens developed an early interest in cinema through television. They grew up watching Italian films (ranging from

18995-539: Was a 41-page essay, "Two Views of Wittgenstein's Later Philosophy", which was supervised by Raymond Geuss . After graduating from New York University , Joel worked as a production assistant on a variety of industrial films and music videos. He developed a talent for film editing and met Sam Raimi while assisting Edna Ruth Paul in editing Raimi's first feature film, The Evil Dead (1981). The duo made their debut with Blood Simple (1984). Set in Texas , it tells

19140-479: Was a Professor of Economics at the University of Minnesota . The brothers have an older sister, Deborah, who is a psychiatrist in Israel. In regards to whether our background influences our film making ... who knows? We don't think about it ... There's no doubt that our Jewish heritage affects how we see things. —Joel Coen, on the Coens' Jewish heritage. Both sides of the Coen family were Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews . Their paternal grandfather, Victor Coen,

19285-550: Was another critical and commercial success. The title was borrowed from the Preston Sturges film Sullivan's Travels (1941), whose lead character, movie director John Sullivan, had planned to make a film with that title. Based loosely on Homer 's Odyssey (complete with a Cyclops , sirens , et al. ), the story is set in Mississippi in the 1930s and follows a trio of escaped convicts who, after absconding from

19430-492: Was based on the life of Louis Zamperini . It was released on December 25, 2014, to average reviews. The Coens co-wrote, with playwright Matt Charman , the screenplay for the dramatic historical thriller Bridge of Spies , about the 1960 U-2 Incident . The film was directed by Steven Spielberg , and released on October 4, 2015, to critical acclaim. They were nominated for the Best Original Screenplay at

19575-598: Was denominated Sefarad ( Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat ( 1 Kings 17:9 ), and Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan . By the high medieval period, Talmudic commentators like Rashi began to use Ashkenaz/Eretz Ashkenaz to designate Germany , earlier known as Loter , where, especially in the Rhineland communities of Speyer , Worms and Mainz , the most important Jewish communities arose. Rashi uses leshon Ashkenaz (Ashkenazi language) to describe Yiddish, and Byzantium and Syrian Jewish letters referred to

19720-594: Was especially difficult to differentiate Jews from the Syrians. After Pannonia was ceded to the Huns in 433, the garrison populations were withdrawn to Italy, and only a few, enigmatic traces remain of a possible Jewish presence in the area some centuries later. No evidence has yet been found of a Jewish presence in antiquity in Germany beyond its Roman border, nor in Eastern Europe. In Gaul and Germany itself, with

19865-664: Was eventually directed by George Clooney and began filming in October 2016. It was released by Paramount Pictures in the fall of 2017. The Coens directed The Ballad of Buster Scruggs , a Western anthology starring Tim Blake Nelson , Liam Neeson , and James Franco . It began streaming on Netflix on November 16, 2018, after a brief theatrical run. It was announced in March 2019 that Joel Coen would be directing an adaptation of Macbeth starring Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand . The film, titled The Tragedy of Macbeth ,

20010-478: Was focused on trade, business management, and financial services, due to several presumed factors: Christian European prohibitions restricting certain activities by Jews, preventing certain financial activities (such as " usurious " loans) between Christians, high rates of literacy, near-universal male education, and ability of merchants to rely upon and trust family members living in different regions and countries. In Poland, Jews were granted special protection by

20155-565: Was influenced by Raymond Chandler 's The Big Sleep (1939) and Robert Altman 's The Long Goodbye . It has become a cult classic . An annual festival, Lebowski Fest , began in 2002, and many adhere to the philosophy of " Dudeism ". Entertainment Weekly ranked it 8th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list in 2008. It was the first collaboration between the Coens and T Bone Burnett , credited as "Music Archivist". The Coen brothers' next film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000),

20300-557: Was nominated for the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay . True Grit (2010) is based on the 1968 novel of the same name by Charles Portis . Filming was done in Texas and New Mexico. Hailee Steinfeld stars as Mattie Ross along with Jeff Bridges as Marshal Rooster Cogburn . Matt Damon and Josh Brolin also appear in the movie. True Grit was nominated for ten Academy Awards including Best Picture. Ethan Coen wrote

20445-418: Was not a commercial success, but received positive reviews. Christopher Orr calls it "a distillation of all the tropes and themes and moods of the classic gangster film." It was the Coens' first collaboration with production designer Dennis Gassner . They followed it with Barton Fink (1991); set in 1941, it follows a New York playwright, the eponymous Fink (Turturro), who moves to Los Angeles to write

20590-445: Was released on February 5, 2016. In 2016, the Coens gave to their longtime friend and collaborator John Turturro the right to use his character of Jesus Quintana from The Big Lebowski in his own spin-off, The Jesus Rolls , which he would also write and direct. The Coens have no involvement in the production. In August 2016, the film began principal photography. The Coens first wrote the script for Suburbicon in 1986. The film

20735-556: Was renamed Syria Palaestina . Jews were prohibited from entering the city on pain of death. Jewish presence in the region significantly dwindled after the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt. With their national aspirations crushed and widespread devastation in Judea, despondent Jews migrated out of Judea in the aftermath of both revolts, and many settled in southern Europe. In contrast to the earlier Assyrian and Babylonian captivities,

20880-591: Was the brothers' beloved hangout when they were growing up in the Twin Cities . The name was also used for the pharmacy in No Country for Old Men . The Mike Zoss logo consists of a crayon drawing of a horse, standing in a field of grass with its head turned around as it looks back over its hindquarters. Up to 2003, Joel received sole credit for directing and Ethan for producing, due to guild rules that disallowed multiple director credits to prevent dilution of

21025-400: Was the first film shot by Sonnenfeld, who collaborated with the Coens on their two subsequent films and went on to be a director. It marked the first of many collaborations between the Coens and composer Carter Burwell . It was also the screen debut of McDormand, who went on to feature in many of the Coens' films (and marry Joel). Their next project was Crimewave (Raimi, 1985), written by

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