I’ve seen Ballad of Buster Scruggs from The Coen Brothers (Netflix, 2018) since its premiere, and it’s since been one of my favorite films. Is the film composed of six stories, all set in the American Far West of the second half of the 19th century and with a common theme?Death. They’re all great, but the one I like the most is the first one, which gives the film its name, if my memory doesn’t fade seriously, I’ve seen it about thirty or more times with my five-year-old son, and that’s what I want to talk about in this text (one day, who knows, I write about others).
Rather a clarification: I know nothing of the religious convictions of the authors, all the lessons learned here take my risk, if you want to talk about me in the Coens is at least to tell you, oh, how I wanted this. book that appears in the movie! But let’s do it.
[Spoilers from now on]
What could a proud outlaw Christian be with a refined vocabulary, considered a misanthrope and who kills his opponents with refinements of cruelty and almost Archemedian tactics?At first glance, nothing. But maybe we’re wrong.
Does the story begin with our charismatic? Sabi? From San Saba singing a seemingly worldly song, Cool Water, however, that gives us an interesting clue.
All day long, I faced sterile waste without flavor of water, fresh water, old Dan and I with dry throat and soul screaming for water, fresh water, clear. [Every day I face the desert Without a drop of water, fresh water Old Dan and I with dry throat And souls crying for water, fresh and clean water].
Please note that it is not just any water, but ‘fresh and clean water’, which only queers the thirst and only satisfies. At first I thought the song was written by Tim Blake Nelson himself, who is also a singer. The reference to water alone is quite suggestive, but I discovered something even more interesting: the song is from 1936 (a cheeky, perhaps intentional anachronism), written by Bob Nolan, and there is a revealing stanza that our baritone, perhaps by a simple script economy, omits:
The shadows sway and seem to say that tonight we pray for water, fresh water And up there, He will hear our prayer and show us where there is water, fresh and clear water. [The shadows sway and seem to say Tonight we pray for water, fresh water And up there He will hear our prayer and show us where to find water, fresh and clean water]
In one verse, Scruggs asks his horse Dan if he can see a “leafy, green tree” from which “water flows into nature. “The blessed man is like a leafy, leafy tree planted on the edge of a stream (Psalm 1) Our Texan David knows it.
But Buster, in fact, is also looking for more than just water: good poker and good whiskey. Even when men feel uncomfortable and nasty and try to cheat in the game, they don’t hate them. For him, it’s part of a human nature, “and if anyone finds reason to be horrified, it’s crazy to have high expectations. “Face photo!
Soon, find a canteen and order a whiskey to wipe the dust off your throat and keep your voice in tune. The owner of the property claims that whiskey is illegal in this county. Cruggs doesn’t swallow the excuse and asks what the other thing is. the men in the canteen are drinking. ” Whiskey,” the owner said. They’re criminals. ” Scruggs mocks the man and tells him not to be fooled by his white robe, because it is also known to violate the precepts of men, and more than some laws of the Most High. the conversation and pulls the gun out of Scruggs, and Scruggs kills him and everyone (including the canteen owner), leaving one of them in agony when devoured by gila’s wolves and monsters. Everything is so comical and plastic that we don’t ‘ I don’t even realize for a moment the cruelty that just happened.
A little disappointed with your previous experience, do you finally get to a city where you have a respectable lounge?with tables full of players and whiskey at will. You are obliged to leave your weapons at the reception, respecting the rules of the house. You feel naked about it, but “If everyone here is at the same disadvantage, then you ??. He approaches a table and sees a player who surrenders and leaves. He asks others if he can sit down and tell him he can, as long as he plays with the other man’s cards. He examines the stick and says he prefers to play, to abstain. ” Too late, my friend. “Have you looked at the letters?” said the Frenchman at the table. “But I didn’t bet, ” Scruggs. Si you looked, you have to play, ” said the man who sits with his head down, facing Scruggs. His name is Joe.
Scruggs puts his foot on the ground. Don’t accept the rules of the game. You don’t agree to play in a failed costume. He does not accept the sin inherited from Adam. The grumpy man stands up and points his gun at him. He didn’t accept the rules either because he didn’t leave his gun at the front desk. A false transgressor, then. Scruggs insults him with his entire class, tells him that no man can force another man to participate in acts of recreation and asks him to place his weapon in the receptacle of the living room, so that they may have a fair fight. refuses. Scruggs uses an “Archimedia tactic” to shoot him with three incredible blows to the face. Amazement is widespread. Scruggs gives a short speech and, to celebrate such an impressive victory over human rudeness and cheating, will I edit a song, Surly Joe?Which is actually a parody of a 1908 American classic, Little Joe Wrangler (i. e. , another anachronism).
Surly Joe, the player will never touch his stallion again and hold for days?[Surly Joe, the player, will never play again. His poker days are over. ]
Joe’s brother accuses Scruggs of shooting him in the back (which was not true) and challenges him to duel. Sabi? The opponent is much weaker. Scruggs takes advantage of it and, not without deception, hits him on each finger and, with the remaining ball, the one who has mercy on his heart.
As he prepares to sing another song of triumph, a young and mysterious knight dressed in black appears on his horizon, drawing a beautiful sound from the harmonica Was he a messenger of death?or death itself. Scruggs is impressed and congratulates him. The young man is flattered and challenges him. Scruggs again despises his opponent, but this time discovers, experimenting with his own poison, that “you can’t be the greatest forever. “His body is picked up by two gravediggers, curiously an old man and a young AT and NT. Law and gospel. As he rises to fame, Scruggs sings his last duet song with his own executioner or savior, who knows.
Yipee-ki-yay When the Yippee-ki-yay raid ends And the campfire goes out Yippee-ki-yay Screams and sings When a cowboy swaps his spurs for Yippee-ki-yay wings He will be saved when a cowboy swaps his spurs for wings [Andipee-ki-yay When the rodeo ends Yippee-ki-yay And the fire goes out Yippee-ki-yay He cries and sings When a cowboy swaps his spurs for Yippee-ki-yay wings Then he will make him save when a cowboy swaps his spurs for wings]
As the music goes out, our charismatic transgressor in a white robe ends the story with a polite phrase that, to me, is one of the most beautiful things ever said about Christian hope in a fallen world:
There has to be a place where men are honest and poker is played fairly. If not, what would all the songs be used for?
The songs are here. As Scruggs says at the beginning of the story, they never cease to ease our minds in the West, where distances are great and the landscape is monotonous. Anyone with ears to hear, listen to them. And rest in peace, my psalmist Sabi. One day we will sing together and shake our heads at all the evil that remains in the world. Yippee ki yay!
Gloria Soli Deo!
Text kindly provided by the author. You can find other texts of the author in this link.