webSalt

Written & Directed by Joel & Ethan Coen
Starring: Michael Stuhlbarg, Sari Lennick, Fred Melamed, Richard Kind, Aaron Wolff & Jessica McManus.
Rated: M (for much swearing, some drug use & brief nudity)

The (big) question

“How does God speak to us? It's a good question.”

Indeed, it’s one of the big ones of life. Is life merely “a tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing”?[1] Or does God purposefully speak into our seemingly chaotic existence, seeking to reveal his divine will for each one of our lives?

This “serious” question lies at the heart of the Coen Brother’s latest black comedy, and on the lips of its feeble, yet sympathetic lead, Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg). Larry is a Jewish physics professor at a Midwestern American college in the 60s, and within the space of days, his life accelerates into a train wreck. His dissatisfied wife (Lennick) wants a “gett” - a ritual divorce - so she can marry the smug, condescending Sy Ableman (Melamed). His restless son Danny (Wolff) becomes consumed by TV (namely F-Troop), rock ’n’ roll and dope smoking, rather than his Bar Mitzvah studies. His daughter Sarah (McManus) starts stealing from him in order to pay for a nose job. His unemployed, cyst-draining, gambling and sodomising brother (Kind) is wanted by the FBI. One of his Korean students seeks to bribe him for a passing grade, and the student’s father threatens to sue for defamation. All the while, an unknown letter-writer with an axe to grind is eroding Larry’s plans for tenure.

Shadowing the biblical figure of Job, the order of Larry’s world is flipped upside down. Yet according to Larry he hasn’t “done anything”, prompting him to ask why is all this this happening? Where is God in this? What is God trying to tell him? How can we ever know?

The (human) answers

Searching intently for answers, Larry turns to his three rabbis, whose advice is anything but clear. The first sage, the junior Rabbi Scott, opines that it’s simply a matter of fresh perspective, a conscious effort of seeing God in every facet of life:

Mystified, Larry turns to the second sage, Rabbi Nachtner. Nachtner tells a tale of a Gentile dentist who discovers Hebrew letters divinely inscribed on a patient’s teeth, yet the story is bereft of commentary and lacking a point. The rabbi believes we simply can’t know God’s will even when he’s speaking directly to us, and these existential questions are just like a toothache: “We feel them for a while, then they go away.” Unsurprisingly, Larry’s not satisfied:

The third sage, Rabbi Marshak is a mysteriously distant figure akin to the God of this film. In fact, Larry is denied any direct access to him. It’s only his son who gets an audience in the wake of his Bar Mitzvah, and the take home advice he gets is to simply: “Be a good boy”.

The only clear thing about life in the world of Larry Gopnik is that there is no clarity. God’s creatures are cut adrift on the sea of spiritual uncertainty, and the best we can do is to blindly “accept the mystery” and live moral lives: “Helping others … couldn't hurt.” Life, for Larry, is bound to the paradox of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. We can never know what’s going on, though somehow we are still responsible for our actions.

The (divine) answer

Sadly, the knowledge these rabbis have of God is mystical and experiential, rather than scriptural. But the Bible gives us so much more clarity and insight into the nature of God’s relationship with the world than this film would have us believe. Though we only know God and his ways “in part” - seeing “in a mirror dimly” this side of heaven (1 Cor 13:12) - God has revealed to us the big picture of God’s purposes in the world, and the grand narrative of our lives. It might not be a complete revelation, and we might not comprehend his plans in every little detail, but his revelation is indeed true and sufficient for our lives.

So – yes - we need a new perspective on the world, but it’s God’s perspective that we need. And God has given us what we need to gain this new perspective. He has revealed his will to us, through his prophets, through his incarnate word, Jesus, and through his written word, the Bible (Jn 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-3; 2 Tim 3:16). Only with this revelation can we see the random and chaotic mess of our lives as part of a rich, ordered tapestry that God is weaving together. His plan: to glorify Jesus, and to save and transform his people into his likeness (Rom 8:28-39).

So life, then, cannot be reduced to mere morality under an indifferent, remote and mysterious God. It is at its heart about a personal relationship with Jesus, who graciously walked among us and died for us that we might know him forever as our God and King.

The verdict

On one hand, the Coen’s brilliant creation of Jewish suburban dystopia and mid-life despair in the 60s is a very serious film indeed. With an intelligent script, a sharp, but unknown cast, spare cinematography and immaculate design, A Serious Man was clearly intended to be a reflective and thought-provoking piece.

Yet despite this philosophical gravity, the film is also darkly comedic, peppered with truly absurd scenes (e.g. Danny’s stoned Bar Mitzvah) and laced with hilarious dialogue (“Hush-hush”, “Look at the parking lot, Larry”!). As with most of the Coens’ films, the sublime and ridiculous seamlessly go hand in hand; therein lies their brilliance. In this way, A Serious Man - part Samuel Beckett, part Woody Allen - aptly captures the profundity yet also the absurdity of life without God.

With the impersonal and distant God of Gopnik and his three rabbis, it’s ridiculous to “receive with simplicity everything that happens to you”.[2] Christians know with certainty that God has spoken for us in Jesus, and therefore we are always loved (Rom 8:29-39). Life is imbued with meaning, even amidst moments of pain, suffering and frustration because we know that through Jesus God graciously and personally works in all things for the good of his people (Rom 8:28).

By Mark Barry

14/12/2009

[1] Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5.
[2] Rabbi Rashi (11th C.), cited in the bizarre opening scene of the film.